Rock Shox SID SL Ultimate Race Day [Rider Review]

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When mountain bike suspension forks first came out you had to make a choice between light weight and performance. these days you can have both, a super light cross country fork that performs awesome. Our friend Mark gives us the lowdown on the Rock Shox SID SL Ultimate Race Day fork. Check it out! 

Overview

2020 was a crazy year and wrecked have on the mountain bike supply chain, so I had no plan on replacing my bike for the 2021 race season. That was until I stumbled upon an in-stock Large Orbea Oiz at my little local Orbea shop, it didn’t take me long to decide to buy a new bike. I loved the bike as it stood, Shimano XTR, Fox Factory Suspension, Carbon frame, carbon bars, dropper; but I tend to refine my bikes to my tastes. Even though it was specced out with top-of-the-line components, I really wanted to get the weight down as much as possible. I also wanted to try out Rock Shox SID SL Ultimate Race Day fork, which was lighter, stiffer, and easier to do maintenance than the Fox Factory SC Fit4. By changing to the SID, I was able to drop over 100g from the front end of my bike. — in total, I was able to drop 2lbs from the OEM build, and got my bike’s weight down to 20.5lbs!! — Anyways, back to my review.

The feel compared to the Fox and the SID is remarkable. Although the Fit4 damper is great, it does reach its limits on repeated hits and it’s not as plush as the new Race Day Damper from Rock Shox. With the Race Day Damper, I feel like I can descend with more confidence thanks to the increased stiffness, better mid-stroke support, and all in a lighter package.On my previous bike, a Canyon LUX, I had the previous generation SID. I thought that was a great fork as well. But after my first ride on the new Sid, I was impressed with how plush, yet supportive it felt. I was really surprised, b/c I thought that the bigger heavier Charger Damper in the old SID would do a better job handling repeated hits, and making it feel plusher.

I noticed a big improvement in areas like, the mid-stroke, rebound, where my previous SID would feel a little under-gunned when I was riding my bike on trails that weren’t intended for it and had lots of square edges.

Somehow Rockshox worked its magic to make this Race Day Damper, over 100g lighter, and smaller, but deliver not only comparable perforce, but massively improved performance. But on those same trails with this new fork, I feel like it just floats over it, providing so much more traction to my front wheel, helping me brake later, and descend faster. And lastly, even in the smaller size, with less oil, Rockshox was able to design this new damper to have the same long 200-hour rebuild intervals and simple lower leg services.

Final Thoughts 

With my Fox Factory SC Fit4 that I took off, I was able to sell it for $950, which is exactly what I paid for the Rock Shox SID, so this was a “free” upgrade for my bike. I am really happy with how Rock Shox has improved upon their existing Rock Shox SID Ultimate, and new Race Day Damper to create an amazing fork. So like I said, getting this fork was a No-Brainer!