i am looking at several bikes and they each have different forks, none of which i know anything about. the forks are: judy tt, manitou six, marzocchi mz-comp, RST Gilla Plus-T6 and the Manitou Axle Elite.does anyone know anything about these forks? how do they compare? thanks

They're all low end forks and pretty crappy across the board. Check www.mtbr.com for reviews.

are they all equally crappy? i am getting my first mtb and this looks like the kind of fork i will be getting.

They are probably all within a certain price range so therefore (generally) they will perform the same. You can ride a low end fork for a while but you'll be happy once you upgrade. Do some research and get some prices for various forks. Of course, prices vary between stores/sites but you'll start to get an idea of what's good. And it's OK to buy what everyone else has....some brands are popular 'cuz they work well!

Also pay close attention to what style of riding you do and get a fork for that, don't just go by travel...

Out of those mentioned, the MZ-Comp feels best in my opinion.

As mentioned, all of the forks are fairly similar so I wouldn't let that influence your bike choice. Go based off of frame feel and fit....that's more important than the fork because you can always upgrade the fork later.

Now there's a helpful thing to say to someone who has a question

I don't know anything about these forks but like the others said, the fork is always upgradable. Buy for the frame.
Good luck!
rob

As if you had some wonderously insightful comment Sparky. I told him the truth about the forks. Beyond that we have the FAQ's

Ride em till they explode then upgrade. Go ahead and start saving now for a new set because they aren't cheap..

I have the RST Gilla T5's and they do the job for now. I bottom them out and literally beat the crap out of them. Best thing about riding a crappy fork is that you'll become a better rider in the long run as you won't be pampered like you would with a good fork. If you can learn to ride good and fast on a junk fork, imagine what you'll be like on a pimp daddy set...

Well, I agree with everyone. Its best to start out with a well balanced bike. You can upgrade all the parts later. Little by little, depends by ur budget. As for me I just bought a bike manufacture by Polygon. The model is Quatro. It costs around RM940. Quite good for its price. Its a full aluminium. I thought of buying a TREK but i forget about it coz the cheapest model cost RM1000 (hardtail) and the specs is not as good a Quatro. Anyway the point is, you should start out with a well part bikes. Not the super high-end suspension cause it will only cause you more. As for me, my next upgrade will be my front suspension. Im upgrading my RST Capa T4 to RockShox Sid. And my next maybe it will be a huge 1 which is changing it to 27 speed cause not its only 24. Anyway good luck in choosing ur bike.