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Rock Shox 2005 Product Preview at Velonews.com

Ridemonkey

This is not an active account
Sep 18, 2002
4,108
1
Toronto, Canada
This time of year is almost like Christmas for those of us who love bicycles and the annual improvements to the technology that adds to the pleasure of riding them. That's right, it's time for the 2005 product roll-outs!

I've really been enjoying the fact that next year's suspension product lines are going to be marked by serious competition and some major developments. Manufacturers have been particularly eager to showcase technology to help them hold or regain a foothold in the lucrative bicycle suspension fork and shock market. Manitou was first this year to debut its 2005 product offerings in Scottsdale, Arizona in mid-February. For the past three days, RockShox has fired back with a roll-out of its own radical suspension technology.

Read more at www.velonews.com
 

MtnbikeMike

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2004
2,637
1
The 909
Originally posted by mplutodh1
WTF? Leave it to RS to make one of the oddest looking internals:

if it rides nice, who cares how it looks?

but, knowing roch shox current offerings......it probably won't
 

Shanks

Chimp
Jan 3, 2004
39
0
Ontario, Canada
In my case with suspension, Its always the metal parts that fail first....... :o:

The new boxxer looks dope. I can holy hope (aswell as many racers) that they ditched the Hydra Coil 2 system. It works sorta OK, a little better if you spend an afternoon with a file, 4 drill bits and changing springs in the damper. The "Pur" System (also knowen as Manitous TPC+) would work way better. High frequancy absorbsion and sweet progression.

I use the dorado cause I wanted a fork that I didnt have to modifie or constantly have to find a way to make it better working. But I make sweet coil fixing everybody elese!
 

ska todd

Turbo Monkey
Oct 10, 2001
1,776
0
ps...the red thing w/ holes isn't just a "plastic part", it's a very firm elastomer and serves a functional purpose.

Plastic isn't all bad...remember a couple years ago everyone was saying "plastic" bashguards would never work, now it's heresey around here to ride anything different.

-ska todd
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,016
Sleazattle
Originally posted by ska todd
ps...the red thing w/ holes isn't just a "plastic part", it's a very firm elastomer and serves a functional purpose.

Plastic isn't all bad...remember a couple years ago everyone was saying "plastic" bashguards would never work, now it's heresey around here to ride anything different.

-ska todd
All these new fangles plastic and aluminium parts are just fancy high falutin' trash. If t'aint wood or cast iron it is crap.:monkey:
 

Repack

Turbo Monkey
Nov 29, 2001
1,889
0
Boston Area
Originally posted by Shanks
. The "Pur" System (also knowen as Manitous TPC+) would work way better. High frequancy absorbsion and sweet progression.
I'd be careful saying that Manitou invented TPC. They didn't. It operates in the EXACT same way as resivoir rear shocks have since they were invented. They were just the first to realize that it could be applied to a MTB fork.
 
Originally posted by ska todd


Plastic isn't all bad...remember a couple years ago everyone was saying "plastic" bashguards would never work, now it's heresey around here to ride anything different.

-ska todd
Evil/E13 isn't exactly the garden variety plastic, but a fiberglass mix, which is way ahead of the plastics that we cansider, well, plastics. And besides, having a piece of bashguard is just a little, maybe, just maybe, than the most sophisticated piece of machinery in a tight-tolerance required enviornment.

Besides, MRP for life!!!
 

ska todd

Turbo Monkey
Oct 10, 2001
1,776
0
Originally posted by nicklin
Evil/E13 isn't exactly the garden variety plastic, but a fiberglass mix, which is way ahead of the plastics that we cansider, well, plastics.
That's EXACTLY what I was getting at! You can't look at a picture of something and write it off as sub par w/o seeing it in person or riding it. I have played with the exact part in the picture and felt the forks on a bike. They definately feel sweet! I haven't ridden them yet as I have been broken but after Otter I will be back on the mtb and ready to try em out!

-ska todd
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
Originally posted by nicklin
Evil/E13 isn't exactly the garden variety plastic, but a fiberglass mix, which is way ahead of the plastics that we cansider, well, plastics. And besides, having a piece of bashguard is just a little, maybe, just maybe, than the most sophisticated piece of machinery in a tight-tolerance required enviornment.

Besides, MRP for life!!!
Not only is the 888 tall, but it has plastic in it - nobody complains about that [the plastic parts] :confused:
 

Changleen

Paranoid Member
Jan 9, 2004
14,335
2,448
Hypernormality
Originally posted by nicklin
Evil/E13 isn't exactly the garden variety plastic, but a fiberglass mix, which is way ahead of the plastics that we cansider, well, plastics. And besides, having a piece of bashguard is just a little, maybe, just maybe, than the most sophisticated piece of machinery in a tight-tolerance required enviornment.

