Ev
Likes Bikes and Dirt
PART 1
I bought the Kowa 200Si forks from Blue Mountain Bikes a few weeks back after riding the pair on a mate's bike. They were something different, new and light, a whole lot lighter than the travis' i was running at the time, so i thought i'd give them a go.
I bolted them onto my Turner DHR, the fit was easy, as you'd expect from any fork. The only hitch was that they require a Boxxer adapter, but they are available from any good bike shop so it was no problem.
Initial impressions were good. Very good in fact. Immediately the bike felt a lot lighter. First ride proved this also, was much easier to move the bike around and it immediately felt very balanced with the DHX 5.0 in the rear.
Read on for an in depth review.
WEIGHT
They're light, real light, like lighter than a boxxer world cup light. The Kowa's feature a magnesium lower with a 35mm hard anodised 7000 series aluminium stanchion, keeping things light and stiff. Coupled with the hollow aluminium crowns, alloy axle and titanium hardware throughout; this fork comes in as one of the lightest
200mm travel DH forks on the market, coming in at a claimed 2.74kg. I haven't had a chance to weight them personally, but they certainly feel as light as claimed!
STIFFNESS
In the past I have run Boxxers, Shivvers, Travis' and 40s, and these are as stiff as the 40s, easily.. The 35mm stanchion is easily big enough to keep the front wheel pointed where you want it. I was amazed at how well these tracked considering the weight; the bike goes where you want it to go. No noticeable deflection, no noticeable flex. The fork just works and works well.
TRAVEL
One of the first things you notice when looking from the cockpit as the big gold knob on the left hand leg, this controls the travel adjust feature on the kowa forks. They are infinitely travel adjustable, with a maximum of 200mm and a minimum of somewhere around 30mm of travel, without changing the way the travel feels at all. In the left hand leg is the air spring, with consists of a single positive chamber and a single negative chamber. Between these is a diaphragm, turning the gold knob 180degrees opens this diaphragm and equalises the pressure in the two chambers extending the fork to full travel
(200mm). From here it’s just a matter of compressing the forks to whatever length/travel you want them at and closing the diaphragm. Easy. The Kowa's feel equally as plush at any travel setting.
The gold anodised stanchions feature hard anodised finish with an incredibly smooth action, there is next to no stiction even when fresh out of the box. Given the forks are air sprung, I was very impressed to notice this, as other air sprung forks I’ve tried have all suffered at least a small amount of stiction.
DAMPING
While the damping system of the Kowa's is a basic open bath system, they perform very well. It seems they have stuck with the old Keep It Simple Stupid saying and have certainly come out on top. In the right hand leg is an open bath rebound circuit with the adjuster situated on the bottom of the fork. The fork has more than enough adjustment to allow the rider to tailor the fork to suit any track. While the 200Si lacks an external compression adjustment or the 200Sx, this can all be taken care of internally but changing oil weights, heights and air pressures. I found that even out of the box this was unnecessary, and have not needed to change anything internally. Being an air sprung fork, the Kowa naturally ramps up towards the end of the stroke, giving a very controlled, predictable feeling. Very plush at the beginning of the stroke and ramping up nicely at the end, which was very nice to see over the bigger hits.
THE RIDE
The ride.. Well as mentioned at the start,immediately my bike felt a lot lighter and more balanced than with the travis' i had been running. The bike felt more nimble, quicker to accelerate and definately more stable in the air.
I found myself manualling and really picking the front wheel up and over things i had previously been skimming. The bike was much easier to jump, with the front end staying level and very stable mid air, and even the rougher landings still felt smooth. The forks had very little stiction out of the box, which felt fantastic, was almost like they were already bedded in at the factory! The seals are massive, there is no way anything is getting past these things! Which i see as a good thing. I've heard stories that people have run the same seals for years in Kowa forks with no detrimental effect what so ever.
