Last week our friends at BikeRadar.com got us all excited, and we helped spread the rumors that Geoff Kabush was spotted possibly riding a prototype Shimano Di2 XTR groupo – in other words it sounded like the popular electronic shifters for the road were going off-road.
But now BikeRadar.com reports that is not the case. But before we get totally depressed about this news, it seems that Kabush was testing an electronic control system for his Fox Racing Shox suspension fork. As BikeRadar notes this is more than just an electronic lockout, and could mean multiple damping maps. What does this mean?
It sounds like it could mean a suspension fork that could be adjusted to changing conditions on the trail. A little bit of give where you need it, a bit more on the technical stuff and a lockout when you to do some climbing. Isn’t electric control grand?
[Via BikeRadar: Fox Racing Shox Test New Electronic Suspension]
Road cyclists have been able to do the electronic shifting thing for a while now. Shimano, which introduced the first successful (key word is successful) electronic shifters with its Dura Ace line that the pros seem to love, brought Di2 to its step down (but still very high-end) Ultegra line last year, and this season will see rival Campagnolo also going electronic. Meanwhile there have been efforts to develop electronic shifting for off-road, but only in the aftermarket world… until now.