4 Suspension Forks You've Probably Never Seen - Taipei Cycle Show 2018

Depending on what your needs and how much money you're okay parting with, you can pick anything from Fox, RockShox, DVO, Marzocchi, Manitou, X-Fusion, or MRP that will likely do you right. As long as you get the right horse for the course, of course. There are other options, though... Sort of. Let's call them ''less well-known'' forks that might be worth checking out. Or not. Here are four forks that may or may not tickle your fancy.




Did you know that RST stands for "Rapid Suspension Technology,''? Because I sure didn't, and I also hadn't seen their Rebel inverted fork before this trip to the Taipei Cycle Show. While this thing looks like a stocky fork, you can actually run it as low as 80mm for 29'' wheels, or 100mm for 27.5'' hoops. The travel tops out at 130mm for big wheels and 150mm for 27.5'' wheels. Its lower tubes are just 32mm across, but the magnesium uppers do look beefy as all hell.

I'm behind the times because this is actually the second version of the Rebel, and its updates include a new keyed axle that's said to do a better job of keeping both legs pointing in the right direction. They've also re-worked the bolt-on stanchion guards to be much, much beefier. It's air-sprung, and external adjustments are low-speed rebound and low-speed compression, and you can also get a version with a lockout that's on either your handlebar or down at the top of the fork. But don't do either of those. You can pick your axle size, to, so you can run a Boost or un-Boosted wheel.




If it were my company, I'd tell everyone that GTMRK stands for 'Good Times Mega Rock Killa' suspension company. Alas, it's not my brand but I've been telling everyone that my new inverted fat bike fork is a straight up rock killa regardless. I tried to get some information from the very nice people at GTMRK but had no luck, so I'll just take some guesses instead. There was an air valve at the top, so I bet that it's air-sprung, and there's also a dial that says "Rebound," which means that it likely controls the rebound. And flames because we all know that makes everything better.

Price? From what I gathered, GTMRK is an original equipment-focused company, and not only are they not looking to compete with the fancy pants stuff we're used to riding, their price range is likely far, far lower.




Isn't 'The Smoother' an awesome name for a downhill fork? Too bad that Cargo, an offshoot of Asian suspension giant Spinner, actually named it the far less interesting 36 DH. Strangely, it's designed for 26'' wheels, which surely means that Pinkbike commenters will be buying Cargo's entire stock. It's also coil-sprung... with a lockout. It has a dial for low-speed rebound, too, and you can adjust the preload. Cargo says that it weighs 7.24lb.




Now to some fancy stuff from SR Suntour. The Axon Werx is their top-flight cross-country fork and it sports more carbon fiber than metal. New for 2020 is a one-piece carbon fiber crown and tapered steerer that goes along with the very fancy carbon fiber lowers. The lowers aren't just carbon wrapped around magnesium, but carbon fiber through and through. Travel can be adjusted internally to 100, 110, or 120mm, and you can get it for 27.5'' or 29'' wheels.


Alright, so maybe Fox and RockShox don't have much to worry about right now when it comes to high-end competition, but would you consider giving any of these four forks a go?