FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany (BRAIN) — Fail to match the color of your fork or rims to your mountain bike frame and you run the risk of becoming a fashion pariah.
MRP is here to help.
The Grand Junction, Colo.-based company took a look at upcoming 2016 bike models and came up with fork graphics in 10 up-to-the-minute colors to keep you from looking like you went to a cocktail party in a striped shirt and plaid pants.
But change is more than skin-deep for MRP’s fork line this year.
“We’ve gotten really good reviews for our forks, but there were a couple things we were hearing: They’re a little too loud, and maybe they’re not the best-looking forks,” said Noah Sears, product and marketing manager.
The new graphic options take care of the looks department, but MRP addressed the offending rebound “whoosh” by chamfering internal port openings and reshaping rebound needles. The result: a 26 percent reduction in operational noise. A new wiper seal design also cuts down on friction, Sears said.
In addition to its Stage and Loop fork series, MRP has also capitalized on the widespread adoption of 1-by mountain drivetrains with its chain guides. While a guide may seem unnecessary given chain-grabbing tooth profiles on a variety of today’s chainrings, Sears says chains still hop off running plain 1-by. Furthermore, the tooth profiles’ reliance on friction to hold on to the chain can prematurely wear down a chainring.
“What we do, we call it ‘defensive retention,’ ” he said. “The chain doesn’t make any contact with the guide unless it has to.”
-
For 2016, MRP is offering 10 different graphic colors to match the latest bikes. -
