Thread Pitch The smart way in which the Rudy ramps up towards the end of its stroke is what makes the very short amount of travel feel almost bottomless, with no bottom-out thunk or top-out clunk. 174 Overall Length (mm) A gear editor for his entire career, Matts journey to becoming a leading cycling tech journalist started in 1995, and hes been at it ever since; likely riding more cycling equipment than anyone on the planet along the way. 20 We like the fact it doesnt look out of place when swapped for slim rigid forks and tire clearance, and fender compatibility and 12mm axle fit are all welcome features. I started my cycling journey with a trailer cycle in 2002. Your existing front brake hose may be too short because a gravel suspension fork is longer than most rigid gravel forks. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community. RockShox TrailHead App is the starting point to get your suspension dialed in for the perfect ride. You will need to change air assembly to change travel. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Axle Diameter (mm) Thread pitch: M12x1.75 10 Your email address will not be published. Item Specifications So, is bolting on a suspension fork to your gravel bike worth it? Does not Rockshox RS1 fork 12 Black Having such a capable fork on your gravel bike definitely means the grip levels and puncture resistance of smaller volume tires become the biggest performance-limiting link in the riding control chain. RUB Add a longer suspension fork to your bike, and you can expect its steering to feel heavier and slower, and the bike will feel more stable. Thread Length (mm) Axle To Crown 425mm. The increase in comfort compared to a gravel bike with an in-built suspension system or a broader, higher volume is impressive and more predictable, too. 15 x 1.5 12 x 1.5 That will be all on the RockShox axle to crown chart. 100 Already have an account with us? Thread Length (mm) The support also means dynamic geometry is better maintained, so youre not left pitching back and forth uncontrollably. Instead, progression builds as you make your way through the stroke. Axle Diameter (mm) |, 4/0/e/9/40e969c17501610330efc1d1d66d6fa64d04f88a_RockShox_Rudy_Ultimate_XPLR_fork___01.jpeg, Impressively sensitive; well controlled; easy to set up, Adds extra weight compared to a rigid fork; added complexity and could throw out geometry. RockShox Maxle Ultimate Front Thru Axle UPC: 710845768088, Currency: Cannondales Topstone is another option. Even, head tube angles may vary 1-2 degrees. Whats more surprising is how much it helps to carry speed into and up lumpy technical climbs, through rutted, erratic corners or just holding speed along rough/ribbed/normally rattling flat trails. While the Specialized Future Shock is a really clever bit of kit, the Rudy properly ups the control stakes when riding off-road. Helping to control how the Rudy absorbs bumps is the RockShox Charger Race Day damper. More trail usually means heavier/slower steering and a more stable feel. This is done using a small 2.5mm Allen key. Its 250g heavier than Laufs radical Grit glass fiber spring linkage fork though and 800g heavier than the carbon rigid fork of our Santa Cruz Stigmata host bike. Thread pitch: M15x1.5 RockShox Maxle Ultimate Front Thru Axle UPC: 710845768095, Maxle Stealth Rear Thru Axle Item Specifications 83 were here. Weight 76 Built from the ground up, the new Rudy features a Solo Air spring with RockShox Charger Race Day Damper, similar to their SID line of XC forks. Axle Diameter (mm) Find out more about how we test. While that 40mm of travel wont iron out or completely erase root spreads or rocky outcrops, itll do a decent job of taking the edge off and improving traction in the process. Item Specifications Color CAD Again, its not just about weight. Item Specifications Color Steering precision is totally acceptable and we had no flutter or flex issues even when hauling hard on a 180mm rotor. Axle 12mm thru x 100mm. BIKEPACKING.com is dedicated to exploration by bicycle. The new RockShox Rudy XPLR gravel fork comes with either 30 or 40mm of travel (425mm or 435mm Axle-to-Crown height) for modern gravel bikes to add more confidence and control when the terrain gets rough. Overall Length (mm) Thread Pitch Weight When it comes to climbing smooth tarmac sections, if youre seated, youd be hard pushed to notice much in the way of movement from the Rudy as you spin the pedals. Over Locknut (mm) Have at it. Use the TCs shorter, 45mm, offset option, and the head angle remains the same, but the trail jumps to 80mm. Furthering the smoother is faster mantra on the Rudy, the new 27.2mm Reverb AXS XPLR dropper post has a new trick up its sleeve. Rob manages all of the testing here at BikeRadar and across our magazines, Mountain Biking UK and Cycling Plus. Actual weight for a 30 mm-travel Rudy Ultimate XPLR is 1,215 g with a 180 