Besides, MRP for life!!!
The roller holding bit is a short fibre reinforced plastic, but the bashguard itself is Polycarbonate. Not that it really matters...

(MRP suck)

:)
 

Tully

Monkey
Oct 8, 2003
981
0
Seattle, WA
Why does RockShox even bother? They better come out with something friggin' revolutionary if they don't want to lose all their business to Marzocchi and Manitou.
 
Why does RockShox even bother? They better come out with something friggin' revolutionary if they don't want to lose all their business to Marzocchi and Manitou.
I'd say a fork that lets you adjust the threshold of your SPV system is pretty revolutionary. And Look at where revolution gets you, Maverick has some revolutionary designs, including their silly light 6" travel fork (which scares the crap out of me) but they're not at the top of the mtb game. There are a number of factors that keep businesses going, including their tie-ins with certain manufacturers, which RS has a pretty firm grasp on. Manitou is strong in the aftermarket segment and that has kept them in the spotlight for a while, especially with the SPV. They always manage to create a pretty interesting product, even if it takes a few years to roll it out. As for Marzocchi, i don't think Rock Shock has anything to fear there. I know it'll just ignite another "what brand is better" war, so there's no point in dragging this out. Frankly I don't see Marzocchi as a very technically innovative company at all. Yes, the 888 is a neat fork, but it's nothing mind blowing. They use proven technology, which is fine because it keeps their products predictable, but they do not appear to be poised to leap forward in the market soon, unless one of the other companies really drops the ball. And if anyone tries to use the argument that the special DJ fork they built for the Pstreet bike is innovative, I will hunt you down and smack you. Street riding doesn't work well with 10lb fork up front, trust me. Ok, that's my $.02, just glad to hear that the psylo is on the way out, those forks are tempermental at best.
 

konascab4444

Chimp
Feb 12, 2003
11
0
Saratoga
the crown on the pike looks weak i wouldnt mind it if they beefed it up a bit, i could handle the extra .3lbs and im not a fan of the travel range 94-140? they sould go back to 80-130
 

grimm

Monkey
Jan 12, 2002
390
0
Sweden
will-burr said:
Hey,

I think it is COOL because it is affordable by the masses.

Let the MTB snobs buy the High-end expensive FOX and Marzocchi!!!

:D
acually that all depends on where you live, over here in europe its RS which would be considered expensive. well Fox too actually.. but Marzocchi is almost cheap compared.. if you wanna buy an expensive fork in europe, either you gotta go with tiny practically unknown brands such as Bergman (italy i think) or Brunn (germany). Or you can go with any american brand fork such as Risse, RS etc.. Although american forks are cheaper now compared to before. coz of the weak dollar, that is subject to change as soon as the dollar kicks off again.

so price is quite relevant to where you live and where the fork originates from, due to import costs.

sorry to take the thread off topic there for a bit. i just wanted to mention that.
 

derelict

Chimp
Dec 10, 2003
46
0
Bay Area, CA
DHracer1067 said:
looks like a bunch of plastic to me
If only Rock Shox had talked to you before spending all that money on research and development. You could have saved them from through all the trouble. Huh?
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes


Will this shot ever get old? I wonder what goes through the photographer's head...."Ok, now when you go around this corner, lean the bike WAY over and make a face like you're either having a REALLY good time or you're trying REALLY hard to keep the bike up! I'll tilt the camera so it looks steep and use a big lens so you look huge!" Even though it's almost always flat....
 

dsb1829

Chimp
Aug 25, 2004
27
0
Huntsville, AL
I would have to agree with the velo guys. Looks like the Pike is going to be a very good fork for 2005. Rockshox has updated their website for the 2005 products with more details. The multi-set platform really sounds nice. These forks are substancially less than the new Marzocchi and Manitou offerings with simillar features. I am really trying hard not to like the new offerings from Rockshox since their 2 year planned obsolesence is retarded, but they really are offering some good stuff.

They have a 4-6" u-turn boxer for this year. Talk about a sweet setup for a DH hardtail. Rigid, triple clamp, and probably same or lighter than the z1 and sherman offerings.
 

LesPaully

Chimp
Oct 23, 2003
3
0
glad to see someone sees it the way I do. Marzocchi is a great company, but they are getting left behind somewhat. They dont care for trying anything new, while manitou and rock shox are leading the way in that aspect. I had a 2003 Psylo Sl, which was the best fork i've owned, and I will be getting the reba race or team sometime in January, looking forward to 2005!