The set up was easy. Just a matter of setting the air pressure to suit my weight and working out the rebound setting i like and off i went. The first trail i rode it on was fair smooth at the top, with a couple of low, fast berms into a reasonable sized jump which led straight into a step down drop. This is where i first realised just how stiff the fork is. There is no deflection, no twist at all.. Just point and go. Over these jumps they felt great, remaining plush and soaking the small bumps before ramping up on landings, they felt great!
Next part of the track was a small chute into a series of stair like bumps on a windy descent. Again, i was amazed by the small bump compliance and stiffness of the Kowa. once again, the bike goes whre you want it to, smoothly. At this stage i was really beginning to like these forks. A lot.
Next up was some open off camber corners into a couple of hip jumps followed by a series of quick windy corners through some trees to the finish.
The forks held very well in the off camber turns, again soaking up every little bump before taking the bigger hits of the hip jumps in their stride, one after the other, before entering the twisty pedally section. Despite not having any pedal platform (SPV etc) or external compression damping they pedal exceptionally well, not too much bobbing, just straight tracking and bump eating!!
CONCLUSIONS
Wow, these forks are just awesome. They track well, they're plush, they're very stiff. I don't know what more to ask for in a DH fork. I would definately recommend these to anyone who is looking for a new DH race fork.
As i mentioned earlier, i have run a number of DH forks in the past including Boxxers, Travis' and 40s, and i have to say that the Kowa's have impressed me most.
What can i say? I'm definately a fan! And i will be running these for a long time to come!
P.S. More detailed photo's to come soon!!
Where to buy:
The Kowa 200Si forks retail at $1750 in either black or white and can be purchased from Blue Mountain Bikes on 4782 5599.
PART 2
Ok, i think i've left you waiting long enough so it's time for the next installment.
I've been riding these forks for some time now, and put a few good hard hours/days/weeks riding them.
Now in the first part of this review, i touched on all aspects of these forks from features to performance. In this next part i hope to give a much more in depth review of the performance, particularly that on the demanding world cup DH track that is Mt Stromlo.
A couple of weeks back a group of us made the trip down to Canberra for a days riding at Stromlo forest park. We hired a Renault Master (1.5T van) for the day for the purpose of shuttling up and down the hill, and that's exactly what we did. We rocked up at about 10am for out first run, kitted up and started off downt he hill.
Again the first thing worth noting is the stiffness of the fork, it really does track amazingly well. Everywhere i pointed the front wheel the bike went, no matter how stupid the line choice.. No flex or deflection, just a smooth up and down motion.
Now anyone who is familiar with Mt Stromlo DH will know that the rock garden is a little gnarly, particularly after the recent world cup round. I figured this would be a good testing ground for the travel and bottom out. I hit the garden straight on, chattering over every rock i could find that wasn't on the fast line (no, not intentionally), and as i'd hoped the fork did not once bottom out and stayed true to the trail. Another thumbs up for the KOWA!
Only thing i did notice was that at full travel, the forks seemed to top out a little bit, something i was warned about when i purchased them. Dropping the travel by down to 190mm seemd to fix this at the same time as lowering the bar height and improving handling on the day, which reminds me, i must acquire a lower rise bar..
After the short traverse across the mountain including the few small gaps i came down to the first big drop, no i didn't hit it. With self preservation in mind (read wimp) i deided to save it for another day.. However i did hit the step down drops after the bridge, which once again the KOWA's handled with ease. Only glitch was the slight top out again..
Through the rest of the track, the forks handled beautifully; stiff, plush with a nice ramp up towards the end of the travel.
Other than the top out, the only trouble i had all day was on the stutters towards the bottom of the track, though i'm sure that has more to do with my lack of skill than anything.
After a month of riding these forks i have no complaints. Aside from the slight top out the only issue i've had is the travel adjust knob now turning 270degrees instead of the original 180.. But the tavel adjust still works fine...
The paint on the lowers seems a little thinner than most, but is still holding up fine, i have applied a small amount of touch up paint here and there to keep them looking fresh.
Definately a big thumbs up again on these forks. I will keep you all posted though and post a third segment after the next big rie day.
