Rockshox RS1

rockmonkeysc

According to Singletrack's website the UK rrp for the RS1 will be £1450! Plus you will need a new, compatible front hub which I'm guessing will be around £150ish.
I like the idea of the USD fork and one piece carbon construction but fork me it's expensive. Who is it aimed at? There aren't really any racers who are going to want it because it's 120mm travel and it's just too much money for your average weekend xc rider.

cooldad

There are plenty of people with more money than sense.

rockmonkeysc

True, but I think this may be pushing it a bit far. Can it really be £1200 better than a Reba?

supersonic

I have yet to ride one, but being heavier than a SID, it will have to be a lot stiffer and have perfect damping control. But it doesn't even have LSC adjust. And given a Pike is less than 200g heavier you have to wonder why they bothered at all. I was expecting well below 3 pounds.

rockmonkeysc

If I could afford it I would have a Marzocchi 830 rc3 ti evo for around the same price but that is the best downhill fork, full adjustment, ti spring and extremely well damped. I can see why it's so expensive.
The RS1 has what could be an excellent chassis and new tech is always expensive but this seems a bit too much.

Cqc

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I like the idea of the USD fork and one piece carbon construction but fork me it's expensive. Who is it aimed at? There aren't really any racers who are going to want it because it's 120mm travel and it's just too much money for your average weekend xc rider.

it's also available in 80 and 100 mm travel

rockmonkeysc

I didn't realise that. If it's lighter and stiffer than the SID then maybe it will appeal to xc racers.

supersonic

It may be stiffer - certainly ain't lighter. Half a pound heavier than a SID in 650b format.

declan1

Sorry if I'm wrong here but isn't the big selling point the fact that it has the same damping as the Pike? In which case surely the normal XC forks will get that damping sooner or later for a lot less money.

supersonic

Has a different damper. After RockShox orgasmed about the Charger damper with its sealed bladder damper and lack of IFP, they release the Accelerator damper for the RS1 - which has an IFP and no low speed damping adjust. Bizarre.

rockmonkeysc

The chassis design seems to be the big selling point of the RS1. I like the fact that they are moving away from the norm and trying something new. Maybe it would have been better to have done a limited production run and sold it cheaper as a loss leader to prove it's advantages.
At this price it's too much for most buyers to consider the unproven design.

njee20

It's not really new is it though, plenty of USD forks have been done, they've virtually all failed. I really don't get the RS1, too heavy for a race fork, too short for a trail fork.

rockmonkeysc

njee20 wrote:

It's not really new is it though, plenty of USD forks have been done, they've virtually all failed. I really don't get the RS1, too heavy for a race fork, too short for a trail fork.

There have been several USD forks but none with a one piece carbon construction. Not all have failed, the Manitou Dorado is very good and there have been others which were successful.
I don't think 120mm is too short for a trail fork.

njee20

none with a one piece carbon construction

Marzocchi RAC - originally marketed as a sub-1kg wonder XC fork, ended up being a porky, short travel 'trail' fork. Sound familiar..?:

Not all have failed

Hence I said "virtually" all.

rockmonkeysc

The RS1 is the first to have the uppers and steerer as a one piece carbon construction.

njee20

Yes, I'll agree that, but the steerer material is virtually immaterial (no pun intended). If they'd gone 120-140 and marketed it as a replacement for the Revelation World Cup then I think they'd have been onto something, missed opportunity I reckon.

rockmonkeysc

Maybe there's a bigger market for 120mm forks in other countries.

ilovedirt

Don't worry about it, nobody is going to buy it and you'll forget it ever even existed

rockmonkeysc

SRAM must have done their market research. A company that big won't spend millions developing a product to production without knowing it will sell.

njee20

Meh, all companies take gambles, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. See Shimano and Dual Control, they're a more risk averse company than SRAM.