The Domain is an absolute beast. For the price point there is nothing that stands beside it and it is incredibly capable. It shares alot of similarities to the ZEB (which is an amazing bit single crown fork). The Domain is marketed however to two segments, budget big Enduro/ freeride and the ever-growing e bike market. I had a Domain for a short period of time as it came stock on my rocky mountain Slayer A30. It came at 180mm of travel and Used to run it at 48 PSI, one token and I weight 150 pounds. As previously mentioned I now run Marzzochin Bomber suspension (Z1 fork 170mm) as I found the 180mm of travel for Enduro bike way too much. And yes I found the fork to be incredibly stiff but, it also was so big it felt like it had endless travel. I took down double black knar tech and big jump lines and it felt super supportive and solid. I now have a Marzocchi Bomber Z1 on the same bike in its place for personnal preference but, the Domain is a true "fighting fork". Simple, easy to maintain, simple to set up, cheap and ready to go. I recommend taking this fork to some violent trails once you do an initial test and you'll see what this beast of a fork is truly fork. Hit tech at high speed and go for jump. I agree with wolf man that this fork is alot but at 150mm you'll have alot of fun
Dude awesome write up on the fork, you are so right. This fork negs for more constantly!! The realtime is coming up but this may need to be a longtermer too! Thanks a bunch brother. Would love a 180mm travel one!!!
Lol that rebound knob is fine I have a Zeb Ultimate which is the Bigger brother if the domain and I ride gnarly black diamond trails in the PNW and have never hit that rebound dial once
I just got the Domaine 150mm for my 2023 Trek Roscoe and I could not be happier! I paid $269 for mine for the 29er version. Can’t wait for your impression and comparison on this!
This fork came on my Rail, was going to convert it to 180mm. There's a kit you can get to put Zeb Ultimate parts in it, making it a Domain Ultimate. You're going to fall in love with this fork. Keep shredding 🤙
👊👊 NICE!!! Heard it through the grapevine you had one too!! Be sire to watch the rating and see if you agree!! You should do your own numbers and let us know your score!
LOVE the domain on my Kona process. Took it to Northstar and it just ate up everything!! and it only cost $230 when i bought it!!! even at regular price, its definitely worth it!!
when I install crown races on straight steerer tube forks I use a vacuum cleaner hose extension. lol, it's the perfect size. I just used it today, since I got another bike I'm building to be my winter bike.
Guys, what a show n tell right there ....... "Tick" let me tell you those RockShox Domain will turn your world upside down when you ride on them with the Mongoose. i think personally the all mountain trail hardtail you guys are making with that Mongoose Ardor not only looks amazing but it will be one cool bike to ride. there isnt much you wont be able to do on it (by the looks of it) Awesome mail time your patrons are THE best bunch of guys and gals too. "Wolfman" i think you will lurve that smoker kit too, time for a nice single malt while some cool outdoor cooking .... Cant wait for the ride review of the forks too, great show guys i am sooooo jealous ...... only 9 days until i escape Iraq and get home to UK to start cracking on with the VooDoo HooDoo built (Finally!) Great show guys you guys keep me sane while i work in this place honestly!
That Domane Fork Came on My Trek Rail 9.7 Electric Bike . I liked it bc it picked up small bumps the new 170 mm foxs seems to really only pick up big hits that we recently put on it !
Wolfman's right. You can leak oil if you release air upside down. Happened to me on forks with an negative air chamber also that I tried to empty with the fork right side up with the negative air valve down at the bottom.
Apologies, but that is crap. Your seals are there to stop it leaking. In fact you should leave them upside down to keep the foam ring oiled if your not riding your bike. Lots of people don’t use there forks enough to bring oil from the lowers to splash the foam ring. You can see heaps forks loose the anidazation (or however you spell it) because there is not enough oil splashing
this fork is still on sale on some sites. The strange thing is that the 160mm travel version is less expensive then this 150mm travel version. I honestly want to get the 160mm but as you guys mentioned towards the beginning of the video I think it's going to be a pretty extreme overforking. The frame I am getting next week when offered as a full built bike comes with a 130mm travel fork, so adding another 30mm might be too much. I'm going to have to contact Poseidon and see if 160mm is too much for that frame. I'm also trying to find info on possibly reducing the travel to 150mm or 140mm but I can't find any info, so I'll probably have to contact SRAM and see what they say.
Ardor is the best bike to test it on. but still overforked. But nice you test enduro, freeride type forks too. But now you need a bike for it. About the stiffness. A heavy ride will definitely feel the difference in stiffness on big bumps and stoppies, techy stuff, definitely at super slack head angle. But I know 32mm is pushing it on a trail bike or XC bike with 130mm travel. But I've not tried somewhere between the two extremes. But 36mm is definitely stiff enough for me. So 38mm should will be too. Probably overkill. Mine is EXT Era it's 36mm but e bike approved too.
Air pressure cares not for verticality. The air pressure in a fixed volume can only be affected by a change in temperature or change in external pressure (like going to high elevation) Don't let the old man tell you otherwise.
Question? I never understood the reasoning behind why you have to let the air out and bottom out the fork just to measure the stanchions. Several times I've seen you guys pushing down hard with out any air in the fork. And then the stations don't go back to their proper travel. just like the himalo fork. I figured just do your measurements as is from the factory and not worry about letting the air out. This Rockshox Domain had an 156mm exposed stanchions. And when you did the second measurement after letting the air out it was 138mm.
Don't listen to Wolfman...150mm is perfectly fine for how you ride. My big bikes are 150 and 160mm. Issue will be that much travel will adjust your geometry since I don't think many of your bikes have geometry for this.
I heard recently a guy died at a shop by not letting pressure out of fork . It may be in bicycle retailer soon . I may not be saying it correctly on what he was doing with the fork but it went through his brain .
20:06 I've not heard of these brakes. The design looks good, seems like they might use bearings for the pivots, that's great for longevity. But holes for grip on the lever would be good.
5:39 Riding it with too little pressure to make it fit is not a good idea.I don't know if how much this fork can be lowered internally or if at all, if you need to swap the piston or not. A nice thing with this fork is you can use torque caps, but if you don't you might struggle to get the wheel on, but Newmen offers adapter that fills up the area, it has adhesive side, so just remove film and install.
I have the rockshox zeb which is basically a higher end version . I have it on my trek Rail and for an ebike or any bike for downhill it’s awesome but for a trail bike way to heavy and stiff.
180mm is a lot on the Ardor! Climbing would be difficult for sure. The Ardor is already a pretty slack frame. 120mm to 130mm would probably be better. Anytime you change out a budget bike fork, you need a headset. I believe on the Ardor, some headtubes are a 44-55, and some are 44-56. We like the Jessica (sorry Jason) headset for the price.
I saw this for sale at that price but I had to pass because I didn’t want to take the weight penalty and it is way too much fork for the trails I ride. I am curious if the travel is adjustable on that fork and if so by how much.
I dont feel it's to much fork for an ebike, especially for some of the homebuilt one i've seen.. hell my ebike weighs in at 55lb "without" my 200lb ass on it lol
No it will NOT FIT. Your GT is a straight tube. You need a tapered head tube for it to fit. Your better off getting the the 30mm Rockshox Judy straight tube.