LAUF BOOST

I have spoken about these beauties before on my previous blog but I thought I would do an individual piece here.

I have been riding Laufs original TR fork for some time now and its magic carpet ride and weight loss made it a go to choice for less technical courses. It wasn’t without its issues however.

When the terrain turned nasty they could get out of there depth and a disconnected feeling from the front end was the result. It wasn’t bad, but it did knock your confidence a little and could see you less committed to your line that normal.

I raced them in several events and then swapped out for Rock shocks and did back to back tests.

There were pros and cons for both and Lauf themselves totally admit that this is a fork of pure XC racing and Marathon type stuff. It was an annoyance when riding either the lauf or the telescopic. If I rode the shox  I would miss the small bump absorption and the compliance of the lauf and certainly the weight loss. If I rode the lauf I would miss the additional stiffness and bigger hit capability of the 100mm shock.

Lauf haven’t sat still though they have just introduced the new Boost version of the TR with a wider “boost’ width hub spacing at 110mm and a significantly revised fork leg with a much closer profile to their Carbonara fat bike fork.

There are subtle changes to the spring rates of the glass fibre plates and they are rated for even longer lifetimes.

So what does that mean in real terms, well the fork legs are now much stiffer with very little additional weight. This translates into a fork that can take much bigger hits and still hold the wheel tight. As a result all of the nervous feelings have disappeared and the 60mm of travel feels tighter, less work and strangely better damped. I have raced it several times using 650 + tyres I have ridden it at Hadleigh using standard 29.

The best thing I can say is despite the odd looks from other riders while racing I totally forgot about the fork. I mean Totally it didn’t even cross my mind, especially running 650+ the level of confidence afforded me was brilliant.

Lauf have moved up the game,  the original TR was a revelation but quite niche for a few who race rigid but want some give. Suitable for some courses where its less technical and speed over the ground is key.

The boost fork is the same but with leg stiffness turned up to 11 and so fits the bill for XC racers more of the time, throw in a good 650 + set up and you have an ultra capable bike that can handle the vast majority of the XC courses with ease and wouldn’t be out of place on the harder ones. Take it to Wales yep I sure would swap out the rockets for some 3″ nicks and you would be away.

I can’t see me putting telescopics back on an XC race bike any time soon.

Travers Bikes Russ Ti and Lauf Boost Bundles