TALAS is the travel-adjust version of Float, complete with wide-range adjustment of its smooth suspension. Stiffness is still an issue though.
Rather than the incremental ‘wind down’ of the RockShox and Marzocchi forks, TALAS adjustment goes in three 20mm steps. With all three covered in one 90-degree turn of the fork top lever, it’s certainly fast and easy to engage. However, you can’t get any in-between settings if you’re particularly ‘Princess and the Pea’ about your ride heights and geometries.
The RLC here adds separate threshold adjustable lockout and compression damping to the mix, which can be useful if you really know what you’re doing with it. Most riders will be fine with the R (Rebound) version for just £429, though, especially with the excellent new 2008 damping circuit setup.
We’d have to say that TALAS forks never feel quite as smooth as their Fox Float friends, although they’re still good compared with other brands. They are definitely the least accurate and stable fork here in structural terms, though, which really affects confidence as the trail gets lairier and the speeds higher.
Recent reliability is proving excellent, however, and – as with the 32 Float – watch this space for ’09.
