![]() ![]() The hub rolls on a pair of narrow, large-diameter sealed ball bearings on the Torque Tube - similar to those you would find inside a quality, 1-1/8-inch headset. Predictive steering’s key players are the RS-1’s novel dropouts, the Torque-Tube hub and a 15-millimeter Maxle Ultimate through-axle. Predictive Steering: Together, SRAM and RockShox coined “Predictive Steering” as a blanket term for all of the components that were used to keep its 32-millimeter inverted stanchion tubes locked in place and torsionally immovable. Regardless of which graphic is on the fork, however, RS-1 owners will not be able to hide from curious onlookers – so read up and be prepared for a barrage of trailhead questions. As a side effect of its designers’ quest for rigidity, the real estate opportunities created by the RS-1’s massive carbon uppers are a graphic designer’s dream, but RockShox showed their sensitive side by offering a glossy, red-white-and black billboard version, as well as a subdued matte black colorway for the less inclined. We probably will never see it, but the RS-1’s post-mount caliper bosses are certified for rotors up to 200 millimeters, which underscores the robustness of its chassis. The fork’s intended role is to win World Cup XC races and impress XC trail riders, but it is built to exceed the strength and stiffness of competitive conventional types. The Torque Tube spans the entire distance through the hub and between the dropout faces with no pressed on caps, so when the Maxle Ultimate is tightened, its serrated circumference can grip the dropouts and become a, “structural member of the fork,” says RockShox. Slide the 15-millimeter Maxle Ultimate through-axle from the RS-1’s large, forged-aluminum dropouts and you will see the most important link in the fork’s chain of success: its massive, 27-millimeter “Torque Tube” axle, and the matching slots on the dropouts’ inside faces. Below its oversized carbon chassis, Fast-Black coated, 32-millimeter stanchion tubes slide effortlessly on bushings and seals which are constantly lubricated by the oil bath above them. Its tapered steerer tube and crown are a single piece of carbon which is then bonded to carbon legs that house just enough aluminum with which to thread its new remote-lockout Accelerator cartridge damper and Solo air-spring in place. One look says it all: RockShox did not follow the rules when it created the RS-1. (Silk handkerchiefs are included with every RS-1 to dry your tears.) Just in case you wanted to know, the RS-1 only fits 29-inch wheels, it can be configured for 80, 100 or 120-millimeters of travel, and it will cost $1865 USD. ![]() By comparison, that is only 55 grams heavier than a SID World Cup fork. RockShox calls this a “Torque Tube hub” and the end result is an inverted cross-country racing fork that is more rigid than its conventional counterparts, and it weighs only 1666 grams (3.6 pounds). The adage: “lightweight, strong and economical – pick two ” could have been rewritten by RockShox as: “lightweight, torsionally stiff and standardized.” The eventual success of the RS-1 project was made possible by advances in carbon manufacturing, and by the decision to engage the SRAM family to develop the inverted fork and the front wheel as an integrated system dubbed, "Predictive Steering." The key player in this role is a special hub that employs a monstrous, 27-millimeter tubular axle which is clamped into place by a standard, 15-millimeter Maxle Ultimate through-axle. Turns out that RockShox’s original goal of maintaining torsional stiffness between the inverted sliders while keeping the weight of the fork competitive with its conventional brethren – AND doing so using standardized components – was far more elusive than the engineering team imagined it would be. Product manager Jed Douglas said that they have made a number of attempts and each time, the results were divided between two camps: good, but heavy or lightweight and flexy. RockShock’s designers were uncertain as to how long the inverted RS1 fork was in development. Five years in the making, the RockShox RS-1 became a reality when its creators abandoned convention and adopted a whatever-it-takes design criteria to solve the problems that haunted previous attempts to produce a successful inverted XC fork. ![]()
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