Recently at the Taipei International Cycle show, Rock Shox finally showed their hand when it comes to the future of axle standards for mountain bikes. After sticking to their guns about the 20 vs. 15mm debate, Rock Shox decided to offer the brand spanking new Sektor in setups to cover all the bases. If you read my last post on the new Easton Haven wheels, you noticed that they only accepted 15mm thru-axles. This means that if a customer wants to run those wheels or any other 15mm only wheels, it forced them to choose a fork other than Rock Shox. While certain tests have shown that there is negligible difference between the function of a 15mm vs. 20mm axle, this will at least allow customers more choices for front ends regardless of which is truly better.
The fork will be a 150mm travel fork that seems to fall in just beneath the Rock Shox Revelation in their trail/all mountain line up. The fork will still be available in the 2o mm Maxle Lite, in addition to the 15mm Thru and 9mm standard quick release models. Tipping the scales at 4.33 lbs for the Solo Air, the new Sektor is slightly heavier than the Revelation, but still respectably light for this category. Coil, Solo Air, and Uturn spring systems for most models are the norm for Rock Shox, and the Sektor is no different. The fork will also be offered in every steerer imaginable, with 1 1/8th, 1 1/8th tapered to 1.5, and straight 1.5.
Specs:
• Solo Air and Coil Sektor: 130, 140, 150 mm travel
• U-Turn Sektor: 100-140 mm or 110-150 mm travel
• Damping: Motion Control (RL), TurnKey Lockout (TK), external rebound (R)
• Forged, hollow 6061-T6 aluminum crown
• 32 mm 7075 aluminum upper tubes
• Redesigned external rebound adjuster
• 9 mm QR, 15 mm thru-axle, 20 mm Maxle Lite options available
• 1 1/8″ steerer, tapered 1 1/8″- 1 1/2″ steerer, 1 1/2″ steerer options
