11/09/06 - Gear Test // RockShox Argyle 409

Compared to forks designed for singletrack and trail riding, where loads and impacts are relatively predictable and manufacturers can get away with lighter and thinner materials, forks for hairier terrain demand more redundancy.

That’s the M.O. for the new RockShox Argyle. The fork is based on the proven Pike model, but among other design tweaks, it replaces the heavily leveraged, easily gouged, expensive aluminum stanchions with good ol’ steel. The extra beef on this 5.25-pound fork (manufacturer’s claimed weight) comes in handy. Dirt jumping and urban riding sees forces and impacts from all sorts of unusual directions—sideways, backwards and even focused on one wheel. They can be enough to destroy an otherwise laterally stiff fork. More importantly, the parts better be able to withstand the abuse over and over again.

The Argyle comes in good, better, and best levels, but all models have air preload, external rebound adjust and the Maxle 360. The 409 we tested features the Solo Air spring and Motion Control damping, which seems more useful on the trail than on the jumps. Simply having compression damping adjustment was plenty of gadgetry to tame the fork on big, sloppy landings. A U-turn would have been nice, though, as I frequently wanted to dial up the travel a bit. While 100 millimeters is perfect for most next-gen urban bikes, my frame feels a bit better at 110 millimeters. As they say, it takes different stroke-lengths to move the world.

It did feel good to ride a fork with a little extra beef where it counts (although the fork could have used a stouter steerer tube). For those who land everything perfectly and straight every time, it might be overkill, but for the rest of us, the extra weight is negligible and the peace of mind is worth it. —Travis Engel

312-664-8800; sram.com