The people at Rock Shox don't have to put up with the accusation of producing "me too" products. At the same time, the engineers emphasize that they have by no means invented the upside-down principle - the Dorado fork from Manitou has been rolling down the slopes upside-down for a long time or the market newcomer DVO is setting fresh accents with the Emerald fork in this design.

What's new, however, is the exclusive use of this design for a 29er fork. Sram builds the upper fork section entirely from carbon fiber to save weight. With a total weight of 1666 grams, the RS 1 can certainly be seen on a 29er race bike and Rock Shox also flexes its muscles for the RS 1 with an opulent carbon construction.

System integration for stiffness
However, the music plays at the bottom of the fork: system integration is used to give the suspension fork stiffness. Sram contributed a new type of hub with a 15 millimeter Maxle axle for quick release. Around this axle, a so-called torque tube is used to reinforce this clamping system and ensure better transmission of braking forces and less twisting of the fork legs through a positive connection between the dropouts and the hub. Sram is currently sending three wheelsets - Rise XX, Rise 60 29" and Roam 50 29" - into the race to make the RS 1 presentable.

The newly designed damping cartridge features a Solo Air air spring, which offers two lockout positions by means of a hydraulic locking lever with Sprint and Full Sprint. The final progression of the spring travel can be adjusted using plastic inserts that are simply screwed in on the air side of the fork. Also on board is the Rapid Recovery system known from the shocks, which is designed to work in such a way that the fork does not sink into the suspension travel with many consecutive hits, but instead works actively in the mid-travel range.

The RS 1 will first see the light of day on the market from June - in 80, 100 and 120 millimeter travel versions.

www.rockshox.com