Tech Report: Making the unofficial official
While Shimano and RockShox/SRAM have each scheduled their official worldwide press launches for two weeks from now, quite a bit of information has already leaked out of both companies regarding their 2005 technology.In order to quell the leaks – or at least ensure the accuracy of the news that’s out there – both companies opted to open their respective information floodgates at least part of the way on Tuesday when they each issued “pre-release” press releases. Look for complete reports from RockShox’s March 28th-31st press camp in Las Vegas and Shimano’s Los Angeles product launch on April
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Two major manufacturers spill the beans a bit early on 2005 product
By Andrew Juskaitis
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While Shimano and RockShox/SRAM have each scheduled their official worldwide press launches for two weeks from now, quite a bit of information has already leaked out of both companies regarding their 2005 technology.In order to quell the leaks – or at least ensure the accuracy of the news that’s out there – both companies opted to open their respective information floodgates at least part of the way on Tuesday when they each issued “pre-release” press releases. Look for complete reports from RockShox’s March 28th-31st press camp in Las Vegas and Shimano’s Los Angeles product launch on April 2nd. In the meantime, you might enjoy these tidbits of info.
RockShox
Designed around 100mm of travel and 3.5 pounds (1600g), RockShox’s new Reba platform is designed to offer features and performance that the average trail rider/racer is looking for. At the heart of the platform is the all-new Motion Control Damping system, RockShox’s answer to the latest wave of stable platform shock and fork technology. In English, that means that the systems are designed to quell body-induced suspension movement, but remain active under trail impacts. All Reba forks use air spring technology and offer external or internal adjustment options.
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The forks will also feature the new PopLoc remote damping adjuster (to activate or deactivate the sensitivity of the compression damping), 32mm stanchions and integrated cable routing features for disc brake lines.
Also new for 2005 will be a fork line dubbed, “Pike.” At a claimed 4.75 pounds (2155g) and with 140mm of travel, Pike is designed to the perfect fork for “All Mountain” performance.
The new Motion Control Damping system is designed to let users quickly and (most importantly) easily adjust their suspension to their desired sensitivity setting. The all new proprietary “Maxle” found on all Pike forks allows more riders to capitalize on the torsional stiffness of RockShox’s 20mm thru axle system. The line will also feature RockShox’s “U-Turn” spring system which allows the rider to quickly adjust travel from 95mm to 140mm.
Shimano
On the Shimano ticket, we just received word that the company has a new mountain bike component group in the works for ‘05. According to Shimano, the new “Hone” group is aimed at the trail rider. Keep in mind that’s not the cross-country racer (XTR), the extreme freerider (Saint), hardcore rider (Deore XT), weekend warrior (Deore LX) or downhill racer (old XTR), but the “trail rider.”
Instead, notes Shimano, Hone is targeted to the all-day rider who is looking for a strong balance between weight and durability. Stay tuned for more details…
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