Sneak Peek: Inverted X-Fusion Revel HLR Fork 25

bturman
9/11/2013 3:38pm

Remember the inverted X-Fusion fork we showed you at Eurobike 2012? It's now closer to production. The air sprung creation is the latest in X-Fusion's ever expanding lineup, and will be offered in a tapered 140-160mm travel option for 27.5-inch wheels or 120-140mm for the 29er crowd. All forks have 34mm stanchions. The fork uses the same twin-tube HLR damper from the Vengeance, and features rebound, high and low-speed compression, and air pressure adjustments.

From black to gold, the evolution of X-Fusion's latest fork - the Revel HLR. The carbon guards are a nice touch.

So what has changed since we last saw it? Aside from the color (hot damn!), X-Fusion has dialed in what they're calling the Gold-E-Lock system and 20mm LockX thru-axle system, which are key to making the fork torsionally stiff enough to be a viable contender. Gold-E-Lock uses a unique trilateral keyway system on the sides of the uppers and stanchion to limit the effects of torsion. Interesting stuff... Weight has also increased slightly from 4.3 to 4.5-pounds. Expect more details after Interbike.

25 comments

View replies to: Sneak Peek: Inverted X-Fusion Revel HLR Fork

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jeff.brines
12 years ago
Personally, hate the colors, love the idea.
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dfinn
12 years ago
no 26"? bummer.
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Joe_Thomas
12 years ago
Are you actually retarded? Look at the fork design.....Think about it
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silvbullit
12 years ago
Whoa cowboy, anger management time. Seriously though, you could run 26" but the axle to crown and offset are not optimal. So I would agree that there is no 26" option as I do not want to make concessions for a wheel size that I do not use and mess with the handling of my bike.
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dfinn
12 years ago
Ah c'mon, don't be so retarded. Think about it. Obviously A2C measurements have no effect on geometry, if the wheel fits slap that bioch in there and ride it till the wheels fall off.
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erikthefatty
12 years ago
Straight up. Why would the axle to crown be any different because it's a 650b. There's no arch, the fork is designed for it's travel. You don't need to raise the a2c because you have bigger wheels. The wheel does that. The rake is minimal. You're not going to notice an eighth of a degree of head angle change. A 26x2.7 tire and 650bx2.3 tire are nearly the same diameter. Here's a list that someone made of wheel diameter measurements they did at home. You should be able to notice that the difference between a Kenda 650bx2.35 and a WTB 26x2.5 is a quarter of an inch.
29x2.5 @ 29 3/4"
26x3.8 @ 29 1/8"
650Bx2.35 @ 27 3/4
26x2.5 @ 27 1/2
26x2.7 @ 27 1/4
26x2.35 @ 26 3/4
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silvbullit
12 years ago
In response to erikthefatty: The axle to crown is different so the tire doesn't grab the crown at full compression and catapult the rider into the stratosphere at the worst possible time... They also have to design enough clearance for the highest possible volume tires so a 27.5 2.5 tire will, straight up, be .75" taller than the same 26" tire. If they were the same size, they would be the same wheel size and we would have to deal with all this compatibility turd. .75" is just shy of 20mm which is alot for an axle to crown measurement. Try throwing a 180mm fork on your 160mm trail bike and see if you like the geometry change; at least in that situation you get some extra travel.
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erikthefatty
12 years ago
I was going to post a rebuttal, but I doubt it will be seen this far back. Oh well. If I see you've responded we can continue the debate!
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bturman
12 years ago
While X-Fusion won't be offering a 26-inch specific fork, you can use 26-inch wheels with it. The offset is a bit different, but reportedly provides "snappier" steering when run this way.
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dfinn
12 years ago
thanks for clearing that up. back to drooling on my shoulder.
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Joe_Thomas
12 years ago
Feeling a little bit stupid now aren't we "Dfinn"
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dfinn
12 years ago
i think you mean more stupid. absolutely!
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Maverickdh005
12 years ago
But I like slacker steering! esp since my bike has a not so long not so short wheelbase hehe.
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thinkdrastic
12 years ago
It's possible this isn't the fork for you, then. See also: anglesets and offset shock bushes
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Marine.downhiller
12 years ago
I know the advantages the inverted fork brought to motorcycles. Stiffer front end more responsive steering. I can even relate to the advantages of a dual crown inverted fork. I think if you look at the measurements of this fork i can not see any real advantage to it. besides having a beefier portion of the shock at the top of the fork. maybe i will be swayed more with a test ride.
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Maverickdh005
12 years ago
Digging the black, white woud be awesome too, dont think I can rock the Goldmember these days. Leave that for the cool gromtards!
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r1Gel
12 years ago
Can someone please explain to me the advantage of this over a right-side-up fork? (apart from less unsprung weight)
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maximumradness
12 years ago
20 mm axle? check. Infinite wheel diameter compatibility? Check. Hi and Lo Compression and rebound? check. Bout time.
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scarface
12 years ago
So I'm starting up a new bike company. It's gonna be called "Sixer Bikes". We're currently testing advanced new prototypes of bikes with 26 inch wheels. We've found that these wheels provide a snappier and more fun ride compared to industry standard 27.5 or 29 inch wheels, and we feel there is a market out there full of people who just wanna have fun (not only girls just wanna have fun), and will jump on this new technology as soon as we can make it available. We're in talks with tire and fork companies about bringing back some old designs we found from back in the day when apparently the 26 inch wheel was widely used. We hope to launch at Interbike 2015, if all goes well. Just try to hold out until then...fun is coming!
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ccboyce
12 years ago
People keep trying the single crown inverted idea, nothing has worked so far. Even DVO went right side up for their single crown model. I always welcome being surprised by new tech, I just wouldn't be pre-ordering anything like this until its been proven.
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jumpman2334
12 years ago
i thought they were making an inverted SC version as well?
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ccboyce
12 years ago
I have only seen the prototype pictures of their "Diamond" fork. Its right side up. There may well be another I am not aware of.
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jumpman2334
12 years ago
I'm pretty sure it was on the post on PB of the diamond fork. IIRC, dvo commented in the ccomments section, cause someone was asking when they were going to make one. And they said they were working on it. Just wasn't ready to show off yet.

Just going from memory tho, if your that intrigued, you'll have to go find it yourself
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Maverickdh005
12 years ago
Yeah that proto is just that its for testing my understanding is the production will be inverted! And DVO will produce a trail fork with 15mm axle and longer travel fork with 20mm, Will keep the Vengeance HLR, but seriously look at both of these as a Enduro option.