RockShox Reba RL 29″

Damping

The low speed (blue) compression knob on the top of the fork has an adjustment range from wide open to near lockout. By setting the knob in the middle of its range you can partially firm up the fork, but I found this to be a little harsh, and I would occasionally have the knob migrate to “lock” when I experimented with this.

Once the air spring was dialed with my ad-hoc “bottomless token,” I had no problem riding the fork fully open on the descents, and only used the low-speed damping lockout for long smooth climbs.

At maximum speed in steep, rough, rocky trail conditions, I found that the RL compression cartridge could get overwhelmed. The fork could get a bit harsh, lose some traction, and feel a little less predictable overall.

Marshal Olson reviews the Wolf Tooth DropStop (v2) 32t Chainring for Blister Gear Review
Marshal Olson on the RockShox Reba RL Fork.

This behavior is referred to as “spiking,” and basically is what happens when the damping circuit is overwhelmed by the oil flow. For the highly motivated, there are a number of threads online detailing how to revalve the compression to address this issue, which would be a fairly simple task for a competent bike shop or a do-it-yourselfer.

I didn’t bother to do that—I didn’t feel it was a huge issue overall, and because the chassis itself was overwhelmed with my body weight at the speeds where the RL cartridge spiking would occur, I was content to accept the limitations of the base valving for this fork’s intended use.

Durability

Within 200 miles, the fork developed a bit of a harsh ride for me. I dropped the lowers and inspected the seals, foam ring, and lowers. The foam ring was wet with oil, and the seals were lightly greased, but there was no oil in the lowers. I went ahead and re-lubed the seals and added some fork oil to the lowers.

RockShox recommends this service every 50 hours of use, which correlated to approximately 500 miles of riding. My experience is that by 800 miles of riding, this service needs to be done to just about any fork I have ridden.

Marshal Olson reviews the RockShox Reba RL 29'er fork for Blister Gear Review

Around 275 miles into the test, I put in a few rides in the rain and the fork performance deteriorated again. Upon inspection, there was still oil in the lowers, but the seals and foam rings were all dry, so I touched them up again.

I only rode another 20 miles before I finished testing this fork, so look for Noah Bodman’s and Tom Collier’s comments on how the fork continued to hold up for them.

Value

The RockShox Reba RL fork did need more maintenance than most forks I’ve used, which affects my perceived value. Even though I was able to service the fork myself, it took me a couple hours of labor to keep it running just to ride 300 miles (around 30 hours) with it, which is well below RockShox’s stated interval of service and my general expectations.

For this reason, I can’t say that I see this fork as being a great value. It is a solid performer given its price, and the chassis and damping will treat many lighter or more finesse-oriented riders well, but if it is common for this fork to require a $50 service every 250 miles, when many competitors see 500-750+ miles of riding before needing that same service, then them all-in value of this fork goes down pretty quickly.

Bottom Line

The RockShox Reba RL is the least expensive fork (at retail) in our fork test, and it is a nice fork, though it is definitely not perfect. For those riders looking for a light fork at a fair price that doesn’t have too many bells and whistles, and who have the skill and inclination to service the fork themselves, I would say this fork is a very solid purchase.

For those who (1) are after a bit more of the versatility that’s offered by a more sophisticated damper, (2) need a stiff chassis, or (3) want a fork that is less demanding to set up and keep running, there are other forks in this 29’er test that may be a better option.

3 comments on “RockShox Reba RL 29″”

  1. Very nice review! I’m at Clyde and I just got this fork stock on my bike. I was considering whether I should sell it or replace the damper with the SID RCT3 damper. The frequent maintenance has me leaning towards selling it and buying a Fox fork.

  2. Im planning to buy a 2nd hand 2015/2016 rockshox reba rl TA non-boost 27.5 in a good condition for $200 to replace my xcr suntour qr fork. Do you think it is a good upgrade or should I just get another option with a brand new manitou machete 27.5 TA fork. I’m from the Philippines and the common fork used here is this 2, reba and machete for a 2nd tier fork

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