Sure, there are plenty of lightweight XC forks out there, but racing demands so much more. Nimble handling, gram-obsessed weight, buttery damping—combined, they all make the difference between a good fork and a great fork. And with this in mind, the all-new RockShox SID World Cup Brain fork has been completely redesigned to meet the demands of XC racing, and hyperbole aside, we can confidently say that it sets the bar for race-worthy performance.

The all-new Brain damper uses position sensitive technology for better chassis balance and traction. It does this while retaining the ability to separate rider input from bump events on the trail—just some of the incredible stuff that Brain is known for. The new technology can now remain active during the initial 25mm of travel, and this creates a much more balanced riding position and supple front-end feel. In turn, this goes a long way in reducing rider fatigue. And although the fork feels more active initially, as soon as you standup to get on the gas, the forward shift in weight naturally compresses the fork into the platform. So yeah, you'll feel well supported and efficient during hard sprint efforts. Incredibly, Brain does all this while keeping you in control and riding smooth on rough terrain without any need for extra cables and lockout levers on the handlebars.

The World Cup Brain edition of the SID is not just a slight upgrade over the RLC and XX models, either. Along with the integrated Brain technology, it utilizes a carbon fiber steerer and crown, which reduce weight by over 100 grams and increases the overall stiffness. Also adding to the stiffness of is the short-travel-specific design. Leaving the 120-millimeter segment to the trail category, RockShox’s engineers were able to focus on the 80- to 100-millimeter travel range, and therefore develop lighter and stiffer uppers and air shafts. This new design, along with SRAM's Torque Caps (they create an enhanced interface between the hub and fork dropout), Power Bulge technology that reinforces the lowers, and 110-millimeter Boost™ spacing, keeps torsional stiffness high, allowing you to point-and-shoot while descending.

Last, but certainly not least, on the feature spec is the Solo Air spring that’s customizable with RockShox’s Bottomless Tokens. The Solo Air spring lets you adjust pressure with a single Schrader valve that controls the pressure in both the positive and negative air chambers, making adjustments to pressure simple and intuitive. To customize ramp-up preference, RockShox’s Bottomless Tokens can be added to create a suspension curve that’s custom to your preferences.