BIG-HITTING ENDURO FORKS

frame and tyres, the fork has one of the biggest impacts on the performance of a mountain bike. Whether you’re thinking of upgrading or buying a whole new bike, the choice of suspension fork is an important one. One of the key things that affects performance is the spring. Air springs are most common. These are easily adjustable for different rider weights and styles, by adjusting the air pressure. However, most have a spring rate (that’s the stiffness, or the amount the spring force changes for every extra millimetre of travel) that’s higher at the beginning of the travel than in the middle, and then higher again at the end. This means they can feel stiff to get going, which compromises traction and sensitivity, yet often blow through the middle third of their travel too easily. Larger-volume positive and negative air springs straighten out this curve, so the spring rate doesn’t decrease from the start to the middle of the travel, and improve performance. Coil springs have a spring rate that stays the same throughout the travel, so the force increases linearly. But adjusting the spring rate requires swapping to a different coil and there are sometimes big gaps between options. They’re also heavier, and the spring rate doesn’t build towards the end of the travel to prevent bottom-out. Damping is key too. After experimenting with rebound settings on the same trail, and from using MotionIQ suspension telemetry, we’ve found that faster fork rebound can greatly improve tracking and grip over high-frequency bumps. From this, we think some forks are over-damped on rebound. Compression damping is a more complex trade-off. Adding more increases support but also harshness. The optimum amount depends on spring set-up rebound speed, riding style and terrain. Most of the forks we’ve tested have a suitable range, though. This year saw the introduction of stouter single-crown forks with bigger 38mm stanchions. While