Rst gila

Dorado

Cannon Fodder
I was thinking of getting a hardrock and theyve got gila t4 forks on them does anyone know if they r decent?
 

Mommers

Likes Dirt
The gilas are a alright fork, they have decent amount of travel for trails/xc sorta stuff. Im getting them on my new 04 yukon but im wondering how long they are gonna last. Prob upgrade to something better quality eg. rock shox/marzocchi once the RST's die.
 

Ty

Eats Squid
if you want the honest truth, i wouldn't ride them, even fox XC, poor/no rebound controll, no working adjustments besides preload, flexy, compression dempening??? heavy for what you get.

the first thing i'd do is to try and track down a 00-02 judy hydracoil or a z.5/z.3 of simlar vintage. basicaly any cheap fork with a oil bath will be alot better.
 

Cúl-Báire

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I guess their an alright fork, depending on what you use them for...More experienced riders will tend to go for something that has more "tuning" Ajustments and what not :D
 

lupine128

Likes Bikes and Dirt
as with anything, you get what you pay for.
the RST forks are like homebrand noodles.
cheap spongy, noodle like, but vaguely unsatisfying.
but they are cheap, and work well enough for what you pay.
just make sure that you learn how to service them properly yourself, and do it weekly if you ride a lot. constant maintainance will keep them useable for a little longer.
start saving now tho, cause in a couple of months you'll want/need something better. at that time look for a second hand set of bombers, and you'll be fine.

P.S. don't trust them too much, they will bend and break pretty easily.
 

matty_2004

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Ok... for the money that is. Otherwise they're pretty shit, it's worth the extra money to upgrade them to a Judy or something...
 

boonga

Likes Dirt
RST suck
they have no ajustability or anything, no dampening and elasoma instead of springs.
Ive broken 2 and they suck! dont buy them
 

wombat

Lives in a hole
boonga said:
RST suck
they have no ajustability or anything, no dampening and elasoma instead of springs.
No, they have elastomers as well as springs. The only pure elastomer fork I've seen is Rik's Mozo, and it may as well be rigid.
 

Rik

logged out
Oi, that's not pure elastomer, it's a full spring fork with mechanical damping (read, I never service it) :lol:

That Mozo is long gone (from my bike anyway), as are the 3 pairs of RSTs I've owned, but c'mon, let's be realistic here, a Gila is a capable fork for its intended purposes. You can't go slagging components because they break if they're being used outside their limitations.
How does this next sentance sound:

OMG i brok my forkz! shitty SID forks! i mean its $1200 and i cant jump wid them coz they snap! maen they suck!

We all know that SID's are light XC forks, and they do that very well, just like the Gila's are entry level suspension forks. They do their job well, but as soon as you push the limits you get issues. Not a component fault, but a rider fault IMO.
 

Jordy

RYD4LF
it has a spring... but thats a bad thing for el cheapo forks... dickyknee was riding along and pushed down on the forks and the top cap broke and the spring flew up and hit him in the chest leaving a bad bruise... this coulda been worse and he was just riding along (and yes he was just riding along coz we have nothing to ride here in wollongong)
 

Rik

logged out
It's not so much the spring that's the bad thing, it's the strength of the top caps. On a performance fork, plastic top caps is inexcusable in my mind. But then again the RST isn't very performance. So many different companies have had their topcaps turn into projectiles, it's a real hazard! Metal is where it's at.
 

boonga

Likes Dirt
the RSTs are not worth the $200 you pay for them. The feel ridgid and break like nothing youve ever seen before
 

lupine128

Likes Bikes and Dirt
boonga said:
the RSTs are not worth the $200 you pay for them. The feel ridgid and break like nothing youve ever seen before
but they are a $200 commuting fork.
anyone with a spare brain cell left after breathing knows not to expect $1200 performance or durability form a $200 fork.
the forks are actualy very good at what they do. they provide absolute base level entry forks for people who are probably either going to use them for a cpl of weeks till they break (and then run round the net going "OMFG these forks are crap"[in which case why did you keep them dickhead] ) or they will be used for years by people who just want to take the jolt out of cycle paths.
i have a set of pre-disc ('00 i think) rst 381's that are still perfect. they get ridden every week, and are like new. but i won't even jump 3 stairs with them cause i'm not stupid enough to think thats what they are made for.
you get what you pay for.
 

wombat

Lives in a hole
lupine128 said:
i have a set of pre-disc ('00 i think) rst 381's that are still perfect. they get ridden every week, and are like new. but i won't even jump 3 stairs with them cause i'm not stupid enough to think thats what they are made for.
you get what you pay for.
Well I was stupid enough :p , and guess what? They're still in one piece, and I'll probably put them on the bike that I plan on building up for my little brother. When I was 14, I (and my parents) couldn't afford any better, so I got these, I took care of them and I rode them hard. I knew that weren't made for it, but I wanted to ride that way so I did. I did however make sure to check them on a very regular basis for any sort of problem, and I knew that if I did kill them I had only myself to blame.
 

boonga

Likes Dirt
lupine128 said:
boonga said:
the RSTs are not worth the $200 you pay for them. The feel ridgid and break like nothing youve ever seen before
but they are a $200 commuting fork.
anyone with a spare brain cell left after breathing knows not to expect $1200 performance or durability form a $200 fork.
the forks are actualy very good at what they do. they provide absolute base level entry forks for people who are probably either going to use them for a cpl of weeks till they break (and then run round the net going "OMFG these forks are crap"[in which case why did you keep them dickhead] ) or they will be used for years by people who just want to take the jolt out of cycle paths.
i have a set of pre-disc ('00 i think) rst 381's that are still perfect. they get ridden every week, and are like new. but i won't even jump 3 stairs with them cause i'm not stupid enough to think thats what they are made for.
you get what you pay for.
i disagree, these forks are useless, i dont expect them to preform like higher end forks, but i expected more than what they gave me
 

lupine128

Likes Bikes and Dirt
but what were you doing with them boonga?
if it was anything other than commuting or really light trail work (and i mean fire roads), you are outside what they are designed for.
you will have a hard time picking up decent rigid forks for the price of some of the rst's, so you know what you are getting.
would you expect any more from a huffy bought at K-mart?
 
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