Suspension

​Although most mountain bikers seem to be happy with their telescopic forks, over the years we've seen numerous attempts at linkage-based front suspension systems. A recent and particularly interesting example is the Message, a 130mm trailing multi-link fork from Salt Lake City's Trust Performance.

​If you've ever watched a speedboat slamming its way across the waves, you may have thought "That can't be good for its hull" … and you'd be right. A new invention from Spain's Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), however, could help keep those boats intact.

In an effort to move away from today's giant, heavy battle tanks, DARPA's GXV-T program has been investigating new technologies for fast, agile and smart ground transport. Here are six of the fascinating ideas that were demonstrated last month at Aberdeen Test Center outside Baltimore, Maryland.

If the goal of building a custom motorcycle is to create something unique, then “Jack Watkins” (not his real name), of Poland, can tick that box. A hub-steered head-scratcher with a Beemer Boxer motor and laser-cut sheet steel frame, the Watkins M001 is an epic engineering curiosity.

​It's not unusual for new mountain bikes to be unveiled at the Crankworx festival. What certainly is unusual, though, is a bike that premiered at this year's event. Made by Structure Cycleworks, the SCW 1 does away with a traditional suspension fork, and replaces it with a linkage-style suspension.

The Silk Way Rally doesn't get the same coverage as the legendary Paris-Dakar, but it's one of the toughest tests in the automotive world. Here are some of the best images from the first three legs of the event, which kicked off earlier this week.

​When you're climbing a hill on a full-suspension mountain bike, you get more pedalling efficiency if you lock out the rear suspension. That's why the Killswitch was created. It works with the bike's existing dropper seatpost to automatically lock out the shock, but only when climbing.

We still haven't been treated to a look at the finished Audi A8, but teasers have started to trickle out of Ingolstadt. Having shared details about the car's lightweight body, Audi says the suspension on the new A8 will automatically adjust itself based on the road ahead.

It was just a couple of years ago that Pinarello unveiled a rear suspension system for its Dogma K8-S road racing bike. Well, the latest version of the K8-S will have a new rear suspension that only comes on when the going gets rough.

​Butt discomfort is a common complaint among cyclists, caused at least in part by road vibrations being transmitted up the frame and into the saddle. The Rinsten Spring addresses that problem, in the form of a steel spring that's installed between the saddle and seatpost.

Back in 2014, Chevrolet unveiled the Colorado ZR2 Concept. It looked production ready, and company execs said they'd gauge interest and think about building it. It would appear the public has spoken, because Chevy has pulled through and unveiled the production ZR2 after two years of thinking.

​​As long as there have been mountain bikes, there have been people experimenting with linkage-style suspension forks. France's Motion Engineering is now taking a modern crack at the technology, with its brake-dive-eliminating Motion France Dynamic fork. ​