Hey everybody welcome or welcome back!
For those of you racing cross country you know that Rockshox SID is a household name.
This 32 mm chassis has been used since 2016
but in 2020 Rockshox introduced this
the 35 mm stanchion SID which is still supposed to be a cross-country fork
but just a bit stiffer and better overall.
Usually all the reviews give you information about the ULTIMATE forks, not the SELECT or SELECT+
Here I have 2 SELECT forks, one is a 2020, one is a 2021.
Why don't we take a look at them side by side!
The 120 mm SID in 2020 still had that 51 mm offset as an option
however the 2021 SID only comes in as a 29er and only comes in with 44 millimeter offset .
Rockshox did that in redesigning the fork, what did they change?
Pretty much everything with one exception,
you see that Charger RL (damper) that existed in the Select forks before
that Charger RL is one of the options for the new versions also.
Both the SID SL that uses 32 mm stanchions and 100 mm travel
as well as the SID, without the SL, but has the beefier 35 mm stanchions.
Charger RL is a simplified, cheaper version of the older Charger RLC.
This RLC was replaced by the Charger Race Day in the Ultimate version of the current SID forks.
The Race Day damper only has an Open and Closed position and nothing in between.
This older RLC also has the ability to adjust your Open position by adding some compression over here.
Charger RL can adjust that compression damping with 5 clicks, this being fully open to somewhat closed
and that is because this is not a full lockout as you would expect.
The 2020 fork is no different in that regard, add all the compression here
and you're gonna slow down or add a lot of compression.
It makes it harder to compress but definitely not a full lockout as you would expect from a cross-country fork
Otherwise at the bottom of this right leg you're gonna find the rebound adjustment, you get 25 clicks here.
Up top on the CSU you have the serial number of the fork you plug that into the SRAM Trailhead application or website
and you're gonna get all the details of this fork upgrades, everything you want.
You have your Shrader valve underneath this little cap
Remove this top cap with a cassette tool and you can use volume spacers to adjust the way the air spring feels.
These days Rockshox talks about their DebonAir air spring and this is one of those,
you can see the Max travel which is a few mm from the full length of the stanchions,
you get the sag gradients for 120 and the 110 mm fork.
On the Trailhead application or site you're also going to get suggestions for pressure and rebound.
That's also printed here at the back of your left leg.
As expected on the left leg you're going to get the mounts for your caliper.
This works natively with 180 mm discs unlike other cross country bikes
so if you want to install the 160 mm discs you would have to go for the SID SL, the 32 mm stanchion fork.
For more torsional stiffness of these forks, SRAM recommends using their Torque Cap
that's nothing more than wider end caps for your hubs
and that's why you have this bigger cutout on their forks around their axle.
This fork is shipped with a MAXLE thru axle that requires that 6 mm Allen to install and remove.
If you're wondering about tire clearance, what I have in here is yes, this is a MAXXIS Minion DHF
and this is a 29 x 2.5, I still have quite a bit of room around it
so I don't think tire clearance would be a problem for the current 120 SID.
The old SID is not bad in that regard either
however the new chassis has been worked on to shave weight
and you can see these cutouts here on the CSU, here at the bottom on the lowers
also this arch it's a lot skinnier compared to what we had on the old SID.
And if you look carefully at this redesigned arch you're going to see two screw holes
one over there, one over here, they are meant to be used with this Rockshox branded mudguard
that actually looks pretty neat it fits perfectly in here.
This only works with a 35 mm stanchion SID, not with the SID SL or the older generation.
And I know that you guys care about weight, this SID Select with the 6.5 inches (165mm) steerer comes up to 1665 grams.
If I add the thru axle here, that makes it 1700 grams
and if you add the mudguard here's your 1734g
This 1700 grams would be about 150 grams lighter than a Rockshock PIKE for instance.
That's 1700 grams it's pretty much the weight of the SID 120 mm with the 32 mm stanchions (2020)
with the added benefit of this new chassis, that's pretty much a mini PIKE lightweight fork.
Before the weather turned bad I had the chance to ride this fork a couple of times on my local trails.
And even though this seemed to be a bit flexier fore - aft compared to the bigger cousin, the PIKE
overall the fork performed very well, I can't say that I was limited by its performance in any way
I was limited by the travel that it provides, but not the way it works.
Definitely stiffer than the 32 mm fork that it replaces
and overall this Charger RL damper is really good, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again.
SRAM is going to offer new seal heads for the new SID and the previous generation
but in my experience I don't know if this is going to make such a big difference.
That fork seems pretty plush the way it is
I would say on par with the pike that I compare with earlier.
The new 35 mm chassis feels better than the 32 mm 120 mm that we had in 2020
so if I was to choose between these two forks I think I would pick this one every time.
That entry level Charger damper is actually really good, it's not different than what we had in the past
but remember that you can replace this with the Charger Race Day and lose some grams in the process as well.
In case you're wondering yes, this is the fork that I used on that cheap carbon bike.
It is a light trail bike or a downcountry bike if you want to call it that, this 120 SID works very well on it.
Have you folks had a chance to look at this new 35 mm SID?
Are you interested in this cheaper SID Select or you're looking for the more expensive ULTIMATE?
Did you find this useful? Let me know in the comments below.
Let me know if you have any questions and until next time
hope to see you folks on the trails.
Cheers guys, cheers!