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Have to be quite close to release now, saw them on Danny Hart's Fury at the beginning of the season. Those also look very well polished and ready for launch. Haven't heard any actual news on them though.
EDIT: Minnear also may have said something about these releasing at some point soon on the new PB Podcast ep, can't be sure tho
according to the latest podcast from the red site "Soon"
https://www.rflo-xa.com/collections/front-forks/products/rfloxa-hawk31pro-fcg31rvp-pro-228mm-travel-front-fork-for-surron-talaria-sting-light-bee-eride-pro-ss-spring-preload-high-and-low-speed
Came across this on youtube. Made for Surrons but compatible with DH bikes. Price seems nice for the features it provides. I'd love to try a 228mm USD DH fork. Weight is probably over 4kg but whatever. Not quite sure what they mean by center distance as it seems way longer than fork height. Only problem I see is figuring out what spring rate to get.
https://www.rflo-xa.com/collections/rear-shocks/products/rfloxa-rab53rv-rear-shock-for-surron-talaria-sting-light-bee
Their high end rear shock also looks sweet for the price. Even comes in 240x76mm which is what I run on my bike.
It's lucky the shock has "rear shock" written on it, someone could have got hurt otherwise...
No idea what "center distance" is supposed to mean. The closest measurement I can think of is front centre but that would limit it to pretty small modern frames (my XL frame with a 180 mm fork has an 880 mm front centre) so who knows.
Should be called Hawk2a
Im curious if youd have any clearance for a 29er in the front or if your gonna smash your wheel into that bottom crown when you bottom out. They have a 203mm version as well with a progressive spring.
For all the people questioning why front 27.5 dying it’s simply a question of the direction the major parts suppliers commited to heading. Simply they want to commit to 27.5 front for kids market only. Meaning they only need to produce 29 front wheels/forks for the adult market. And while I fully expect brands to design frames to accept 29er forks with 27.5 wheels as the stock setup in adult sizes in conservative production runs in the future. The vast majority of bike brands had already committed to 29 front before manufacturers started telling them they were going to wind down availability. And I’d imagine if tire buzz wasn’t such an issue for such a large portion of riders the parts manufacturers would be pushing more brands to commit to full 29 across sizes. But luckily enough riders are demanding the smaller rear wheel that frame builders and part suppliers see the mullet option as indispensable.
27.5 wheel in 29er fork works just fine. Might even be preferable to a 27.5 in a 27.5 if you like the extra axle to crown. But assuming you are putting a 27.5 wheel in front to improve maneuverability at the cost of braking/rolling speed rather than that’s the wheel you have then the shorter axle to crown for travel and reduced offset of a dedicated 27.5 fork is going to increase that maneuverability further.
I think it also probably also has alot to do with what the racers are riding. Racing seems to get more exposure then freeride so its better marketing. Dont get me wrong, there are still alot of people who want full 27.5 but alot of people are going to by mullet just because its what (insert favorite pro racer name here) is riding
The 228mm travel fork is supposed to be compatible with bigger wheels whereas the 203mm one is only for smaller 559mm (26in) wheels
No offense, but my hunch is that a $900 no-name dual crown for Surrons probably rides like a $900 no-name dual crown for Surrons. If you want to jump on that grenade to find out for the rest of us, I salute you, but I don't imagine RFloXa is killing themselves to sort out the finer points of suspension dynamics for the mostly beginner, mostly pavement-pounder Surron market in the same way that Fox, RS, EXT, or others in the high-end MTB space do.
But more travel = better right?
I cannot wait for this. This is what we need
The first thing I did was scroll to the bottom of the page to find out where the company's based. Your first guess is correct.
That website is pure GOLD
"where recoil meets luxury"
"Use Youtube influencers code to get what you want! (PS:RFloXa /ˈriːˌfloˌsɑː/)" -The phonetic spelling there seems to make it less clear how to say the name but will we see a wave of people running them on instagram and youtube soon?
It could also be that 29ers are retty dang good these days... But I digress.
Now for an actual rumor. Sounds like Sram is dropping DOT fluid brakes due to EU regulations.
I wonder how/if at all this will affect other brands like hope, who continue to use DOT for their fluid.
What's the regulation?
I want to know this too. And does it apply to cars too? Surely if there's an exemption for cars, there can be a (safety related) exemption for bikes too?
i‘m saying this for 3 years now, not really news anymore
It's being pushed by manufacturers (at bike assembly stage) who are trying to minimise damage to bikes because as DOT 4/5.1 can be very damaging to paint and anodising if not noticed/cleaned. Mineral oils (used by the bike industry) are less damaging. And of course there's worker safety too.
