Bontrager Switch Blade Race X Lite Fork On Test
September 19th, 2006 by Guitar Ted
Twenty Nine Inches has recieved a Bontrager Switch Blade Race X Lite fork to review. Look for a thorough ride test, impressions, and final review in the coming weeks. In the mean time, here is some stats and info on this fork.
The Switch Blade X Lite fork is compatible with 29 inch wheels and is disc brake specific. The fork is constructed of “2ACC” carbon fiber for the legs and 6061-T6 aluminum for the drop outs and fork crown/ steerer. The axle to crown measurement is 465mm to mimic a sagged suspension fork height. The listed weight for the fork is 950 grams.
We would like to thank Gary Fisher Bikes and Bontrager Components for providing us the opportunity to review this fork. Look for updates and a full report on the Bontrager Switch Blade Race X Lite 29″er fork soon!
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what on earth is 2ACC carbon fiber ???? is this yet another 100% pure BS term from the home of bastardised english
Alloy Carbon Composite (ACC)
so please be more specific on how this composition is made is it alloy strands woven into the fiber, what twill is used and how is the alloy actually combined, me thinks its a BS factor of about 9.8 id strands are used what dircetion and angles and how does this actually benefit the product or is it as I think a cost custting exercise, I reckong the on - one fork is far superior to this
on this page, http://www.bontrager.com/Mountain/Components/Seatposts/5825.php it says ACC is “Aluminum Core Construction”
Is that like carbon wrapped alloy?
There are a lot of better products out there than what TREK puts out under it’s various marketing monikers, but you can’t seem to beat their ad men and it works for them obviously because for as many of us that see their hand and call their bluff there are hundreds who could care less and just buy what the glossy brochure and/or sales person tells them is best.
That said, have fun “testing” the fork.
Wow! Seems to be alot of negativity out there today. Anyhow……..I will get with my contact and get the lowdown on this “2ACC” carbon thing and some of my own questions answered.
They are carbon wrapped aluminum forks. Bontrager uses this in some of their seatposts as well.
I have found the forks to be stiffer than the Pace I was using, but not in a bad way. It compliments stiffer frames well, and tracks very well in rough stuff.
I would question the nay sayers who say that Trek/Bontrager is just hype and advertising. Trek catches a ton of flak for being the big bad wolf of the bike industry. The fact is that they got as large as they are by consitantly making a good product that is marketed well. ‘Nuf said.
This is a fork for a rider who wants a comfortable rigid fork that doesn’t weigh a ton. That’s not to say that it’s the lightest, or the flashiest, or the newest inovation since big wheels. It is a fork, and it does what it claims to. Especially for a rider towards the 210lb wight limit of the Pace, this is a very viable option.
I do sell these forks, but we also sell just about every other type of carbon forks. These aren’t perfect, but they are really nice.
Woah there killers, dont bash something until you get to ride it, i have this fork and it is incrediblely nice, some parts suck on it i will attest to it, but riding wise, it is really nice. The disc brake mount is way to short for some reason and the brake caliper hits the back of the leg, it takes a little fanagling to mount your brake correctly, but that is my only gripe on it, It’s cheaper than the pace fork and to me is stiffer. The 2ACC carbon that everyone is confused on is this: Two Aluminum Composite Legs. ACC carbon is carbon wrapped on an aluminum shaft, aimed more at durability and not so much on crazy light weight. The fork still is crazy light at a pound and a half, but is much stiffer than the full carbon and magnesium pace fork. Ive ridden this fork for about 3 months now, have done numerous endurance races on it , and can honestly say that this fork is the best fork i have ridden.
One gripe about you guys though, for a site that is dedicated to promoting the 29er thing, and we all know that the people who bash 29ers are the ones that have never ridden one, you guys shouldnt bash something that you never ridden.
And remember always to thank the person who got you on a 29er to begin with otherwise you probably would still be on a kiddie 26.
Rubber side down, suckas,
-Matty
When you get enough time on a few different forks (Pace, On One carbon and steel, Surly, Redline, IF etc, etc) will you post some sort of comparison with suggested rider weight limits? That would be pretty cool, I’ve been thinking of going lighter on my KM but the durability issue of full carbon (super rocky here) keeps coming to mind.
