I was out in Grand Junction this weekend riding and I saw this bike in the parking lot. At first I thought it looked a lot like those pictures of the new BOS fork with that external reservoir. When I quizzed the rider of the bike he told me a very different use.
It's actually a bottom out/spring curve device. If you remember when
RockShox launched the Totem they talked about how they changed the internals to create enough internal volume so the air trapped in the casting didn't cause unnecessary ramp at the end of the stroke. Well through that they started playing with that volume and air pressures on the side as a secondary spring. I was told this is the second generation prototype. The guy was all concerned about pictures being taken of it because he thought it looked too rough.
He said that the SpeedLube ports at the bottom of the casting were originally put in to house this system. It got put on the shelf due to some noise issues they couldn't solve in time for production, but now they are back trying it. Internally,
RockShox has been referring to it as "Futuristic Air Release Technology".
The blue knob protected on the inside of the leg controls the amount air that can bleed out the lower leg. This controls the air volume in the lower leg, changing the spring curve. You can turn it in to make a more progressive spring and turn it out to get a super linear feel. The guy adjusted it and pushed on it. He said that right now he tunes it by the sound it makes on compression. I guess
RockShox is working on getting the noise out of the system. When it's adjusted tight, the noise is almost a whistle and the fork is really progressive. When it's adjusted loose the noise is kind of wet splatter sounding because of the casting lube moving through the valve. The fork got super linear (too linear if you ask me).
The red adjuster on the outside of the leg that uses a flat head to adjust controls the residual casting volume at bottom out. The effects how firm the fork feels at bottom out. The guy said it's basically like changing your bottom out pad.
The canister thing actually just houses a foam filter. Apparently because the system releases air on compression it creates a small vacuum on rebound, which can pull debris into the fork. The foam filter keeps crap from going back in the hole and lube from coming out.
The guy wouldn't tell me when it would go into production. He just said "it's something we're trying out".
This is not a Totem too small