10-16-07 // Previewed: '08 Sid Takes On 24 Hrs Of Moab

Celebrating the 10th year of the Sid suspension fork, RockShox has completely redesigned their popular XC race fork for 2008. The folks at SRAM took advantage of last weekend's Granny Gear 24 Hours Of Moab mountain bike race to officially release the new fork, which we also had a peak at last month during Interbike. The entire SRAM crew set up camp at the Moab race course, invited a dozen journalist, several pro racers, an amazing chef and several masseuses for the best hospitality one is likely to find in the middle of a cold and dusty rock-filled desert.

The new Sid debuts on one of the toughest 24-hour courses in the states. Alan Davis

We weren't invited to simply cover the event either; we were chosen to compete. Four teams were assembled, each including SRAM personnel, journalists and pros, including Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Willow Koerber and Jeff Lenosky, all riding on a variety of short-travel cross country bikes with freshly mounted '08 RockShox Sids.

The RockShox Sid
The original '98 Sid quickly gained popularity in XC race circles for its 80mm of responsive travel and light weight. Aggressive riders knew better however, as theses attributes were achieved with compromises in stiffness, durability and travel. For 2008 RockShox has set out to build the ultimate race fork without any such compromises. Combining many of the features seen in the Reba fork model into the new Sid and increasing its maximum travel to 100mm, RockShox appears well on their way to reaching their goals.

Sander Rigney, the RockShox designer behind the new Sid project, explains the details of the new fork. Alan Davis

Although the Sid has seen revisions over the past ten years, this is the first ground up redesign for the model. Its tapered and butted aluminum steerer presses into a low-profile AL66-TV crown connecting to stiffer 32mm stanchions instead of 28mm models on old Sids. The uppers are considerably shorter than those on the Reba fork for less weight. Shorter stanchions require less overlap in the sliders so a large portion of the bottom of each slider leg is hollow thus reducing the volume of the fork's oil bath. RockShox's Totem freeride fork also influenced some of the Sid's design in the use of PowerBulge reinforcements around the bushing area on each slider leg.

The hollow bottoms of each slider leg are several inches deep. Alan Davis

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