New bits coming from Santa Cruz and RockShox
New bits coming from Santa Cruz and RockShox
Santa Cruz Bicycles has historically frowned upon rear thru-axles on its VPP-equipped frames, saying in-house testing proved them unnecessary on the fully enclosed rear triangles. Marketing pressure being what it is, though, it seems Santa Cruz is changing its tale.
We spotted a prototype 142x12mm thru-axle on a Santa Cruz Blur XC frame during the FOX launch and when asked, Santa Cruz PR man Mike Ferrentino wouldn't deny its existence but didn't deny the tide was coming, either.
According to Ferrentino, thru-axles still aren't needed but even a company as popular as Santa Cruz can't resist the pressure alone. Consumers can likely expect to see the new rear ends gradually phased into the lineup as current inventory is exhausted.
The new Santa Cruz thru-axle rear ends look to use a DT Swiss RWS skewer system
RockShox’s new Trek EVO specific shock
Meanwhile, we'd previously heard that RockShox was developing new shocks to work with Trek's proprietary side-mount EVO Link as found on the Fuel EX, Remedy, and Slash platforms, but Sea Otter provided our first opportunity to see one in person.
Mounted up on the Remedy 9.9 of Trek factory rider Ross Schnell was a new side-mount Monarch RT3, meaning that 'Rad' Ross no longer has to run custom upper links but also that consumers will have more shock options soon.
We'd heard that RockShox was developing a specific Monarch head for use on Trek's proprietary side-mount Remedy linkage but this is the first one we'd seen in person
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