Price: $549

TALAS is an acronym for Travel Adjusta-ble Linear Air Spring. What's that mean to you? A great ride, for one thing.

TA: Travel Adjust-able. Turn the indexed knob atop the left fork leg just one click and the fork's travel changes 3 mm. Easy enough.

LAS: Linear Air Spring. This is the most impressive part of the fork--but also not so easy to explain. See the box on page 77 for a rundown.

Our test fork was equipped with an adjuster knob for dialing in rebound damping--hence the R--which lets you control how quickly the fork extends after an impact. RL and RLC models are available, too, which add adjustable lockout, or lockout and compression damping, respectively.

Like all other Fox Forx, the Talas R is relatively beefy, with a large, cast-magnesium lower assembly, 32-mm diameter stanchions (upper legs) and a forged aluminum crown, all of which make it one of the most precisely steering forks. The TALAS also gets Fox's internal lubrication system, which keeps the fork sliding smoothly.

So how's it work? Like a Fox. Despite being in the fork business for just a couple of years, Fox's vast suspension experience (with rear shocks) shows clearly in the TALAS. We were impressed with its overall performance. The travel adjustment is absolutely the best on the market. You can easily adjust travel distance while in the saddle, and the spring rate effectively self-adjusts to any setting you choose. Plus, the travel adjustment is independent of any other setting; it affects the amount of travel and no other performance factor of the fork.

We'd prefer a fork that adjusted similarly to the TALAS rear shock, so there would be three settings (80, 100 and 125 mm) that would be easy to click between. Another quibble: The 3-mm-increment settings on the fork mean you spend a lot of time turning the knob to get from one end of the travel spectrum to the other. But so what? For a ride this sweet we'll twist all day.

Best thing: Best on-the-fly travel adjustment available

Worst thing: What do you mean, "Worst thing?"

Verdict: It's not cheap, but the Talas R shows why Fox is quickly becoming the leader in trouble-free, easy-to-use suspension

Price: $549

Weight: 3.9 lbs.

Travel: 85-125 mm, adjustable in 3 mm increments

Contact: 800/FOX-SHOX; www.foxracingshox.com