Kilo Tests
Kilo Tests
Bike Sport News
06/2004, „Test of forks – Suspensions for marathon“ PDF (German original)
Marathon-Tipp achieving the Bike-Sport-News rating: Phenomenal..
“In summary: GA-force kilo is an outstanding fork with supreme characteristics. In spite of little travel it creates great controllability for downhill. For uphill sections it allows quick going without swinging, even when pedaling while standing. For hard trails or low travel marathon fullys it is for sure first choice. And it is the lightest fork in the test.”
Bike Sport News
March 2005, Test of suspension forks, „airforces“. PDF
Awarded as the „TIPP“
„None of the forks in the test resulted in such clear bike characteristics. Again and again we were impressed; the Anti-Dive-Effect … provides incredible controllability in turns, not caring for any bumps.”
According to the table in this magazine GA-force Kilo only provides 73,4mm travel(with 480mm total high). This is due to the linear measurement technique used. The difference is the curved wheel trajectory- compared to the straight line trajectory of telescopic suspension forks. This was also mentioned in the article. Have a look at the wheel trajectory figure from Trekkingbike magazine (Mai/June 2004) or the under in “Worth-to-Know”.
Bike Sport News
Nov/Dec 2005, „Light weight design - THE BSN-Bike“ (6 pages)
“The concept for this Bike Sport News bike was to use the lightest parts of German manufacturing…For the fork I chose a kilo from german:A.®. Its good parallelogram provides a supreme response behavior and a very nice Anti-Dive-Effect, which avoids large compression when braking heavily…”
Kilo in the Endorfin with Nobby Nic 2,25” wheels (contact GA or info@bikesportnews.de for a full report)www.bikesportnews.de
Aktiv Radfahren
05/2006, „ Big in-practice and in-lab test of suspension forks“, PDF (contact florian.storch@aktiv-radfahren.de for the full test article)
„Test result: outstanding“
„Best comfort in test! Kilo, in general, is one of the most sensitive and most effective working forks on the market….high stiffness of the fork and the resulting precise steering are remarkable. The sensitivity results from the nice wheel trajectory and the low suspension ratio of the shock. The precise manufacture of the fork with top quality, milled levers is positive…. Cheap? No. Good? Yes.“
www.radfahren.de
Trekkingbike
01/2004, „Finally Function“ „Trapezoid forks at german:A.® – The light-weight throne…is the goal of the German company German Answer…“ PDF
Trekkingbike
May/June 2004, „Fork-revolution“ (4 pages) PDF
Quotation for the beginning: “For bicycle experts it does not seem to be a novel idea. Already 1991 mountain bike developer AMP proposed the revolution on the suspension forks market, with their four joint forks. Without attracting much attention this development was off the market very quickly, again. The trapezoid fork was history for the trendy mountain bikers. Since these days, much has changed. Novel materials, new calculation methods and especially much improved bearing techniques are helping this exotic looking suspension technique to reduce its negative aspects and play out its strengths.” … “It provides concrete advantages, like light weighting and advanced breaking behavior”…
“A standard telescopic fork can only compress straight in and relax straight out. The parameters of the suspension and shock are the only possibilities for the engineers to modify in this very easy mechanical construction.
The opposite is true for parallelogram or trapezoid suspension forks. Several hundreds of pages strong PhD theses as well as some engineering departments of the German motor bike developer BMW are dealing exclusively with the design and layout of these forks- marking the high potential of this design. Almost every bike rider did experience how drastic the handling of the bike changes, when a telescopic fork is highly compressed. E.g. when breaking heavily, the front dives down. Additionally to the bad influence of shifting the weight centre to the front, the shortened trail destabilizes the bike as well.
In contrary, the German Answer reacts differently…
Because the wheel follows a curved trajectory, trail shortening due to compression can be compensated, which adds stability. Also for overcoming obstacles the curved wheel trajectory is an advantage… obstacles are flattened, as if we’ve ironed them. Another constructive advantage are the high-quality, sealed grooved ball bearings, which allow the fork mechanic to move almost frictionless… The smallest stone on the track results in a visible movement of the silver connection levers. That’s the way a suspension fork has to work today.”
Another quotation: “It is quite easy to imagine what happens when a telescopic fork compresses. The fork simply dives linearly and the trail is shortened, which results in a nervous bike behavior. For the German Answer fork a photo montage is needed to show what the wheel trajectory looks like. The arched trajectory results in an improved geometry, giving directional stability to the front wheel. Thanks to smart design, the German Answer fork does not dive down as much when braking heavily and keeps on cushioning.”
Trekkingbike
May/June 2005, “ The best suspension forks in the test” (12 Pages) PDF
Awarded as “Tipp”, Test result: “very good”, “super”
Quotation about the Kilo with steel spring shock: “ Small series developer german:A. ® strikes with this exotic kinematic. Trapezoid constructions create an ideal wheel trajectory, when the fork compresses. Unlike with telescopic forks it is not possible to cant. Thus, force Kilo works very sensitive and uses the whole travel. Additionally it is very light weight. Perfect all-day and sport usability, without much need for maintenance make this fork the favorite for drivers liking strong appearances.
Result: Top- functionality..”
Quotation about the Kilo with air shock:” With a slightly higher breakaway torque than its steel sister, the “air force” strikes with light weight. In the disc version it is by far the lightest on the market. Still, the kinematic provides highest sensibility, which also permits the geometry change when compressed. This makes Force Air the favorite for light weight fetishists . Lighter is not possible! It is not really cheap, but its top functionality and the extravagant appearance make it first choice! Result: Perfect engineering from Germany! The work was worth it, the Force- forks are in the top of best suspension forks..”
In this test travel was also measured linearly. The fork with air shock: AiR-force SLR had 69mm, adding another 10mm for non-linearity it counts to a wheel trajectory of around 79mm.
For the steel spring shock version measured travel was 67 mm, which results in 77mm when considering the non-linearity.
Interview with Dipl.-Wirtschafts.-Ing. Thomas Kamm:
„Why exactly this elaborate technology?“
The multiple pivot technology allows much more liberty for the engineer. You can hand over some very nice and specific characteristics to your suspension fork, which would not nearly be possible with traditional suspensions. Anti-Dive, positive changing of geometry while compressing and an unbeaten ratio of weight to stiffness are only some examples.
“But the technology isn’t new, right?”
No, but until recently there was a lack of quality, especially reliable bearings and stronger materials were needed. Novel ball-bearings, new manufacturing technologies and of course many new detailed design solutions underline the believe that multiple pivot forks will be used even more in the future.
“Why two variants of shocks?”
Geometry and mechanics of the fork are mature. Now, only choosing different shocks allow for creating two totally different characteristics. Extremely sporty or super comfortable.
All test results are available at Delius Klasing.
Email: info@delius-klasing.de
www.trekkingbike.com
www.bike-magazin.de
Kilo in the media:
phenomenal (Marathon-Tipp)
super (Trekking bike)
very good (Trekking bike)
outstanding (aktiv Radfahren)
