Skip to main content

RockShox Yari RC Solo Air fork


The Yari has a super-stiff chassis, a naturally supple, traction-rich action and excellent reliability. Simpler damping than RockShox’s flagship Lyrik fork means it feels rough when you start pushing hard though.

With exactly the same taper-walled, 35mm stanchion chassis as the Lyrik, it’s rock solid, even in its longest 180mm travel format. At the longer stretches it’s a reasonable weight too, though it’s arguably overkill below 150mm unless you’re a regular nose diver. If you haven’t got a SRAM wheel with stiffness-increasing ‘Torque Cap’ hub ends, the cutaway dropouts make axle location a pain. It comes in a vast range of formats, including 29+ and a ‘Dual Position Air’ version with external travel adjuster. The long negative spring and SKF seals mean a really sensitive initial stroke, and ‘Rapid Recovery’ rebound damping helps it stay alert without topping out harshly. It’s stiff enough to stay fluid under heavy braking too, and reliability on countless sets we’ve used has been excellent. The Motion Control compression damper can slap and spike on bigger, faster impacts though, and adding volume spacers or air pressure to increase progression makes it harsher under hammer. The Charger damper of the Lyrik will drop straight in though.

Travel 160mm (120-180mm*)
Weight 2,020g
Stanchions 35mm
Wheel size 650b (29+, 29in/650b+*)
Axle 15mm (Boost*)

Price $970



Popular posts from this blog

ENVE M50 29" Wheels

Utah based company ENVE have been making drool-worthy carbon components for some years now. Despite the fact that carbon rims are becoming more and more common on mountain bikes these days, you can guarantee that ENVE wheels will be a talking point when someone is eyeing off a steed. Instantly, the big bold logos on each rim scream "fast", "light" and to some extent, "expensive" The kids call this 'bling'.

Merida Big Seven 100

We've rolled up to our local woods, with a meandering blue trail, some natural wooded tracks and a bit of fire road chucked into the mix to see how the Big Seven 100 tackles trails that entry-level riders are likely to cut their teeth on.

Scott Scale 950

The Scale 950 uses the now traditional-for-cross-country 29er wheels to excellent effect, with a fast but fun character that's happy racing or railing.

COMMENCAL EL CAMINO 3

Commencal are going from strength to strength at the moment and they’ve taken their tough trail hardtail bang up to date with 650b wheels. With its skinny rims, crankset and fork, the El Camino certainly isn’t perfect and it’s the least hardcore bike here. The handling, smoothness, speed and all-round agility of the basic bike still make it a real blast for technical trail riding though, and it’s a great base for upgrading over time.

CUBE REACTION GTC PRO 27.5

Cube have kept their strong 29er race hardtail range for 2014 but added four new bikes with 650b wheels. The Reaction GTC Pro 27.5 is the second-tier carbon model.