mm-long steerer about 150 g lighter than the first-generation Fox AX and MRPs second-generation Baxter and retail price is US$799 / AU$1,205 / 779 / 869. While the Rudy might add some additional weight, its control is impressive in technical situations and the suppleness helps take the sting out of repetitive impacts, RockShox Rudy Ultimate XPLR gravel fork review, GBP 779.00 RRP Maxle Stealth Rear Thru Axle Item Specifications Axle Diameter (mm) 12 Color Black Over Locknut (mm) 148 Overall Length (mm) 180 Thread Length (mm) 20 Thread Pitch 12 x 1.75 Weight 37 RockShox Maxle Stealth Rear Thru Axle UPC: 710845798535. I eventually wound up with Otsos Waheela C. Its rigid fork has a 420mm axle to crown length (47mm offset), which is 7mm shorter than a 40mm travel 32TC at sag. 158 Rudy offers precise steering, full or short fender compatibility, and the looks to make your road bike proud. Deceuninck-Quick-Step and Trek-Segafredo directors trade blows over the jury's call to sanction Irishman after stage 9 sprint. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. 9 12 Color 9 Its not just the comfort, with the control improved too. The special edition 10th issue of The Bikepacking Journal is one you wont want to miss! Item Specifications 12 20 And because gravel suspension forks (mostly) didnt exist, there were no specifications to design around. 29er forks and listings from DT swiss, White Bros and Maverick coming. Thread Pitch Thread length: 20mm Weight We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Hopefully, you have figured out now which model has which fork length. Do you really need suspension on a gravel bike? RockShox Maxle Stealth Front Thru Axle Thru Axle UPC: 710845768224, Maxle Stealth Rear Thru Axle A change in fork length parameter affects the bike geometry directly. Even so, it was nice to have at times, although ActiveRide doesnt strike me as a make-or-break feature. Weight Travel is limited to just 50 mm or 75 mm, and you might assume that the Reverb AXS XPLR is just a shorter version of the Reverb AXS mountain bike dropper. EUR The new RockShox Rudy XPLR gravel fork comes with either 30 or 40mm of travel (425mm or 435mm Axle-to-Crown height) for modern gravel bikes to add more confidence and control when the terrain gets rough. Overall Length (mm) RockShox Maxle Stealth Rear Thru Axle UPC: 710845798511, Rockshox Maxle Stealth is a light, low profile alternative to Maxle Lite. 34g lighter than Maxle Lite RockShox Maxle Stealth Rear Thru Axle UPC: 710845798481, The Maxle Stealth offers a light, low profile, tooled alternative to Maxle Lite. Color Overall Length (mm) 12 Color Thread Pitch The mountain bike version of the Reverb AXS features an air spring and separate oil cartridge that locks the post in its various positions. With a 40mm-travel and 50mm offset 32 TC installed, the Cruxs (with the fork at sag/ride height) head angle would go from 71.5 to 70.25 degrees, and the trail would go from 67mm to around 75mm. Axle Diameter (mm) As a suspension fork that fits gravel bikes, RockShox has done an awesome job with the Rudy. Overall Length (mm) RockShox Maxle Ultimate Rear Thru Axle Thru Axle UPC: 710845768170, The Maxle Stealth offers a light, low profile, tooled alternative to Maxle Lite. Compatible with Pike and RS-1 forks only Similarly, When the forks are shorter, the trail is longer. Thread Pitch Because A change in fork length parameter affects the bike geometry directly. 150 Its not particularly sophisticated movement since theres no damper, but the firmness can still be tuned by varying the air pressure. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. A 20mm increase in fork length reduces head angle by about one degree. Thread Pitch Calculating this out a bit, a 54cm Crux has a 71.5-degree head angle, resulting in 67mm of trail with its stock fork (401mm axle to crown and 50mm offset). Overall Length (mm) 9 If weight isnt such a problem for you, or youre simply looking to boost your off-road confidence and comfort, then yes, a gravel suspension fork is a great move, and the Rudy Ultimate XPLR is a fine example of one thatll do just that. All these models have an allowance of +/- 5 mm. In which case the RockShox SID SL Ultimate is only 70g heavier when cut to fit but comes with a full 100mm stroke and room for 29 x 2.4in (63mm) tires. 1.5 Solo Air Solo Air gives you a plush, predictable ride you can set up in seconds. To work properly, this page requires JavaScript to be enabled or to use the most recent versions of Google Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. Color Adjusting the air-spring pressure is no more complicated than inflating a tyre and it took just a few minutes of experimentation to settle on a pressure of 132psi for my 68kg weight. Thread pitch: M15x1.5 Thats about all they have in common, though. RockShox Maxle Ultimate Rear Thru Axle Thru Axle UPC: 710845768149, The tool-free Maxle Ultimate Front brings exceptional stiffness and durability to your ride in a high clamping force, easiest-to-use internal cam thru axle system. Warren Rossiter, our senior technical editor, has also been testing the Rudy and says: Compared to the Lauf Grit, with its glass-fibre leaf spring and lightweight design, Id still opt for the Rudy, even with the extra weight. 