I heard about this being talked about in Magura at least 3 years ago. So I guess it's finally making its way through the process of becoming a "law".
I'd imagine automotive will be exempt because they have a more mechanised assembly process so can get brake systems filled and tested by non-humans.
Honestly I'm not sure what the actual regulation is... Or if its some kind of duty for hazardous waste/something along those lines. I just happened to hear this from multiple sources in relation to some new product offerings from Sram, and was curious if someone in the region knew more regarding any regulatory changes.
I've had lots of experience dealing with tightening restrictions for waste/hazardous materials in electronics for another industry, so it tracks for the EU to be limiting hazardous materials where it can. These electrical restrictions have exemptions for industrial/automotive purposes, so I doubt cars will be giving up DOT anytime soon.
Okay Im out of the loop with this kind of stuff with brakes. Is there a big deal to Sram not using DOT and transitioning to mineral oil? I dont service my own brakes because I do not have the setup for it since I switch bikes. So Ive never really invested into the deep knowledge. All I know is DOT can be rough on surfaces and health as someone mentioned before.
DOT fluid is a paint thinner but is not particularly toxic to humans. I mean, it is if you drink it and can be irritating for the skin after prolonged exposure, but it's nothing wearing gloves doesn't remedy. Otherwise it is more or less completely deactivated by just spraying it with water as opposed to mineral oil which is not water solluble.
Based on the comments as to why Sram was pushed to move to mineral oil vs. DOT fluid, looks like it's mostly the paint that is the issue...
Having had a shop replace my sram brakes with some maguras before and them not wiping the spilled dot fluid off the frame, the paint issue is real. It totally ate my frames finish away. On the other hand, it's not a super good reason to move away from it entirely. I honestly like dot fluid, and I think dot fluid brakes remain more consistent in wet areas because it mixes with the water. Sure it reduces the boiling point a bit, but it's consistently reduced across the whole system, unlike with mineral oil where you'll have water in the line with one boiling point and mineral oil with a different one. Brakes get hot, water turns to steam, becomes compressible, spongy brakes. Bleed your brakes regularly and there are no issues with either fluid so it's all moot anyways. The real question is "Dot 4 or dot 5.1?"
Dot 5.1 has a slightly better minimum spec than dot 4, but once you get into high performance fluids it really doesn’t matter.
For example, the minimum “wet” boiling point for dot 4 and 5.1 is 311 or 356 Fahrenheit respectively.
Redline RF-600 dot 4 has a wet boiling point of 400f.
Wilwood XR race dot 5.1 has a wet boiling point of 432f.
Dry boiling points for both are over 600f. Higher than any mineral oil I’m aware of.
Is it a real issue for Mtb tho ? I boil my pads and discs at will, yet I haven't had any issues with fluid boiling and having me pump the lever. Maybe if I could find a pad/disc combo that I am unable to boil and have them fade, but then tue system would probably not je hot enough to boil the fluid in my calipers. That's my experience riding mineral fluid brakes for the last 10 years or so, usually bled with some Ferodo LHM+ bought more than 10 years ago lol.
There have been numerous report where mixing and matching mineral oils between manufacturers caused some changes in the seals. Maybe not structural, but something was happening. And all manufacturers state their brakes can only be used with such and such brake oil.
Any DOT x fluid can be put in any DOT x compatible brake. You can get the correct fluid in any local automotive parts shop, unlike mineral oil for a finnicky brake if it's too esoteric.
Yup, both fluids are about equally bad - I think its just a perception that people think mineral oil is "friendlier" despite being you know, a petroleum product....
So it seems weird to target dot fluid when so much more of it is used in cars and there are far worse materials like PTFE still being used in chain lubes and suspension oil
You can see the differences in the mineral oils between brands too, pour a little out and magura, Shimano, maxima, and finish line oils all have a slightly different viscosity, finish line is the thickest and sram/maxima seems the thinnest to me. TRP/tektro and Shimano are pretty much the same though. I wonder if the different viscosities and frictions are what can cause issues with the seals, premature wear or something like that. I would love to test out running different oils in different brakes to see how the wear changes.
Oh you DOT fan boys 😆
It is a shame that there is no standard for mineral oils. A “DOT M” would suffice.
I never have found it hard to keep a personal stock of my preferred mineral oil though. And i do like that when you open the bottle it lasts more than 6 months.
I should clarify that whilst i’m a fan of a good quality mineral brake, my last and current brakes are DOT. And they’ve both been good.
that's just plain wrong, there are options:
