X-Fusion Vengeance HLR Fork Review

X-Fusion is making a big effort to win the hearts and minds of riders who are looking for high performing suspension and they are fully aware that it will be a hard battle. As it sits right now, the Big Four rule the roost in this category, but X-Fusion is looking to change this with their new fork, the Vengeance. It is available in two flavours; the HLR model tested here that features separate high and low compression adjusters, as well as rebound, and the less expensive RC model that allows you to tune compression and rebound. Both are air sprung and let you change the travel from 160 mm down to 130 mm and 100 mm internally. Both the Vengeance HLR and RC models are available in standard 1 1/8th, tapered, and full 1.5" steerer options to fit any frame and headset combination out there.

You won't find a fancy quick release axle system on the Vengeance which may put off some riders, but others will prefer the standard and secure looking pinch bolt system that X-Fusion has chosen to use. I can't think of a time when I was racing to get my front wheel off to fix a flat on my all-mountain bike anyhow. A 5 mm allen key is required to loosen the single pinch bolts on each side, as well as thread the axle from the lowers. This photo also shows the low and high speed compression knobs that are located at the bottom of the right leg. Both are clearly labeled and protected from damage by a threaded aluminum cap. Rebound is adjusted via the red aluminum knob atop the right fork leg. All three adjusters use highly defined detents to eliminate guessing when it comes to time make adjustments. You'll find an air pressure chart at the bottom of the left leg to give you a good starting point. The finish is as good as any other high end fork on the market, all knobs are aluminum, and an internal inspection would reveal that there are no cheap plastic parts hidden from view.

You're looking at the sealed, but serviceable, twin tube damper cartridge that is housed in the right leg of the Vengeance. The larger diameter silver tube encompasses the damping cartridge and completely separates lube and damping oil from one another. This not only keeps cavitation to a minimum due to the system preventing the oil from sloshing about inside the fork, but it also eliminates the chance of dirt and grime that has managed to get past the seals from mixing in with the damping oil. There is also less oil needed within the fork to perform damping duties, thereby lower weight as well. Under compression, the oil runs through the compression damping circuits that are located at the bottom of the cartridge and then out the ports into the outer chamber that is created by the silver tube. The opposite happens during the rebound stroke, with the oil flowing in through the ports, past the check valve, and through the rebound assembly.

This is the anodized rebound piston inside the Vengeance. The spring loaded shim at the left side (top) of the piston acts as the check valve, with the shims on the opposite side controlling the high speed rebound stroke. The large threaded top cap on the far left seals the damping oil within the silver outer tube.

Those trick looking anodized aluminum knobs at the bottom of the fork are attached to this CNC'd piece of hardware that controls the separate high and low speed compression duties of the HLR and allows you to tune each one independently of one another. The blue dial (low speed compression) is attached to the black adjuster on the far right of the unit. Turning this dictates oil flow during low speed compression action, such as braking, body movement, and smoother landings. Turning it to the right adds damping and you'll find that the fork will use less travel during these instances, turning it to the left has the opposite effect. High speed compression is adjusted via the gold knob that is attached to the silver section just above this, you can see where the setscrew tightens against it. Extra high speed compression will keep the Vengeance from using too much travel during hard hits. This photo also clearly shows the oil ports in the damper tube in relation to the ports on the compression assembly.

Setting up the Vengeance is a piece of cake, and unlike a lot of other forks out there, the suggested air pressures listed on the leg actually make sense and put me very close to the pressure that I'm currently running. The aluminum dials are easy to turn and and I had a usable setup to start with that let me hit the trails within a few minutes of tinkering. The rebound adjustment range is wide enough to handle low pressures for smaller riders, as well as higher spring rates that a larger or more aggressive rider would require. You can find a setup guide on the X-Fusion website, but it doesn't have any recommendations for either of the compression settings. If you are familiar with what the adjustments do, start in the middle and adjust each independently from there. For a brand new fork, it was incredibly smooth right out of the box and didn't feel like it needed any break in time whatsoever. In fact, even after plenty of trail miles the Vengeance doesn't feel any smoother than when it was taken out of the packaging - very impressive. Having had saddle time on another company's forks that use special coatings to reduce friction, I'll say that the Vengeance fork on my bike was every bit as good. It simply feels as if the tolerances between the stanchions and bushings are spot on. There is really no point in me going on about how stiff the fork felt. It uses a 20 mm thru-axle and 36 mm stanchion tubes, of course it's going to be as stiff as hell! For those who voice concern over X-Fusion using a single pinch bolt on each side of the dropout, no reason to worry. It's all about the contact area and there is plenty of it down there.

On the trail the Vengeance did a great job of absorbing the terrain and keeping my wheel on the ground, which is the goal of any well setup suspension, isn't it? The fork's very active and supple beginning stroke allowed the front wheel to get up and out of the way quickly when crossing over small trail chatter, but I did find myself adding some low speed compression as the fork had a tendency to gobble up a bit too much travel than was called for during hard braking or on steep pitches of trail. Thankfully, the L/S compression adjustment is very effective and does a great job of keeping the fork higher in its travel without transmitting a harsh feel through to the bars. Just keep in mind that you may need to give the L/S dial a few more clicks than you'd first expect. On the opposite end of the spectrum the black fork handled fast and heavy hits great - no spiking or excessively hard bottom out and it has no qualms about you pushing the limits of what your all-mountain bike is capable of. After much knob turning I settled on a slightly faster rebound stroke than what I've run on other forks. A bit too slow and it felt as if the fork would get a step or two behind the terrain, but it came to life once I sped the rebound speed up only one or two clicks. The fork proved to have a quality feel to it, which I was expecting after seeing the caliber of the internals and knowing how much work the guys at X-Fusion have put in to having a properly tuned fork. Besides the excellent action, the range of feel that the external adjustments have is also impressive. They allow you to alter the personality of the Vengeance drastically depending on what you are looking for or the terrain on any given day. Reliability has also been impressive, but if a problem does arise it is good to know that they do have a fully stocked service center in California should any work need to be performed.

So, it's a great fork, but there a few things that could make it even better. The Vengeance has adjustable travel that is changed by altering the position of the top out spacer within the fork and the procedure is simple enough, but there are sure to be riders who won't consider the Vengeance until there is an on-the-fly travel adjust included, especially considering the axle to crown length is slightly longer than that of its bushy tailed competition. The traditional 20 mm axle may also dissuade some riders from picking up the Vengeance, but this should be pretty low on the list of demands when looking for a new 6" fork. Keep in mind that X-Fusion has just launched their X-15 QR system on the new Velvet XC/Trail fork so it's safe to say that we should expect a 20 mm version for the Vengeance soon. The Vengeance HLR feels great on the trails, it's quite adjustable, and has a very competitive price as well. X-Fusion may not be the first name that springs to mind when thinking about a new aftermarket fork for your bike, but I can certainly see this changing soon once more riders begin to use their products.