Saturday, October 2, 2010

Project Super Scope: Fork

by: Terry Best
terry@twohubs.com

FORK (cont'd):

As previously mentioned the DT Swiss XRC Race 100 fork would be that one delayed item that we can always count on. Eventually a long slender DT Swiss suspension box arrived and inside, to my dismay, was the slightly more complex variation with the remote cable-actuated handlebar lock-out. While this is undoubtedly a great asset on a cross country race steed, I was not content and a bit irritated because I had visions of a very clean build and the thought of a sub 1200g fork was very appealing. The fork I removed from the box weighed 1235g (including the remote lock-out).

Against my better judgement I approached my partner in crime here at twohubs.com who has always had a knack (and strange perversion) for taking things apart. I thought two birds could be killed with one stone here. While removing the remote lock-out I would also have time to take the red anodized crown nut off to have stripped and changed to gold. A couple of days later (and without losing any precious DT Swiss suspension fluid I might add) we had ourselves a fork that weighed 40g less with a very unique gold crown nut and no lock-out functionality. Victory? Yes! I tend to run my forks stiff anyway...
The above picture shows the crown of the fork with the gold anodized cap and furthermore emphasizes the lack of the remote lock-out. It is important to note that you should not perform this downgrade yourself as it may result in serious injury to your $1500 carbon fiber fork from Switzerland and most importantly - yourself. Final fork weight: 1195g.

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