Upgrade the RockShox 35 Gold or just ride it out?

PB Forum :: All Mountain, Enduro & Cross-Country
Upgrade the RockShox 35 Gold or just ride it out?
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flag Osirian
O+
Posted: Aug 30, 2020 at 20:26 Quote
I recently purchased a new rig equipped with a 150mm RockShox 35 Gold. As any sane person would do, I started looking for upgrades to the fork. Maybe some new seals when it goes in for the first service, or perhaps one of the new DebonAir air spring kits.

Nope. Nothing. Nada.

Then I started browsing some forums, and lemme tell ya... I have been convinced I *NEED* to get rid of this fork. It isn't compatible with any of the upgrade kits for the Pike or Lyrik. I can't drop in the new air spring. The thread pitches are different. IT'S NOT EVEN A *REAL* DEBONAIR AIR SPRING.

Now I'm not sure what to do. The real riders over on these forums say that it's just not worth using, my local bike shop told me it was a nice fork but definitely not Pike level, and there are multiple brand new take-offs up for sale on the BuySell here.


TL;DR
Is the 35 Gold absolute hot garbage that is going to kill me on my next descent or should I ride this for a while because it's probably a decent, stiff entry level fork?
flag justwan-naride
Posted: Aug 30, 2020 at 21:10 Quote
No experience with the 35, but I was in a similar position with the Yari that was spec'ed on my bike. I upgraded to debonair, serviced frequently, experimented for months with tokens, air pressure, different oil viscosity in the damper... I wasn't satisfied, I was getting beaten up on longer descends or losing traction too easily on short rough patches. Finally the stanchion anodising on one leg started to wear off and I decided to buy something better. I should have done this earlier, a good fork goes a long way improving your riding experience. Get the best you can. Stiffness is good, but the damper is the heart of the fork.

BTW I got a used DVO Diamond and can certainly recommend it. Top performance, adjustability and customer support.
flag Osirian
O+
Posted: Aug 31, 2020 at 6:26 Quote
Basically get something good right out of the box then. Makes sense to me. And with torque caps being the only "upgrade" that can be done to the 35, there's not a whole lot of tinkering I can do to it unlike your Yari.

How's the Diamond? I hear really good things about DVO suspension but I've never had the chance to really get acquainted with a DVO setup. My only concern is the weight is a little heftier than other comparable 35-36mm stanchion forks, and most of my mid-week rides are less of long climbs and descents and more of shorts bursts of both with minimal maximum elevation gain.
flag Osirian
O+
Posted: Aug 31, 2020 at 6:38 Quote
Also, I just found out I can't use torque caps because my Shimano SLX hubs have centerlock rotors on them. Interesting spec choice by Salsa to put a torque cap compatible fork with a full SLX kit, knowing full well that the caps and hubs aren't compatible...
flag blakplastic
Posted: Aug 31, 2020 at 10:40 Quote
I would just burn my whole bike if I were you. Gasoline and a match.
flag justwan-naride
Posted: Aug 31, 2020 at 20:43 Quote
Osirian wrote:
How's the Diamond? I hear really good things about DVO suspension but I've never had the chance to really get acquainted with a DVO setup.

The Diamond is great. I haven't had the chance to tinker with other high end forks and make a direct comparison, but it's very adjustable and it takes much, much longer for arm pump to appear, if at all, compared to the Yari.

I also had a friend's bike with a Pike for two weeks and it's a fork I could easily live with. The Diamond has the OTT which gives amazing small bump sensitivity though and it's adjustable in almost every way, including travel. Their damper works great on repeated hits and the occasional bottom out is still very smooth. I wouldn't be looking to upgrade If I had a Pike to start with, but overall I prefer the DVO.

Pike vs Diamond there is a weight difference you can feel, but Yari vs Diamond I couldn't tell. Most of the upgrades on my ht have added weight anyway, but I found that it's mostly tyre choice that determines how fast a bike feels.
flag konar7
Posted: Dec 7, 2020 at 14:33 Quote
FAST Suspension has an upgrade kit for 35 Gold. Check it out -> https://www.fast-suspension.com/en/mtb-fork-kit/4-25-up-kit-for-fork.html#/15-rock_shox_model-rock_shox_yari/
flag ridingrascal
Posted: Dec 8, 2020 at 7:52 Quote
It’s not hot garbage...
It’s just low end and can be ridden to hard by some riders. I’d get DvO or Cane creek helm.
flag benneyboi
Posted: Dec 8, 2020 at 7:54 Quote
ridingrascal wrote:
It’s not hot garbage...
It’s just low end and can be ridden to hard by some riders. I’d get DvO or Cane creek helm.
If you have a ton of money......sure.
i would recommend staying with more well-known forks that you are able to get a good price on a used or sale one.
flag cryton
Posted: Dec 8, 2020 at 9:27 Quote
I owned a RS 35 for about 8 months, it was horrible. Had to send it back to be fixed, but it didnt really help. I just sold the bike instead and got one with a pike.

I'd look at the take-off forks for sale.
flag SenditforJesus
Posted: Dec 11, 2020 at 7:55 Quote
It would feel amazing compared to a spring xc sr suntor cheap trash fork.
You just have to put it up against that, and it will feel a ton better.
flag Snake-Plisskin
Posted: Dec 11, 2020 at 8:19 Quote
Osirian wrote:
I recently purchased a new rig equipped with a 150mm RockShox 35 Gold. As any sane person would do, I started looking for upgrades to the fork. Maybe some new seals when it goes in for the first service, or perhaps one of the new DebonAir air spring kits.

Nope. Nothing. Nada.

Then I started browsing some forums, and lemme tell ya... I have been convinced I *NEED* to get rid of this fork. It isn't compatible with any of the upgrade kits for the Pike or Lyrik. I can't drop in the new air spring. The thread pitches are different. IT'S NOT EVEN A *REAL* DEBONAIR AIR SPRING.

Now I'm not sure what to do. The real riders over on these forums say that it's just not worth using, my local bike shop told me it was a nice fork but definitely not Pike level, and there are multiple brand new take-offs up for sale on the BuySell here.


TL;DR
Is the 35 Gold absolute hot garbage that is going to kill me on my next descent or should I ride this for a while because it's probably a decent, stiff entry level fork?

How many bottomless tokens are you using?
flag zstover
O+
Posted: Dec 11, 2020 at 11:32 Quote
That fork (35 Gold) is hot trash.

I got a takeoff 2021 Yari RC in the correct offset off the buy/sell section. Changed the air spring to correct travel and got the charger 2.1 damper (RCT3 flavor). Saved a few $ vs buying a lyrik and probably having to change travel anyway.

I did this after renting a few bikes with forks that were really nice. Now my fork is really nice.
flag zstover
O+
Posted: Dec 11, 2020 at 11:35 Quote
konar7 wrote:
FAST Suspension has an upgrade kit for 35 Gold. Check it out -> https://www.fast-suspension.com/en/mtb-fork-kit/4-25-up-kit-for-fork.html#/15-rock_shox_model-rock_shox_yari/

Actually, there was someone that tried that on another forum and it was a disaster. They took their existing threaded cap for that upgrade on the pike/yari/lyrik and re-cut the existing threads to match the pitch of the 35 gold cap. Not sure if they fixed it, but you can get a better used fork for nearly that same cost.

Don't be their guinea pig.
flag Jonsey21
O+
Posted: Dec 24, 2020 at 7:52 Quote
I think it's a great fork. I have a fox 36 with grip2 also and the differences are small. I'm a hard charging downhill rider and the fork feels fine and unless your livelihood depends on setting the fastest times on a track you'll be just fine with the 35!
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