Rockshox Judy Gold RL 26 [Rider Review]

Our "Rider Review" article series features the honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for. 

The RockShox Judy Fork offers leading edge performance, but at a wallet friendly price point. Our buddy, Andrew, installed the fork on their brother's bike. See what they think!

Overview

When I was asked by my brother to upgrade his bike and make it ride more comfortable. The first thing that came to mind was a new fork! Being that it is a hardtail there is the only front suspension. The fork that came stock on his bike was a budget fork. It was heavy and there weren’t many adjustments you could do to it. As I dove in on researching which fork I should get I soon realized that there are many options and price ranges.

When researching I stumbled upon Worldwide Cyclery’s YouTube video on budget MTB forks and narrowed it down to the Manitou Markhor 26 and the Rockshox Judy Gold RL 26. I ended up going with the Rockshox Judy Gold RL 26 and so far so good. I’ve ridden Rockshox for a while now my bike came stock with the Rockshox 35 Gold RL, the bigger brother to the Judy with 35mm stanchions. I know that this upgrade would make his bike feel completely different and smoother. I chose this fork because the stanchions were made from aluminum so it would be lighter than the steel variant. This is great because this is going on a kids 24 in the bike. Kids aren’t very strong and the lighter their bike is the more they are more capable to manage it. Although the wheels are 24in I have read on many forums that it would still work. Another reason is that the fork was in our budget range. Coming in at $349 it would be a major upgrade to the coil fork but wouldn’t also be overkill for the bike.

Upon receiving the fork I noticed that the fork was very stealthy and wouldn’t affect his color scheme. The installation process was very straightforward. Cutting the steerer tube was the most stressful part though given I have never done it before. The rest was pretty simple though adding the crown race, spacers, stem, and finally the brake caliper.

The first rides out he immediately noticed that it was more forgiving and soaked up the smaller bumps better.

He also noticed that the front entrance of the bike was way lighter. When replacing the fork I could feel the weight of the coil fork and that thing was heavy compared to the air fork. He said it was easier to jump and move the bike around while riding because the front end was just so light. He also added that the fork felt stiffer because of the slightly bigger stanchions at 30mm. I find that the fork it made him faster and quieter. On the technical sections on rock gardens, he said that there was less strain on his wrists.

Final Thoughts

The fork just soaked up all the bumps so that there isn’t any clatter and excess noise. One Overall this is a must have upgrade on a kids bike or an old 26 in bike with a coil fork. It has more adjustments like compression and rebound to adjust to the rider's preferences.