Troy Brosnan (Monster Energy-Specialized) used a new RockShox Vivid Air during his run in Pietermaritzburg.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The new BlackBox-edition RockShox Vivid Air rear shock features some new adjustments relative to the current model, including a dial on the end of the piggyback reservoir that presumably adjusts the internal volume.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Andrew Neethling (Giant Factory Team) used SRAM's new Type 2 rear derailleur.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
These knobs aren't marked on Andrew Neethling's (Giant Factory Team) new RockShox Vivid rear shock but we know they correspond to compression (blue) and rebound (red). There's another rebound adjuster down on the other end of the shock, suggesting there are again both beginning- and end stroke adjustments on this latest version.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Andrew Neethling (Giant Factory Team) injured his hand during practice so an extra chunk of rubber adds some much needed cushioning.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
It looks like Andrew Neethling's (Giant Factory Team) BlackBox-edition RockShox Boxxer fork has some special seals installed.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Andrew Neethling (Giant Factory Team) was among several athletes in Pietermaritzburg using a BlackBox-edition RockShox Boxxer fork. That's not a BlackBox-only logo, by the way - it's the new look of RockShox forks from MY2013 forward.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Andrew Neethling (Giant Factory Team) uses a SRAM PG-1070 road cassette on his Giant Glory.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Andrew Neethling (Giant Factory Team) heads out on his BlackBox-equipped Giant Glory.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Monster Energy-Specialized's Sam Hill gets a DLC coating on his RockShox Boxxer stanchions.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The rear end of Monster Energy-Specialized's new S-Works Demo Carbon team bikes looks to be carried over from the current alloy version.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The second rebound adjuster on the new RockShox Vivid rear shock is tucked in at the other end of the shock.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Andrew Neethling (Giant Factory Team) used a RockShox Reverb dropper post in Pietermaritzburg.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The rotary design of the new Fox electronic fork remote is curious - how many 'modes' are there, we wonder?(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The small rotary remote of Fox's new electronically controlled fork takes up hardly any room on the bar. (Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Catharine Pendrel (Luna) also utilized Shimano's latest XTR Shadow Plus rear derailleur.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Catharine Pendrel (Luna) tackled the challenging Pietermaritzburg cross country course on a 26"-wheeled Orbea Alma with an electronically controlled Fox fork.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
There are actually two wires fed into the top of Fox's new development fork.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Catharine Pendrel's (Luna) Fox fork not only sported some sort of electronic damper control but also offered a preview at the new-for-2013 lower leg casting.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Being the reigning world champion earns you a few extra benefits, like being able to test Fox's latest suspension project.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
While Geoff Kabush (Scott-3Rox) has a Shimano Di2 battery mounted to his down tube, Catharine Pendrel (Luna) has one attached to her seat tube.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
RockShox supplied key athletes in Pietermaritzburg with new BlackBox-edition Vivid and Vivid Air rear shocks.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Hmm, what's this on Sam Hill's (Monster Energy-Specialized) bike? It's SRAM's new four-piston X0 Trail brake. More on this soon.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The new Specialized S-Works Demo Carbon uses an aluminum upper link.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Sam Hill (Monster Energy-Specialized) takes a breather after his run in Pietermaritzburg aboard the new Specialized S-Works Demo Carbon.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Here's a closer look at Jared Graves' Zelvy Carbon number plate.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
We noted hand-etched numbers on the prototype Fox 40 air caps at the Pietermaritzburg World Cup. What those numbers correspond to, though, we can't say.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Fox easily could have further disguised this air cap by adding on the 'preload', '+', and '-' laser etchings of the standard knob.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
A Fox Racing Shox DOSS post on a GT team bike. Note the exposed air valve on the bottom of the post.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Think bar ends are dead? Tell that to Subaru-Trek's Emily Batty.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Subaru-Trek mechanic Matt Opperman attaches team front derailleurs with two bolts, not just one.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
…but at the very least, there are some non-consumer seals installed. We can only wonder about internal changes, too.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Emily Batty (Subaru-Trek) is among a growing legion of cross country riders that are making the move to thru-axle front ends.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Emily Batty's (Subaru-Trek) BlackBox-edition RockShox SID XX World Cup fork doesn't look all that special from the outside aside from the new MY2013 logo…(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Trek World Racing star Aaron Gwin was among a number of downhillers at Pietermaritzburg running prototype air-sprung Fox 40 forks.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Fox easily could have further disguised this air cap by adding on the 'preload', '+', and '-' laser etchings of the standard knob.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
What's perhaps even more interesting than the fact that Sam Hill (Monster Energy-Specialized) is running a six-speed cassette and a custom spoke guard is that the smallest cog has just 10 teeth.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Confirmed! Specialized's new carbon fiber S-Works Demo Carbon frame will use a PressFit 30 bottom bracket.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Monster Energy-Specialized rider Troy Brosnan came down the hill today on a new Specialized S-Works Demo Carbon.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Troy Brosnan (Monster Energy-Specialized) didn't have the best run today. Perhaps this was why.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Fox is sticking with the nested dual-lever remote design of earlier DOSS seatposts.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The Fox Racing Shox DOSS dropper seatpost head is fully symmetrical front-to-back, meaning it can be flipped around if you want the cable to attach on the other side.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The standard Fox 40 top cap is laser-etched to help in adding or removing coil spring preload.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing) was the only downhiller in Pietermaritzburg we saw running these blue Fox 40 wiper seals.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Emily Batty (Subaru-Trek) is one of the newest members of SRAM's BlackBox family.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The closer we look at the bikes of the first round of the 2012 UCI MTB World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, the more we find. Suspension giants RockShox and Fox Racing Shox have equipped a number of key riders with new developments in fork and rear shock technology both on the downhill and cross-country sides ends of the spectrum. Lighter? Smoother? More adjustable? More like all three.