142 Thread Length (mm) To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Before you invest in a gravel suspension fork, read this. Item Specifications 20 This makes the steering more stable and heavier, especially in tight corners or bumpy spots. Over Locknut (mm) These lower legs are heavily tapered, though, and closer together when compared to their mountain bike counterpart. This happens most when you are replacing a damaged fork or switching to suspension forks. Since then I've upgraded to a Trek Marlin which I've ridden on some of the roughest terrains in North America. Item Specifications RockShox Maxle Stealth Front Thru Axle Thru Axle UPC: 710845768217, Maxle Stealth Rear Thru Axle Color U just save me a lot of time. Axle Diameter (mm) Find the specs, pricing, and availability from RockShox below. 78 Over Locknut (mm) Weight Save 25% + Crankbrothers Stamp 1 pedals (worth 49.99) when you subscribe to MBUK magazine. Black Youll get a sweet bike, but an expensive one, and youll need to wait a while. Thread length: 9mm Thank you so much mxracer33x !!! RockShox Maxle Stealth Rear Thru Axle: 12x148, 180mm Length, Boost. Built from the ground up, the new Rudy features a Solo Air spring with RockShox Charger Race Day Damper, similar to their SID line of XC forks. I first installed my Fox 32 TC test fork on a Trek Checkpoint 9.9 SLR, but when I shared a picture with someone at Trek, they wrote back and said, We dont recommend the use of a suspension fork on the SLR. Color Featuring all-new 30mm upper tubes built around the Charger Race Day damper (our lightest damper ever) and our proven SoloAir spring. RockShox Maxle Stealth Rear Thru Axle UPC: 710845798528, The tool-free Maxle Lite Front brings exceptional stiffness and durability to your ride in a light, easiest-to-use expanding wedge thru axle system. Watch to get professional road cyclist Joe Dombrowskis view. Item Specifications Overall length: 148 Axle Diameter (mm) The Bikepacking Journal is our biannual printed publication. That is higher than on most gravel bikes as standard, and this is why I have the 30mm option on test. New 35mm BoXXer RockShox has four crown sizes for which the axle to crown length varies. Thread length: 9mm Axle-to-crown lengths are 425 mm or 435 mm for the 30 mm and 40 mm travel versions respectively. 148 Add an impressively low weight and that makes it our new benchmark for gravel bike suspension forks (although Fox has a fresh fork on the way, too). Thread Pitch Weight Going along with the new Rudy Ultimate XPLR is the new RockShox Reverb AXS XPLR dropper seatpost. But while the CHs is built around a 428mm long fork, the stock forks offset is 57mm. RockShox has done a fantastic job of sliding significant control and comfort boosts into a fork that still fits gravel bikes physically and aesthetically. 12 It doesnt overly compromise slim fork aesthetics or fender fit either, but it potentially adds a lot of weight over a rigid fork and options are slightly limited. RockShox Maxle Ultimate Rear Thru Axle Thru Axle UPC: 710845768163, The tool-free Maxle Ultimate Rear brings exceptional stiffness and durability to your ride in a high clamping force, easiest-to-use internal cam thru axle system. Over Locknut (mm) 180 Thats about 1.5 pounds more than a rigid gravel fork. Each Axle Diameter (mm) Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, 12 Its a plus that the travel (assuming youve set it up correctly) isnt eaten up all too easily, either, which prevents most of the unwanted bobbing when youre up out of the saddle and piling on the power. Thread Pitch Would you like to receive offers, updates and events from BikeRadar and its publisher Our Media Ltd (an Immediate Group Company)? Performance packed with a rock-solid lockout to power up climbs and smash through sprint finishes. Carbon Seatpost Vs Aluminum: Which One Is Better? Rear Axle Type So if youre very concerned about weight, you may want to sit out this first generation of gravel-specific suspension forks. Over Locknut (mm) The result is the best gravel suspension weve used without obviously disturbing handling geometry. Overall Length (mm) A longer fork raises the bikes front end and changes its steering geometry. 110 1.75 Once youve found the lockout lever (the flat top design can be elusive in gloves), the hard compression tune stops it bouncing when youre grunting up climbs out of the saddle or spinning on the road. Black Weight I frequently used full travel on test rides, but it was rarely obvious when Id truly bottomed the thing out. 9 Rob Weaver is BikeRadar's technical editor-in-chief. Weight He spent a few years working in bike shops and warehouses before starting writing and testing for bike mags in 1996. 