Evan
I bought the Kowa 200Si forks from Blue Mountain Bikes a few weeks back after riding the pair on a mate's bike. They were something different, new and light, a whole lot lighter than the travis' i was running at the time, so i thought i'd give them a go.
I bolted them onto my Turner DHR, the fit was easy, as you'd expect from any fork. The only hitch was that they require a Boxxer adapter, but they are available from any good bike shop so it was no problem.
Initial impressions were good. Very good in fact. Immediately the bike felt a lot lighter. First ride proved this also, was much easier to move the bike around and it immediately felt very balanced with the DHX 5.0 in the rear.
Read on for an in depth review.
WEIGHT
They're light, real light, like lighter than a boxxer world cup light. The Kowa's feature a magnesium lower with a 35mm hard anodised 7000 series aluminium stanchion, keeping things light and stiff. Coupled with the hollow aluminium crowns, alloy axle and titanium hardware throughout; this fork comes in as one of the lightest
200mm travel DH forks on the market, coming in at a claimed 2.74kg. I haven't had a chance to weight them personally, but they certainly feel as light as claimed!
STIFFNESS
In the past I have run Boxxers, Shivvers, Travis' and 40s, and these are as stiff as the 40s, easily.. The 35mm stanchion is easily big enough to keep the front wheel pointed where you want it. I was amazed at how well these tracked considering the weight; the bike goes where you want it to go. No noticeable deflection, no noticeable flex. The fork just works and works well.
TRAVEL
One of the first things you notice when looking from the cockpit as the big gold knob on the left hand leg, this controls the travel adjust feature on the kowa forks. They are infinitely travel adjustable, with a maximum of 200mm and a minimum of somewhere around 30mm of travel, without changing the way the travel feels at all. In the left hand leg is the air spring, with consists of a single positive chamber and a single negative chamber. Between these is a diaphragm, turning the gold knob 180degrees opens this diaphragm and equalises the pressure in the two chambers extending the fork to full travel
(200mm). From here it’s just a matter of compressing the forks to whatever length/travel you want them at and closing the diaphragm. Easy. The Kowa's feel equally as plush at any travel setting.
The gold anodised stanchions feature hard anodised finish with an incredibly smooth action, there is next to no stiction even when fresh out of the box. Given the forks are air sprung, I was very impressed to notice this, as other air sprung forks I’ve tried have all suffered at least a small amount of stiction.
DAMPING
While the damping system of the Kowa's is a basic open bath system, they perform very well. It seems they have stuck with the old Keep It Simple Stupid saying and have certainly come out on top. In the right hand leg is an open bath rebound circuit with the adjuster situated on the bottom of the fork. The fork has more than enough adjustment to allow the rider to tailor the fork to suit any track. While the 200Si lacks an external compression adjustment or the 200Sx, this can all be taken care of internally but changing oil weights, heights and air pressures. I found that even out of the box this was unnecessary, and have not needed to change anything internally. Being an air sprung fork, the Kowa naturally ramps up towards the end of the stroke, giving a very controlled, predictable feeling. Very plush at the beginning of the stroke and ramping up nicely at the end, which was very nice to see over the bigger hits.
THE RIDE
The ride.. Well as mentioned at the start,immediately my bike felt a lot lighter and more balanced than with the travis' i had been running. The bike felt more nimble, quicker to accelerate and definately more stable in the air.
I found myself manualling and really picking the front wheel up and over things i had previously been skimming. The bike was much easier to jump, with the front end staying level and very stable mid air, and even the rougher landings still felt smooth. The forks had very little stiction out of the box, which felt fantastic, was almost like they were already bedded in at the factory! The seals are massive, there is no way anything is getting past these things! Which i see as a good thing. I've heard stories that people have run the same seals for years in Kowa forks with no detrimental effect what so ever.
