RockShox: The curtain is lifted

RockShox has been teasing people about its new forks for some time on a dedicated website. Now, selected journalists from North America have been given the opportunity to test the suspension pioneer's latest forks for the first time. The "Reba" is interesting for touring riders who value a lightweight bike: with adjustable travel from 85 to 115 millimeters, these forks weigh just 1600 grams. Those who like to push themselves and their bike harder should take a closer look at the "Pike": Its suspension travel can be adjusted from 95 to 140 millimetres ? but it also weighs well over 2 kilograms.

The new RockShox fork generation is the first to be developed under the SRAM umbrella. What has remained is the "U-Turn" wheel for adjusting the suspension travel, which will now even be fitted to the "Boxxer" forks. Apart from that, RockShox presents a whole bunch of new solutions. Central to the "Motion Control Damping" technology is the so-called "Floodgate": the oil flow of this secondary damper chamber can be adjusted in the compression stage over a wide range up to complete blockage.

... and new thumb lever for operation
This is done using a thumb lever, which is attached to the handlebars and is available in two versions: In the simpler "Pop Loc" as well as the luxurious "Pop Loc Adjust" version. If the fork has to take a heavy hit when locked, it opens again automatically, which should prevent damage to the internals.

"Maxle": A "Tullio" replacement?
For the "Pike" forks, RockShox has also designed a new hybrid solution consisting of a quick-release and thru-axle, which is called "Maxle": A 20-millimeter axle is slid into dropouts that strongly resemble those of the tried-and-tested "Tullio" system of the "Psylo" forks. Instead of bolting the axle directly to the dropout, the "Maxle" system clamps it with the help of a quick-release lever. The whole thing is somehow reminiscent of the "QR20" solution from Marzocchi.