New rear shocks, stanchion coatings, and seals from RockShox
RockShox outfitted a number of downhill riders in Pietermaritzburg with new versions of the company's Vivid coil and Vivid Air rear shocks. In addition to expected revisions to the internals – sorry, we don't have details on that – are new tool-free beginning and end stroke rebound damper adjustments on both models.
PinkBike reported earlier a possible external air volume adjustment on both shocks' piggyback reservoirs for tweaking bottom-out characteristics but we only saw it on Monster Energy-Specialized rider Troy Brosnan's Vivid Air shock in Pietermaritzburg, not the Vivid coil shocks on teammate Sam Hill's or Giant factory rider Andrew Neethling's bikes.
That doesn't mean such a thing doesn't exist – and we weren't able to locate all the new shocks scattered among the field – but it's likely RockShox has multiple variants currently undergoing rider testing as part of the company's BlackBox program.
BlackBox-edition Boxxer forks were also treated to DLC-coated stanchions for smoother operation. RockShox has been playing with this surface treatment for some time now – Danny Hart won last year's world championship on DLC-coated tubes – and after this much development time, we can't help but wonder when it'll make its way into production.
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We were admittedly also expecting to see some DLC-coated tubes on RockShox SID forks but alas, we didn't see any (though again, that doesn't mean they don't exist). We did note some new wiper seals on Emily Batty's (Subaru-Trek) SID XX World Cup, though.
Fox goes with air springs for pro-edition 40 downhill forks
At least half a dozen downhill riders in Pietermaritzburg tackled the pedaling-intensive course on air-sprung Fox Racing Shox 40s, including Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing), Cedric Gracia (CG Racing Brigade) and much of the Yeti factory team. Air-sprung forks were identifiable by their non-etched top caps, which in this case were simply valve covers like on Fox's Float and TALAS forks instead of preload dials with their usual '+' and '-' indicators.
Neither team mechanics, riders, nor Fox officials on site in Pietermaritzburg would reveal any technical information though Fox race program manager Mark Fitzsimmons did stress that it would not be a MY2013 product – so don't bother calling Fox or your local dealer to place an order.
That being said, we can guess at the internal setup based on what we already know about Fox's other air sprung forks. We're proposing the Fox 40 Float (as we're calling it) will likely use a dedicated stanchion with a polished inner wall like on the 32 and 36-chassis forks instead of a drop-in cartridge that would retrofit to current 40 forks. Such a design would yield a larger air volume and lower inflation pressures plus it would require fewer parts to save weight – which we're assuming is the main goal of this new air spring in the first place.
What also isn't clear is what Fox will do for a negative spring. A secondary air chamber is a possibility but Fox continues to use a coil spring for that function in the company's other air-sprung forks so ultimately we're guessing Fox will go that route again. Either way, we'll have to wait until later for more information.
Fox could have easily further disguised this air cap by adding the 'preload', '+' and '-' laser etchings of the standard knob
Fox DOSS dropper seatpost looks ready for production
Dropper seatposts were commonplace on downhill bikes in Pietermaritzburg given all the pedaling required on the way to the finish line. Not surprisingly, RockShox and Fox dominated the landscape with their Reverb and DOSS models. We didn't notice much of anything new on the former post aside from the beefed-up hose attachment that was introduced earlier but we did learn a few new things about the DOSS.
We at Cyclingnews were hopeful that the somewhat clunky nested twin lever remote might be further refined prior to launch but it appears that the design is here to stay. Tap the shorter lever to drop the post 60mm, then push it again – or the larger lever – to drop the post all the way. Spring tension is notably high when pushing the shorter lever since you're working against two springs instead of one but the ergonomics feel ok and the seatpost action itself is impressively smooth and fluid.
Speaking of the post, it was also pointed out to us that the DOSS head is fully symmetrical, meaning the side-mounted cable actuated arm can be positioned on either the left or right side of the bike depending on routing preferences.
And a closer look at that Fox electronic damper-equipped fork
We still haven't been able to get any more information out of the folks at Fox Racing Shox on the battery-enhanced fork being used by Geoff Kabush (Scott-3Rox) and Catharine Pendrel (Luna) but conversations with staff on site in Pietermaritzburg suggested our recent speculative article isn't far off the mark. That being said, it sounds like the system we proposed may be a little further out than we had hoped, though.
We did sneak in a much closer look at Pendrel's machine, however, and gleaned some additional details. The remote looks to be some sort of thumb-operated rotary setup with multiple modes – what exactly each mode corresponds to, though, we can't say – and there's not one, but two wires connected to the top of the damper.
Also, the wire connections confirm to us that this is a joint project between Fox and Shimano. Roadies will quickly recognize from the images that these plugs are currently used on Shimano's Dura-Ace Di2 group.
And the sleuthing continues.
There are actually two wires fed into the top of Fox's new development fork
