It's fair to say that RockShox is fairly excited about its new fork, naming it after their original RS-1 of the late 80s that saw world championship success. The company claims to have been working on the idea of an 'upside down' fork for the past 15 years, and only now, 25 years after the original, do they feel that technology has advanced to the point where reality catches up with theory.
RockShox launches ‘upside down’ RS-1 fork
New for 2015: the RS-1 suspension fork
Stiffness has always been the Achilles heel of the upside down design, and that’s the challenge RockShox needed to overcome. A one-piece carbon upper and “predictive steering” (a wider hub coupled with the new Maxle Ultimate and the large diameter structural Torque Tube) are key to creating a fork that certainly felt stiff on our initial rides.
First impressions have been impressive. The fork feels stiffer than many conventional designs and performance seems reminiscent of the current, highly impressive Pike. Look out for a full test in MBR soon.
New front hub with Torque Tube design and Maxle Ultimate for stiffness
Neat cable routing for the XLoc damper adjust and cable guide for disc brakes
80/100/120mm travel and the same bottomless bumper as the BoXXer
Lower unsprung weight and constantly lubricated seals means excellent small bump sensitivity
At a glance
29er only
80/100/120mm travel
32mm aluminium stanchions
One piece upper and tapered carbon steerer
46mm and 51mm offsets
Predictive steering front hub only
Accelerator Damper
Xloc Remote damper
Solo air spring
Weight: 1666g
Price: €1658
Available: June 2014