Rock Shox: First information on "The Red Pill

So far, only buzzwords were known about the next innovation from Rock Shox: The project name "The Red Pill" and the magic word "Motion Control Damping" had to suffice as information. Now the veil has been lifted a little. The aim is a suspension whose characteristics can be adapted to the respective requirements without a pump or tools. And which, despite the adjustment options, does not require increased maintenance. It is now revealed that the new forks can be fine-tuned from the handlebars or crown in both open and locked-out mode. Even in lock-out mode, a residual spring travel is retained and the fork opens automatically as soon as major vibrations occur. That sounds very promising.

Some of the key terms of Rock Shox's new "Motion Control Damping" still require more concise German translations, but we have been familiar with them since the presentation of Specialized's BRAIN bikes with their inertia valve. At Rock Shox, "Flood Gate" is one such word: this overpressure valve can be used to set how much travel the fork should retain when locked out. The further the valve is opened, the less travel is left. It is also possible to set how strong a shock must be to deactivate the lock-out. This prevents damage to the damper cartridge.

In the "open" state, some of the new forks also offer adjustable compression damping. This is intended to prevent the fork from dipping unpleasantly low when braking, in tight corners or on steep gradients. The first pictures released by Rock Shox promise a much higher quality finish than before: The knobs on top of the fork legs certainly look more like anodized aluminium than plastic. The veil on "The Red Pill" should finally be lifted at the latest at the "Bike Days Biel-Bienne", the Swiss bike festival on the second weekend in May. It will then become clear whether the promised adjustment options will be of any use to the end user ? and not overwhelm them.