RST surprised us with a sneak peek at their prototype inverted suspension fork, which boasts a full magnesium one-piece upper. It’s aimed at the XC and trail crowd, but will get a 15×110 axle, the newer width being used for “boost” hubs. So it’ll likely work for the 27.5+ as well as 29er, though the latter is its primary target.
Internals are secret for now, but there’ll be measures to prevent the 32mm stanchions from turning independently. Expect a weight around 1,700g and travel options from 100mm to 140mm.
Head past the break for more details, pics and other new products…
The heavily shaped crown has a lot of work to do to keep the legs stiff.
It’s hard to tell from the pics, but the upper legs are slightly oblong, suggesting some sort of keyed shape or mechanism to prevent the lowers from twisting.
They said they stuck with 15mm thru axles instead of 20mm to keep the weight down and that in their computer modeling and preliminary testing, it’s showing as stiff enough to prevent uneven leg movement.
It’s unnamed so far, but it’s in their 2017 model year plans. They said development is moving along briskly, though, so it could be here well before the turn of the following year.
Their Stealth Elev8 dropper post coming around June, joining their standard remote and lever actuated models.
Retail is around $250 and it’ll have the same internals as the standard Elev8, just flipped, and you can convert the standard one to stealth on your own with an aftermarket kit.
The 34mm stanchion Rogue trail fork is getting a wider, 27.5+ version with 110mm hub spacing.
The RST Renegade fat bike fork was introduced last fall, but it just started rolling onto the market.
Basics are 32mm stanchions, external compression and rebound adjustments, air spring and travel from 80 to 120 millimeters.
Oh, and it’ll be available with straight and tapered steerers.