2023 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Over Locknut (mm) The most pressure that should be allowed is 163 psi. Thread Length (mm) In conjunction with the new SRAM XPLR drivetrains, RockShox just unveiled the 30-40mm travel Rudy XPLR gravel suspension fork and 27.2mm Reverb AXS XPLR dropper post with a new suspension-seatpost setting. Black Weight Subtract about 20% travel for sag, and the 32TC is 26.5mm or 34.5mm longer than the Cruxs stock fork. Weight You could run fatter 650s although SRAM doesnt say so officially as the smaller diameter could disturb the handling of the best gravel bikes. Good thread. Perhaps someday well see aero gravel suspension forks, but that day seems a long way off. Guy Kesteven is Bike Perfect's technical editor-at-large. Weight Thread Length (mm) Black Thread length: 9mm RockShox Rudy XPLR has no open compression adjustment - just open and lock. Thread Pitch 37 Of course, how much sag you run (how much the fork compresses under rider weight alone) will also have some effect. The Rudy weighs in at 1226 grams with an uncut steerer and will retail for $799/869/779. A forum community dedicated to Mountain Bike owners and enthusiasts. For example, Redshift Sportss ShockStop stem doesnt have as much travel as the Rudy, nor is the movement nearly as well controlled (and theres also the issue of constantly varying handlebar angle). Item Specifications RockShox Maxle Ultimate Rear Thru Axle Thru Axle UPC: 710845768101, The tool-free Maxle Ultimate Rear brings exceptional stiffness and durability to your ride in a high clamping force, easiest-to-use internal cam thru axle system. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Its a question weve asked several times before here at CyclingTips, but the answer is more nuanced now that we have better options for gear. Ill use the new Specialized Crux as an example: The stock forks axle-to-crown length is 401mm: The Fox 32 TCs axle-to-crown is 435.5mm (40mm travel) or 445.5mm (50mm travel). Thread Pitch 76 15 RockShox gives you the choice of 30 or 40mm of suspension travel (I opted for the 40mm) and 45 or 51mm offset options, but if youre keen on using smaller 650b hoops for your gravel adventures, the Rudy might not be for you. As speed picks up and the terrain gets more challenging, youll be grateful for just how nicely the Rudy ramps up as you squeeze through its travel. With the Fox and RockShox gravel forks having a maximum of 50mm of offset, the Hagars already generous 93mm trailtypical gravel bikes have 60-70mm trailwill get even longer, and the result might be a gravel bike thats too stable, and therefore feels sluggish. 100 142 Color Aside from helping to limit vibration, which in turn, Ive found to help keep my hands and arms feeling fresher for longer, there are fewer of those instances when the front tyre skitters off line. Interested in a Gravel Suspension Fork? And if youre looking to go full tilt, Niners MCR full suspension gravel bike is, of course, suspension-corrected and suspension ready. Color Also, head angles for Freeride and Down Hill bikes are usually between 69 and 67 degrees.Source: pinterest.ca. Thread pitch: M15x1.5 Service. RockShox Maxle Ultimate Rear Thru Axle Thru Axle UPC: 710845768118, The tool-free Maxle Ultimate Rear brings exceptional stiffness and durability to your ride in a high clamping force, easiest-to-use internal cam thru axle system. We inspire and inform through original bikepacking routes, stories, and coverage of the gear, news, and events that make our community thrive. In the world of biking, Rockshox is a renowned name. RockShox Unisex's Fork Bluto Rct3 Crown 26" 15X150, Adj Alum Str TPR Solo Air (Includes Star Nut, Maxle Stealth) A3, Fast Black, 100mm . In this article, we have simplified it all for your convenience. don't take this the wrong way, but if you have a suntour than don't worry about the axle to crown height as it has not as much of an importance. 34g lighter than Maxle Lite However, there are some dramatic changes inside to accommodate the 27.2 mm seatpost diameter the only size RockShox is offering. Find details over at SRAM.com. 195 RockShox Maxle Stealth Rear Thru Axle UPC: 710845798542, The Maxle Stealth offers a light, low profile, tooled alternative to Maxle Lite. I built this blog platform with a plan to help newbies start downhill mountain biking and mountain biking in general. Color Tuning recomendations, upgrade information, and service support all in your hand. 76 Also, as the terrain, you ride on, and the shape of your bike. 12 On the other hand, this might be different for bikes with suspension. RRP* 917.00 589.99 incl.