seriously........??? Inverted forks have more than half the history in time in DH time. NO, it doesn't effect braking what so ever, unless your running an axle that isn't meant for the forks. IE, lighter weight carbon axles etc such as what people tried to run with dorados and shivers.

 yah valid question.. why not? There's several factors that affect braking and the effect that braking has depending on the arrangement of various moving parts and momentum and blah blah. Personally, I have zero time on any inverted fork, so have no idea.. Interesting that Fox wasn't satisfied with the torsional stiffness, although they didn't really elaborate much in the article.

 inverted forks are not new, they're on every motorcycle, and they have been made for mountain bikes before, as mentioned above. I can't see why it would. Basically, your seals are constantly lubed, and if your fork blows, it's pretty obvious. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this fork.

 Lol rick, they aren't on every motorcycle. In fact the majority of Dirtbikes, Crotch rockets, and Harley types don't use them. Inverted forks are a very, and I mean VERY expensive upgrade for motorcycles. Yes, most MX pros use them, for many good reasons, but just because MX pro's use them, don't assume ALL other bikes use them. It's in fact almost the opposite. I guess it's a youth thing. People see some pros on tv racing and assume everyone has them.

 Btw rick, if you did see the article, there won't be "seeing more of this fork". This fork is officially retired/dropped from an R&D side. There will be no Fox inverted fork. BUT, Shivers are coming back to regain the mass produced crown. Yes, the Mass produced crown... because everyone knows Avalanche will never, ever be beaten, regardless of weight.

 I used the wrong word, "every", but they are fairly popular is what I intended to say. I was more Crotch Rocket and MX minded when I was wrote my paragraph above(just not a fan of Harley's or cruiser bikes. Now, not every one that rides a crotch rocket or dirtbike has an inverted fork, but again, it is fairly popular, maybe not on the 125,250 engine sized crotch rockets, or that I've yet to see anyways.

Also, send me a link to the article.

 www.pinkbike.com/news/fox-dh-fork-inverted-prototype-2012.html

there you go man.

And yea, I had an idea what you meant. Still, most factory rockets come with regular forks, unless you pay an arm and a leg for USD forks. IMO, it's like getting an aftermarket factory "deck" or "wheels" on a car, and just something people do after they have bought a bike. Well, for rockets. MX is a different ordeal =]

Basically IMO, fox didn't want to risk their name on something they have never done in MTB. Manitou, Mars, Avalanche, White brothers have quite the experience in this realm.

IMO, Fox always plays it safe, which is why they have been very successful keeping a bone bare lineup. Something that Manitou and Marz seem to stray from. RS and Fox are main competitors, and Manitou and Marz are their own main competitors if that makes sense. RS and Fox always seem to feed off each other, and the same for the M companies.