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I am way more interested in the new EXT fork coming out!
How on earth did they think of this?
Such ground breaking innovation
i think it's in this inside line - https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/MTB-Suspension-Q-amp-A-Session-Darren…
EWS and World Cup DHers get forks serviced after a race weekend. what's the total ride time for a world cup DHer? 30-60 mins? EWS - if they do a lap on each stage for practice and then race laps, that's 2 hours total (not including climbing) on the long end?
Now, for a company like FOX with their numbers (a vague guess, I don't know the actual numbers, but they can't really be small), a special order is not a problem. What is a problem is the process stability for said components, an off the shelf, produced in millions bushing will have tighter tolerances than a special order one. Same goes for the seals. And anything completely custom requires more instead of less testing in the actual product.
For them to go with a 38 mm model, they had to see some massive gains. Either in the stiffness, the stiffness to weight factor, or in the marketing potential of offering something new. In either case, it's not just 2 mm.
I think a lot of us are forgetting that what we are riding are basically race spec machines. Even the most average of us Joes. And we often get compared to motorbikes and their pricing, but the motorbikes in a similar price category are basically supermarket bikes of MTB. I think jaws would drop when we'd hear prices of race spec motorcycles (road, MX, enduro, doesn't really matter). And the servicing intervals for those compared to 'off the shelf' bikes are also probably a lot different.
EDIT: don't get me wrong, it could still be much better. But Darren's point of turning the bike upside down before going down and the fact that the best possible tune is worth less on a clapped out fork than a basic suspension service really put things into perspective. And remembering the state of my fork 2 years ago before and after service (complete overhaul, after ~200 hours since the last major service, around 50 hours for the lowers) would more or less confirm it.
If I wasn't clear, unless there was some clear benefit (even if it is just marketing), no sane person would go through the task of changing all the things i described above, through spending all the money for the engineering and testing hours, if there wasn't at least one measurable benefit. 'Just 2 mm' is _NOT_ a benefit. Not in itself.
And before someone comes out saying that bike companies are not sane, they are. They are businesses that need to survive. In the end it's all about the money. If it's not worth it because of some factor, it won't be done. It sure as hell won't be done just for the sake of 2 mm.
If I'm mistaken, i obviously need a job in the industry, it seems like you can do basically whatever you want. But all the signals point towards bike industry jobs not being paid as well as competing industries (automotive for example).
Going to assume it's a brand new fork all around, not just a new casting and the option for bigger stanchions. Fox aren't the only ones either.
Much as some people love to rag on them, ebikes might be partly responsible for what's on the way.
Surely there must be a name for the phenomenon where people start to question a product not for what it is and has always been but for what it doesn't say on the label. The result being gluten free vegan raisins and ebike compatible grips or tire graphics. I guess we've only ourselves to blame.