Stanchion Envy? Nah, really? 

The meager XC 28mm stanchion lasted a good while, before the 30mm stanchion envy swallowed that up. Now anything less than 32mm is "insufficient." Then Fox came along with their revolutionary 36mm & 40mm stanchions, leading to an industry wide exodus away from the norm and into a fantasy land filled with ginormous stanchions. What next?

Consumers are asking the impossible of the MTB industry. We want it stiff, strong & long, but of course we also need it light. No wait, that not light enough. We want it  R E A L L Y  L I G H T !  We want feathers, not forks.

How does a manufacturer accomplish larger diameter stanchions while maintaining a light weight? Well, your stanchions are getting wider, but they're also getting thinner. The stanchions get wider as the tube sets get thinner & thinner walls. That helps stiffness, but it doesn't do much for strength. The point is that while the forks feel stiffer they are more susceptible to hitting that fine line between maximum stiffness & control, but also to flexy & less confidence inspiring steering.

To illustrate my point, I'm going to pick on Fox. They make a solid product & are so popular right now they can take a little criticism. Take the 2007 Fox 140mm forks for example. While they seem stout during XC riding, we hear consistent complaints that these forks just don't seem to be up to the task for the most aggressive riding for which they are supposedly designed. Fox 140mm forks are designated as for All Mountain (AM) use, however we're not so convinced. Long travel XC certainly, but not All Mountain.

It all goes back to a consumer's dream fork:  stiff, strong, long & light. They are smart over there at Fox. Them Mamas' ain't raised no dummies! They know that one of the only aspects a consumer can quantify is weight, so they favor weight over stiffness & strength. Once upon a time, in comparison to their competition, Fox developed a reputation for extremely stiff forks. Not so anymore. That's not the consensus that we hear - and we talk to quite a number of riders.

Can we fault Fox? Maybe, but not likely. They know one other key factor which is that plenty riders over qualify themselves in terms of their aggressiveness. Plenty of self proclaimed "All Mountain" riders show up on a bike shop's door steps ready to get hard core. Then when it comes down to it, weight gets in the way from them stepping up to the next level of aggressiveness. Fox does a really, really good job sweeping up that sales niche. Some riders may never even come to a tangible realization of their priority scheduling (light weight over capability) , but does it really matter if they still proclaim themselves as "All Mountain" riders?

Well, that's a whole other discussion for another day?