Fox's Kashima coating and SKF seals, plus a revised CTD damper offer superb small bump performance, but this adjustable travel TALAS version is relatively heavy.
The damping woes that plagued earlier versions of
their three position CTD damper are gone, while in the middle Trail setting
there are now seven rather than three settings to give superbly refined damping
feel. That manifests itself in excellent and unflinching control through rock
gardens, while corner traction is similarly great.
The TALAS air spring gives a choice of full 120mm or
stepped down 90mm travel settings. While it's substantially better than the
previous TALAS design, compared to Fox's fantastic Float air springs we noticed
more mid-stroke indecision. On the plus side, the fork is no longer keen to
jackhammer the full travel markers and there's enough end stroke support,
despite the unnerving feel.
Add in the extra weight of the
system and it's one of the heaviest here, despite the 32mm legs. Some of the
extra bulk is in the lower legs so tracking stiffness is decent. The Shimano
developed 15QR thru-axle is the most pleasant to use by a long stretch and the
quality and feel of the adjustments is the best on test by far.
Superb damping control and sensitivity, but we'd opt
for the cheaper and lighter Float model.
Weight 1930g
Offset 51 or 44mm
Axle to crown 521mm
Price 1228$