So far I haven't had any problems during commuting and casual riding, but just out of curiosity I researched my suspension fork. Seems that a lot of folks totally condemn the RST T8, calling them "total crap" and saying they're prone to failure in a short time period. I have no plans on taking my commuter hybrid down a MTB trail. I ride on streets and a occasional smooth dirt or gravel path. Does anyone have experience using these forks? Do I really need to be worried?

They are part of getting a Low Price point.. there are suspension forks
at top levels that are priced like many people pay for the whole bike..

so unrealistic to find those on lower tier bikes

you might really be fine with a non suspension replacement fork.

i agree with bicyclebob.

just ride it replace it with something rigid or a better suspension fork when it wears out.

i read about the same complaints with my DART 3 fork.

i couldn't care less.

Don't worry - be happy!
There's absolutely no chance of a sudden failure of your front fork and - the general concensus is that a front suspension is really unneccessary for a city bike anyway due to the more upright riding position adopted by most riders of commuter hybrids. So even if the limits of the fork become less than optimal - you won't notice! You won't be pushing those limits! Chances are it'll last as long as your interest in that particular bike.

Those are likely people using them for mountain biking. They are complete crap as a real mountain bike fork but they will work great on a commuter if you want something to take the edge off of things like potholes. If it wears out you will likely be just as happy with a rigid fork but most lower end forks like yours take a couple thousand miles at least to really wear out on a commuter.

Also, the way these things wear out is just getting progressively worse play in the bushings so it will feel kind of like a loose headset. You don't have to worry about catastrophic failure unless you start taking it off of some sweet jumps.

I think they probably judged your bike suspension for what bike suspensions are mainly used for, Mountain biking. So it may be crap for mountain biking but for commuting on smooth streets I think it will be fine.

My bike is a 2002 Trek 7500, it came with a crappy suspension fork as well, I have had no problems. I tighten mine all the way to make them more rigid. Chances are you'll wind up replacing the bike before the fork goes bad.