Here’s the dealio: It’s “ACC Carbon”, not the “2ACC” as I reported. It says “2ACC” on a label on the box and “ACC Carbon” on the lower left fork leg. My contact at Gary Fisher cleared that up for me. Apparently the applied label is incorrect.
I can also pass along that as some of you have posted, yes: the carbon has an inner sleeve of aluminum. The reasoning behind it is that aluminum and carbon handle stresses in different ways and to employ the “best of both”, Bontrager has developed this technology for strengthening the Switch Blade fork and also certain seat posts that they sell which use a similar construction technique. As far as I know, there is no weight limit on the Switch Blade Race X Lite fork.
so basicaly it is a hyped up fork made of alloy with a layer of carbon wrapped around it which really serves zero purpose other than making people think they have a carbon fork. Carbon wrapping alloy will increase stiffness if enough of it is applied but then the fork would way a ton as you need to apply the layers in 6 different directions to make it work correctly, so therefore I suggest to test a real fork the tester gets his hands asap on a on-one fork which could possibly be arranged for him to be the first person in the world to get his mucky paws on one at interbike before anyone else, but only if he is nice to me !!!!!!
No weight limit on the switchblade. your pace fork has a weight limit of 200lbs. This was a big factor on me getting the switchblade in the first place, i weight 195 and i abuse the hell out of stuff. this fork has done nothing but be good to me, the acc is for real, super stuff, super strong, extremely compliant to ride, and best of all for clyde riders, no weight limit. Ride it and youll be thoughly impressed, dont ride and its your loss.
-Matty
Matty : “The fork still is crazy light at a pound and a half”
Please put that in grams? 950g as mentionned above 2lb+…
The part that is confusing to me is what there is to test on a rigid fork? Sure there is the weight of the item, but generally the less weight equals the higher pucker factor and then there is the offset issue which could have bearing on the handling of the bike I guess but on different geo frames even that would be different. But all in all they are rigid forks and if you need to feel compliance in a fork why not just get a suspension one? Oh, yeah, then you wouldn’t be riding a rigid fork…….silly me. So the whole my rigid fork is better than your rigid fork posturing is kind of stupid. Steel, Ti, and Carbon all seem to be pretty well represented and hashed over at this point in the 29″ marketplace but not much seen on the Alu front end front however? Probably because it is not even popular in the 26″ market I guess.
Seriously guys, find someone who has this fork and ride it. It’s nice. Get over the Aluminum thing, it’s not that big of a deal.
yeah,I’m with Matty.I own this fork and it rocks,it holds it’s line and tracks well. feels super light.I rode it on some bigger stuff in the pisgah area and was impressed with it. every time I’m at the trail head somebody is asking me and complementing me about it. If your going the rigid route,it’s the way to go.
I received the fork to race in a short track mtn bike series. I trained on it for 3 days and the right leg came unbonded from the alu crown. I’m 6-5, 184 Simi-Pro. The course that I train on is fast and not very rough. It should have held up. Bontrager is sending me another one. Maybe the first was a fluke? We’ll see.
I’ll keep you posted.
Have questions? y2jamie@makemefast.com
Hey Jamie: Sounds like Trek is taking care of you, as they should. Things break, things fail, and yes, even if they shouldn’t. I had an AMP Research fork do the same thing back in the day and they took care of it too. It was just fine afterwards for many miles.
The Switchblade fork we have on long term test is still plugging right along with zero problems. Hope the replacement fork comes quickly and everything is normal for you.
I’m eager for it to get here, for sure. I have a short track race on the 10th and I could use the 2lb weight savings. I hope I didn’t come across as bashing Bontrager’s product; I’m not. I have always had good luck from Bontrager..good stuff! Like I said, I hope that it was just a bad apple fork.
Will keep you guys posted.
Thanks,
The replacement fork finally arrived! Slapped it on before the next short track race and won! I do hope that this fork last; time will tell. Two more races in the series so I’ll keep you updated.
The course includes a pretty good steep climb that has to be ascended 23 times so the lighter weight from the rigid fork def. didn’t hurt! It was nice and predictable on the blazing fast, winding singletrack.
As I passed to the guy I was sprinting with, I wasn’t wasting any energy by bobbing up and down…he was…he got second.
The fork rocks!…for now.