Weight: 4.21lb / Travel: 140, 120, 100mm / Post Mount / Shock pump and star nut included
Contact: Mojo 01633 615815

The Fox is the only fork tested with three preset travel positions, adjusted by the blue Talas II lever on top of the left fork leg. This allows air to bleed from one chamber to another inside the air cartridge and changes the spring rate and sag setting in the three different travel settings. It’s necessary to weight the fork to get it to reduce in length, and also cycle it a number of times to come back up, but the lever is easy to reach and quick to operate while riding.
Fox has improved the low-speed damping for 2008. This means the fork is more stable under braking and, because the damper does more of the work, it isn’t as reliant on the air spring to hold the rider up. We actually found we reduced the air pressure by about 10psi, which not only makes the fork more compliant, it also allowed us to dial in less rebound damping. We also spent more time experimenting with the low-speed adjustment dial than on previous RLC forks because even half way on the fork it still felt supple. Physically the Talas fork is no different, but these tweaks make a massive difference to the performance that you feel while riding.
The Talas is pretty stiff — we’d say the Pike and Minute are marginally stiffer but there’s not much in it. It gets the same angled dropouts as the Magura, and Fox has simplified the hose guide on the brace, which is easier to fit, and the large diameter Allen key head is less likely to round out. Fox is unique in offering a shock pump and star nut with all of its air forks.
First generation Talas forks featured a dial that allowed you to set the travel anywhere between two extremes; this quickly proved laborious and was unusable on the trail. The new Talas II system seems like the perfect evolution; it’s compact, light and practical plus there’s no issues with knee clearance like with a bar-mounted remote. But what makes the Talas a great fork is the improvements to the damping, and while we’d be tempted to give this fork top marks, what’s stopping us is the price and the fact that there’s a cheaper Talas R for £439.

MBR RATING: 9/10