Had a wee shot on a mates bike, pretty ugly but they feel really good when actually in use, plush as hell.

But 18 bearings and 1900 quid.

Er naw 🤔😂

How did your thoughts compare with the Pinkbike review?

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/review-trust-shout-linkage-fork.html

I’d love a go on one but can’t see me ever splashing that kind of cash no matter how good

Dave’s one ? Looks hideous mind you 😜.

They are pricy but then people spend £3500 on a frame which to me is bonkers…I think the price for this is far better justified than for a frame…at least there is some tech in the fork. I suspect getting a cheaper frame and investing in something like this would deliver a much better bike.

However from what I can gather they do work different to telescopic forks (not just in the mechanism) and are great for square edge hits but not so good for vertical hits – so if you like hooning though rock gardens at high speed they’re going to be better for you, but if you like sending it on 10ft drops then they’re not going to be the best option.

Don’t think they look too bad. Different, which might take some getting used to but once you’re used to it they’re a pretty slick design.

I never rode it for more than a few minutes, so can’t really comment, but on a rough rooty descent, it felt incredibly planted and smooth, front wheel feels like it’s miles out in front, which inspires confidence.

I could get used to the looks, but I dunno about the bearing changes. 🤣

^^^^ did you try the Orbea with the previous fork too ?

Aye, I did, it felt sooo much longer with the trust monstrosity.

“Aye, I did, it felt sooo much longer with the trust monstrosity.”

The strange thing is that the axle to crown length and offset are basically the same as on a telescopic fork of equal travel. So if it feels longer that’s a feel thing, not an actual thing!

I do wonder if, despite the reviews, it’s a much better performing fork but we’re too used to riding around the problems with telescopic forks so we don’t see a fault with them but anything this is less good at is considered a massive issue?

Yeah, I know, it is just a feel thing, or maybe just fact the part of the firm you can see doesn’t move like say the lowers of a standard fork do?.

A lever fork will feel different and depending how its set up could be very different. It took me a long time to get used to the one on my BMW but once I did it was far superior to a tele fork

I know this has been said before, but if linkage forks are better than telescopic ones why is it that no MotoGP or top motocross race bikes use them? Motor racing is incredibly competitive and there’s far more money in it at the top of the sport than MTBs, so if linkage forks offered even a slight advantage they’d be the dominant technology.

JP

I’ve never ridden an MX bike but based on a year riding an eMTB a lot, the big improvement in sprung/unsprung mass makes the fork work so much better than on a normal MTB. And on a bike you pedal and how hard do you pump on a moto, it doesn’t look like such a big component of the riding style.

Anyway, I think those differences mean that a moto fork works a lot better than a MTB fork in their respective contexts. There’s also the different fundamental design, like they’re all dual crown and use floating bushings to avoid binding.

JP
Two reasons – moto gp needs results NOW! and it takes time to develop and for riders to adapt – and you need an entirely new frame and riding style

2 some of teles disadvantages in normal use become advantages in racing ( dive causing reduced trail for quicker turn in, lack of side loading rigidity reducing chatter)

I know this has been said before, but if linkage forks are better than telescopic ones why is it that no MotoGP or top motocross race bikes use them?

Because humans. We’re the weakest link in the chain. Replace humans with robots and linkage forks would be in MotoGP and lap times would be dropping like a stone i’m sure. It’s not a good design when a rider is hard on the brakes and the back wheel is 3 inches off the ground…there is a technical fix for that situation. But us humans have adopted to telescopic forks and learned to adapt to their disadvantages and in some circumstances turned their disadvantages into advantages. Also look at auto gearboxes in cars. A good modern auto gearbox is better in every conceivable way to a manual…they’re faster, more efficient etc. but some who consider themselves ‘proper drivers’ still delude themselves that the manual gearbox is better – usually for soft and subjective reasons rather than purely technical.

I don’t think linkage forks are a panacea for bikes…no one fork solution is better for every application…but they are better for most riding and may never be better for some niche parts of mountain biking…i can’t imagine we’ll ever see them at crankworx for example. But give it time. Mountain biking was on 26″ wheels since its birth until recently and it’s taken this long to wean people onto larger wheel sizes and that’s just a wheel. So accept the transition to something like a linkage fork might take longer. But for the majority of mountain bikers who don’t regularly take on 10ft drops to 40ft gap jumps who like to hit their local trail centres at the weekends and rattle through the odd rock garden on an annual lads MTB trip to the Alps a linkage fork probably would be better for them.

https://motocrossactionmag.com/leading-link-or-missing-link-the-awesome-fork-that-time-forgot/