RockShox Judy Gold RL Suspension Fork [Rider Review]

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The RockShox Judy offers really good performance while not breaking the bank. Our friend just threw a Judy Gold RL on their hardtail. Take a look and see what they think!

Overview

I purchased this fork over a month ago and have been using it every day since on my specialized rockhopper. This was an upgrade and a replacement from the stock, SR SUNTOUR XCR air which developed an awful crunching noise. I chose this fork because it would give me 20 more mm of travel, and it was the best fork that I could find with a QRx100 axle.

This fork has much better small bump sensitivity and feels very smooth throughout the stroke.

One thing that I have found that I do not like is it seems to use almost twice as much travel when preloading into a jump then when landing. Because it has only a motion control damper it feels like it blows through most of the travel from rider input. at 140 lbs I had to put 12 more psi than the recommended air pressure on the fork itself. It is easy to find the correct sag because, unlike many other forks under $500, this one has an o-ring(which also adds some steeze). The low-speed compression feels like it does almost nothing except for the last two clicks, but this doesn’t matter as much to me because as Mike Levy says it is a “cheater switch.”

Because this fork only has 30mm stanchion there is noticeable flex, but only on the big hits and huck to flats. I thought that this may have an impact on how easily the stanchions slide but have not noticed any resistance. The rebound switch has a noticeable feel when turned and there is an obvious difference between the clicks. Living in Texas I have had issues with cheaper forks performing very differently in the hotter climate, and this one still does, being an air fork, but it manages to stay relatively similar in different temperatures.

Despite my criticism, I believe that this fork has great value for money and coming from a well-known brand like RockShox you can be sure that there are great engineers behind the scenes. Also, this fork looks like it would be more expensive than it is, which won’t have any effect on its performance, but you can impress your riding buddies.

Final Thoughts

Overall this fork is for moderate cross country riding and light trail riding and it is mostly held back by the thin stanchions which can take away confidence through the chunder. I would recommend this fork for someone with moderate downhills and folly terrain because it won’t be stiff enough to hold your line on big rock gardens at speed. (Note: I do recommend using a hacksaw vs. a pipe cutter. It will take much less time and effort I found that out the hard way)