Prototype 29er FOX 40 mounted on Evil Wreckoning spy shot
With 29er wheels and 160mm of rear travel, the Evil Wreckoning is capable of decimating anything in its path (click to enlarge).
With clearance for meaty 29” tires and 160mm of travel front and rear, the Evil Wreckoning is capable of leveling even the gnarliest of terrain. To help make it even more rowdy, PNW legend Luke Strobel has a very special FOX 40 mounted to the front. It’s special because FOX doesn’t make a downhill fork for 29” wheels, so what’s going?
When we reached out to Evil Bikes for comment, they were pretty vague on details, but owner Kevin Walsh did tell us the following:
“It’s a 190mm 27.5 FOX 40 prototype that is modified to fit a 29” wheel. Just a little something we have been playing around with since last year. Luke has several races on it including a couple of wins. No plans for production at this point, just trying some different ideas with the Wreckoning.”
We also reached out to FOX for comment, but Global Communications Manager Mark Jordan wouldn’t give us any hints beyond stating that “we’re always testing stuff.”
Based on this image and my personal FOX 40, my guess is that in addition to limiting the fork travel to 190mm, the engineering team has also trimmed the lower arch to create clearance for a 29” DH tire. Perhaps someone at the next NW Cup could take a closer look….
Back in 2011, Trek showed us this 7” travel 29er downhill prototype (click to enlarge).
Could this prototype be a sign of things to come? Brands like Trek and Intense have both tested 29” prototypes in the past and the availability of tough lightweight components has only gotten better.
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