The set up was easy. Just a matter of setting the air pressure to suit my weight and working out the rebound setting i like and off i went. The first trail i rode it on was fair smooth at the top, with a couple of low, fast berms into a reasonable sized jump which led straight into a step down drop. This is where i first realised just how stiff the fork is. There is no deflection, no twist at all.. Just point and go. Over these jumps they felt great, remaining plush and soaking the small bumps before ramping up on landings, they felt great!
Next part of the track was a small chute into a series of stair like bumps on a windy descent. Again, i was amazed by the small bump compliance and stiffness of the Kowa. once again, the bike goes whre you want it to, smoothly. At this stage i was really beginning to like these forks. A lot.
Next up was some open off camber corners into a couple of hip jumps followed by a series of quick windy corners through some trees to the finish.
The forks held very well in the off camber turns, again soaking up every little bump before taking the bigger hits of the hip jumps in their stride, one after the other, before entering the twisty pedally section. Despite not having any pedal platform (SPV etc) or external compression damping they pedal exceptionally well, not too much bobbing, just straight tracking and bump eating!!
CONCLUSIONS
Wow, these forks are just awesome. They track well, they're plush, they're very stiff. I don't know what more to ask for in a DH fork. I would definately recommend these to anyone who is looking for a new DH race fork.
As i mentioned earlier, i have run a number of DH forks in the past including Boxxers, Travis' and 40s, and i have to say that the Kowa's have impressed me most.
What can i say? I'm definately a fan! And i will be running these for a long time to come!
P.S. More detailed photo's to come soon!!
Where to buy:
The Kowa 200Si forks retail at $1750 in either black or white and can be purchased from Blue Mountain Bikes on 4782 5599.
PART 2
Ok, i think i've left you waiting long enough so it's time for the next installment.
I've been riding these forks for some time now, and put a few good hard hours/days/weeks riding them.
Now in the first part of this review, i touched on all aspects of these forks from features to performance. In this next part i hope to give a much more in depth review of the performance, particularly that on the demanding world cup DH track that is Mt Stromlo.
A couple of weeks back a group of us made the trip down to Canberra for a days riding at Stromlo forest park. We hired a Renault Master (1.5T van) for the day for the purpose of shuttling up and down the hill, and that's exactly what we did. We rocked up at about 10am for out first run, kitted up and started off downt he hill.
Again the first thing worth noting is the stiffness of the fork, it really does track amazingly well. Everywhere i pointed the front wheel the bike went, no matter how stupid the line choice.. No flex or deflection, just a smooth up and down motion.
Now anyone who is familiar with Mt Stromlo DH will know that the rock garden is a little gnarly, particularly after the recent world cup round. I figured this would be a good testing ground for the travel and bottom out. I hit the garden straight on, chattering over every rock i could find that wasn't on the fast line (no, not intentionally), and as i'd hoped the fork did not once bottom out and stayed true to the trail. Another thumbs up for the KOWA!
Only thing i did notice was that at full travel, the forks seemed to top out a little bit, something i was warned about when i purchased them. Dropping the travel by down to 190mm seemd to fix this at the same time as lowering the bar height and improving handling on the day, which reminds me, i must acquire a lower rise bar..
After the short traverse across the mountain including the few small gaps i came down to the first big drop, no i didn't hit it. With self preservation in mind (read wimp) i deided to save it for another day.. However i did hit the step down drops after the bridge, which once again the KOWA's handled with ease. Only glitch was the slight top out again..
Through the rest of the track, the forks handled beautifully; stiff, plush with a nice ramp up towards the end of the travel.
Other than the top out, the only trouble i had all day was on the stutters towards the bottom of the track, though i'm sure that has more to do with my lack of skill than anything.
After a month of riding these forks i have no complaints. Aside from the slight top out the only issue i've had is the travel adjust knob now turning 270degrees instead of the original 180.. But the tavel adjust still works fine...
The paint on the lowers seems a little thinner than most, but is still holding up fine, i have applied a small amount of touch up paint here and there to keep them looking fresh.
Definately a big thumbs up again on these forks. I will keep you all posted though and post a third segment after the next big rie day.
Evan
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