We spotted it at Sea Otter last year. Cane Creek had a few inverted forks, but one stood out from the rest. Clearly upside-down, clearly long-travel, and clearly different from the brand’s mountain bike fork options.
In fact, longer travel options were fairly limited in Cane Creek’s lineup. Really, for mountain bikes, there was only the Helm, which extended up to 160mm. This left quite a bit to be desired for enduro racers, bike park riders, and eMTB enthusiasts looking for more squish.
Well, it is Sea Otter time again, and, fortunately, Cane Creek has officially bridged that gap with its new Invert Enduro fork. Taking inspiration from the moto world, the little suspension manufacturer created a fork that is stiffer, longer, and significantly less expensive than similar forks from the suspension giants.
Cane Creek Invert Enduro
Okay, so let’s first take a big picture look at what Cane Creek has created. As the name implies, it is an inverted fork. And, as the second part of the name implies, it is a long-travel bike, geared more toward enduro riding.
The Invert Enduro features 38mm stanchions and 160-180mm of travel. While a comparison to the Fox Podium was not the intention of this article, that is obviously the most similar fork. And, for comparison’s sake, the Invert Enduro has 10mm more travel.
Cane Creek also offers the option of a standard 15mm axle or the larger DH 20mm axle. The Podium is only offered with a 20mm axle, meaning many will need to get a larger hub on their front wheel. Fox used the larger front axle to achieve the stiffness they are looking for in the Podium.
Despite the option to use a 15mm axle, Cane Creek claims a stiffer ride than the Podium. With a 15mm axle, the Invert Enduro is 17% tortionally stiffer than the Podium, and 40% more with the 20mm axle. The extra stiffness is achieved with their SquareLoc axle, which is, well, squared off where the axle meets the dropouts. The axle is keyed into the dropouts and secured with four pinch bolts.
Cane Creek also says that SquareLoc lets riders tune the amount of flex they want in the Invert Enduro. For example, with the extra weight of an e-bike, some might choose to make the fork as stiff as possible. On a trail or enduro bike, a little flex is perhaps okay.
Oh, yeah, with 45mm upper tubes and 38mm stanchions, the Invert Enduro is e-bike approved. Full power, full torque.
Lastly, looking at the big picture, Cane Creek’s Invert Enduro is significantly less expensive than the competition. In a chat I had with Will Hart, the Product Marketing Manager at Cane Creek, he told me that when they began developing the Invert Enduro, they were unaware of the Podium. The fork they wanted to contend with was the Fox 38.
A Fox 38 Factory retails for nearly $1,400. The Invert Enduro is $1,600, about 30% less than the $2,100+ Fox Podium.
Inside the Invert Enduro
One of the ways Cane Creek was able to keep costs down was by carrying over the damper. They use the same damper in the Invert Enduro that has lived in the Helm MKII for the last several years. This is a closed-cartridge monotube damper with a bladder. It features HSC, LSC, and rebound with enough damping range to meet the demands of the new fork.
Perhaps best of all is its reliability. Cane Creek claims a warranty rate of less than 1% for this damper.
Moving to the air side, Cane Creek is making things a touch easier and, they think, better. Helm forks currently require manual positive and negative equalization. For the Invert Enduro, they’ve moved to a charge-port air spring, which self-equalizes. Moving to this design makes setup easier, but, more importantly, guarantees a more sensitive spring.
It also meant moving away from the Helm’s travel adjustment. However, Cane Creek wanted to focus on the most supple and smooth experience possible. You can still change the travel of the Invert Enduro. However, it will be more like the process of other forks, where purchasing a longer/shorter air spring is necessary.
Cane Creek will still use their onboard volume adjustment system with the new Invert Enduro. This allows you to tune progression without opening the fork and adding volume spacers.
And they have a fork tuner app to help you get everything dialed in.
Invert Enduro Quick Details
- 160, 170, 180mm of travel
- 2,770g (to be fair, a touch heavier than the Podium)
- 44mm offset
- 15mm SquareLoc axle (adapter included). 20mm axle sold separately
- 200mm rotor mount
- HSC, LSC, LSR
- Air pressure & volume bleed screws
- Cartridge-style air spring w/ self-equalizing charge port
- Fork Tuner app
- Price: $1,599.99
canecreek.com
