For the 2011 season (more like the latter half of the 2011 season) Drift provided the Southern Downhill race team with some sets of Fork Armour for their BoXXer forks.
Recently the SDH team has stepped up the professionalism and now really look the part with full team issue bikes and kit, another great addition to the UK race scene. As users of the SDH, a long respected face of UK riders, it was great for us to hear that they loved their Fork Armour. Here is what they had to say:

“We’ve had some excellent customised Drift MTB titanium fork armour on test for a good few rides now. Read on below to see how we’ve got on with this unique product.

There are a number of options available to racers and uplift weekend warriors to protect their fork lowers from uplift damage, but very few offer protection from the onslaught of rocks that may come into contact with the lowers. Drift fork armour however does exactly that, protects from uplift damage, potentially wearing through the soft metal of the forks but is also strong enough to take on a rock and win.

Now I, along with a lot people assumed the Drift fork armour was just to protect against uplift damage much like a lot of other options on the market such as heli tape or fork skins as uplift damage can be quite extensive. However the construction of the armour is so that it can take on a lot more than just another bike scraping against it. It’s 0.5mm of titanium plate that makes the armour so strong whilst keeping it light and as low profile as possible. Drift state this protection is so if you clip a rock in a rock garden you won’t damage your forks. Now I cannot say I’ve ever noticed doing this especially without flipping over the bars, but what I have done is crashed near rocks and had my forks hit. I’ve also seen at a few races people with holes in their forks from crashing in rock gardens and so there is definitely a need for more protection around your forks than just enough to stop uplift scratches.

The titanium is backed with 3M self adhesive foam, not only making the titanium stick to the fork lower amazingly well but also offer some impact absorption and spreading out the force of an impact over a larger area thus putting less pressure on the fork lower. On the outside of the armour are graphics that are available in a custom option, however the standard graphics look really good and the printing quality is great. Drift also offer a replacement graphic so rather than buying the whole amour when the graphic gets scratched from doing what its designed to do, you can just replace the graphic saving a fair wedge of cash. The graphical layer is however really hard wearing and much more so than original Boxxer decals, it will easily lasts a season on the UK race circuit without looking tatty like unprotected forks would do.

Fitting the amour is as easy as putting on a sticker but without the hassle of lining it up! The titanium is curved to the diameter of the fork lower and is cut perfectly to size. The Boxxer amour that we got had a bit cut out which fits very nicely around the webbing just above the drop out and so by lining that up the amour fits on perfectly. When we received the amour is came with alcohol wipes so you can get you forks really clean to make sure the 3M adhesive sticks on well. Once the lower is super clean it is just a matter of getting the film covering up the adhesive off the back of the amour and sticking it on the forks.

I’ve been running these for a while now and they have been working amazingly. They have saved my forks on uplifts a number of times as a small amount of damage can be seen on the graphics. The graphics hold up really well as they are thick and do a lot of protection themselves. The adhesive has done it’s job and they don’t show any signs of peeling off or coming unstuck.

In conclusion I’m really impressive by how good this amour looks and how well it does the job of protecting my forks. The slim profile, great looking graphics and the strength make this a winner and combat fork damage.” Thanks for the great review chaps!

Follow this link for their write-up and the pictures of the Fork Armour.

Drift sent Dirt mag a set of Fork Armour and they were stoked to get them, here is what they said:

DIRT mag – Issue 103 / September 2010
“Drift Fork Armour
I’ve got to admit I was pretty sceptical about this product when I first heard about it, mainly because of a similar product that I had seen before “(Fork Skins)”, but thankfully when I finally got to see these I was pleasantly surprised.
They came about due to one of the pair behind the company suffering from a big hole in the lowers of his Fox 40′s after a run in with a rock at their local Gawton track. One massive bill later and they decided to design something to stop it happening again, and these fancy titanium laminate jobs are the result.
At just under 100g for a pair they obviously do add a bit of weight, but lab tests have proved that they offer a significant amount of extra protection. Aside from big impacts though they will of course also protect a substantial amount of you forks from all those other knocks which end up making them look tatty, which in turn does nothing to help their re-sale value should you ever want to move them on.
They should easily pay for themselves one way or another in the long run then.
They’re currently available to fit both new and older design BoXXers, FOX 40′s, 2011 FOX 36 160-180mm travel and BOS Idylle.
It’s great to see that they’ve put a load of effort into the graphics (of which there are three colour options, including a custom designed one for order of five or more).
All made in the UK too!”

We are really pleased with such praise from the sceptical Ed H. and we think it says a lot about the product, but then we would!

The guys over at Accidental Racing run a well updated blog on Mountain Biking generally. They bought a set of Fork Armour and have done a great review of it.

“One of the most heart breaking things (in our humble opinion) is taking your lovely new pimp bicycle on an uplift day and it coming back looking like its 10 years old. We don’t mind (too much) if our bikes get ruined when we’re out riding but non riding damage is unacceptable. Thankfully George from Drift MTB feels the same way.

However unlike the rest of us George came up with a solution that will protect your forks from the majority of the non-riding damage and as an added bonus the general riding damage that occurs to forks.

Drift fork amour is essentially a piece of fitted titanium to the outside of your forks. The Ti sits on top of a piece of 3M foam which helps dissipate the force of any impact upon your forks.

Fitting is relatively simple, you do have to remove the graphics from your forks first to ensure the adhesive bonds to the forks (relax they can be removed at a later date if you so wish). Then with some steady hands line them up and press them down. Sorted.

There is a choice of colours and graphics so you should be able to find one that suits your tastes. You can also buy replacement graphics if you decide to have a colour scheme change. Currently they manufacture amour that will fit Boxxers, Fox 40’s and BOS Idylle’s. More forks are planned to be added to the line up.

We do wish that they wrapped around the fork legs a little more and offered a bit more protection around the fork drop out area. That said they cover the areas which are most prone to damage and do an outstanding job of it.

All in all we think it’s a great way of shielding your fork legs from uplift abuse, the money spent will be recouped when you come to sell. Plus any additional protection from splitting your forks down a jagged rock can only be a good thing.” Thanks chaps!