Iwan Kemp Posted March 27, 2014 Share It was possible 10 years ago to engineer and build an inverted MTB fork. The challenge was the oversize wheel hub axles were not the industry standard. The moment a proprietry hub was needed people ran for the hills. Look at how much prejudice was leveled against Lefty from launch in 2000 through to around 2011 when proprietary suddenly became cool. Now that thru axles are common an inverted forks need for some proprietary parts is not an issue True. One piece of tech makes another possible. I still think we should all be on 20mm and be done with it and give 10mm to roadies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoke101 Posted March 27, 2014 Share Sales would go nowhere.Would have to agree with you there. I was just looking at other top end forks: Top Fox electronic lockout R19 000.00 Fox 40 Air R28 000.00 RS Sid XX WC R16 000.00 and with the exchange rate most suppliers are saying 35% increase so hopefully im wrong and RS manage to keep pricing the same or maybe a bit lower but I wouldn't hold my breath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nox1111 Posted March 27, 2014 Share I'm far from an engineer - so this is how it makes sense to me...Upside forks have similar advantages that Aluminium wheel and suspension components on sportscars have.The moving parts are lighter and that means the suspension can react quicker with less load to deal with - so better dampening and rebound.Think holding a dumbell and doing quick movements with your arm, vs holding a tennis ball and doing the same movements... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Deon) Posted March 27, 2014 Share I'm far from an engineer - so this is how it makes sense to me...Upside forks have similar advantages that Aluminium wheel and suspension components on sportscars have.The moving parts are lighter and that means the suspension can react quicker with less load to deal with - so better dampening and rebound.Think holding a dumbell and doing quick movements with your arm, vs holding a tennis ball and doing the same movements...I get it but I think I'd need to be an engineer to truly appreciate what you are saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fantana Posted March 27, 2014 Share I'm far from an engineer - so this is how it makes sense to me...Upside forks have similar advantages that Aluminium wheel and suspension components on sportscars have.The moving parts are lighter and that means the suspension can react quicker with less load to deal with - so better dampening and rebound.Think holding a dumbell and doing quick movements with your arm, vs holding a tennis ball and doing the same movements... You are talking about unsprung mass and sprung mass here. The unsprung mass is the sum of the mass of all the components below the spring . Basically all the components not supported by the spring. With a conventional FS mountain bike, your wheel, axle, tyre and fork lowers will make up the front unsprung mass. With an inverted fork it will be the wheel axle, tyre and the stanchions. A heavier unsprung mass will have a higher inertia, which means that it will not react and return as fast as a lower unsprung mass. It will require a stronger rebound to return after hitting an obstacle. However this can be overcome by fork settings and adjustments up to a certain point. I am not sure what the difference (if any) between the unpsrung mass of a conventional fork vs an upside down fork will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nox1111 Posted March 27, 2014 Share What Brian said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted March 27, 2014 Share Blah Blah Fish Paste ................ never mind RE the internals as yet or any other tech talk ....... all that really matters right now is that that fork is H O T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalf Posted March 27, 2014 Share What about the disk brakes? I see at the back there is a piece sticking out (im guessing that is where the brake will ount), but that doesnt look to strong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylark Posted March 27, 2014 Share What about the disk brakes? I see at the back there is a piece sticking out (im guessing that is where the brake will ount), but that doesnt look to strong. Ja good point that, where are they mounted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fantana Posted March 27, 2014 Share Ja good point that, where are they mounted? Post mount, you can see a small part of it in this photo: And this one: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoLefty!! Posted March 27, 2014 Share Yes it will be post mount Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwan Kemp Posted March 27, 2014 Share http://youtu.be/AsbjxE_YUZE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoLefty!! Posted March 27, 2014 Share What I really like about this fork is the mud clearance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulTeague Posted March 27, 2014 Share Personally I think it's quite attention grabbing, but I have absolutely no complaints with non-inverted fork arrangement... Also, my concerns on this system would be1) doesn't the lower stanchions offer themselves more to damage since they are closer to the ground?and 2)what about when you go through water...is it a good thing moving parts, o-rings, seals etc to be going through water??...i would expect there to be either better sealing systems needed, or more frequent maintenance needed My feeling is that (correct me if i'm wrong)...in the motorcycle world, this inverted system has existed for a long time, is quite popular for road bikes/cruisers (due to novel appeal) but isnt too popular for offroad...and it probably isnt popular because the normal system has always worked fine...since motrobike forks experience greater forces than our average mountain bike fork....i think i'm gonna wait for the motorbike guys to develop some new gadget first. For fellow cyclists...you should totally buy this amazing fork and sell me your old top-end fork for cheap... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylark Posted March 27, 2014 Share I thought upside down forks were the defacto fork for Mx bikes that hammer it through the mud/muck and water?I personally don't ever ride my bike through water anything close to the depth of my axles, over the axles is just asking for trouble no matter the fork... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewbacca Posted March 27, 2014 Share Scratched Stanchions? These forks look rad... But Im with the guys worried about the nicks on the 'lowers' which would destroy my seals and leak oil down onto my axel and my hub..... Dunno.... Like Hairy said, it looks H O T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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