We've had a closer look at the prototype X-Fusion upside-down fork that's become a hot topic since it was debuted on a full-suspension gravel bike earlier this week at the Taipei Cycle Show.
Information on this fork is still very sketchy, with APRO (X-Fusion's parent company) as well as X-Fusion remaining tight lipped on the topic. Despite this, we've done a little digging and here's the picture so far.
The prototype is presented with 80mm of suspension travel but we've got reason to believe that a 50mm model or perhaps a 50mm setting could exist for gravel bikes. In 80mm form we could see it being used as a short travel XC fork for those with 27.5in wheels or possibly 29in wheels with lower profile tyres.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the design appears to borrow heavily from the X-Fusion REVEL inverted fork, and we're willing to be it'll use a similar key-way internal system as the aforementioned, which is used to prevents axle twist. The legs and steerer appear to be made from carbon.
The lower axle hardware mounts are bolted tight for parallel alignment of the legs, and this could also allow alternative mounts with differing offsets to be fitted for better geometry with different wheel sizes. The fork axle looks to be X-Fusion's X-Lock 15mm thru-axle design.
We believe the fork to be air sprung while its internals look to be modified from the highly acclaimed and proven X-Fusion RL2 damper. The blue control on top has staged indents for a progressive compression damping through to lockout, while the red dial on the bottom of the fork will control rebound damping.
Despite looking ready to roll, this fork is very much a prototype and so there's no release date, pricing or weight info or anything else at present. As usual, we'll keep you updated when we know more.
