 The Koneval technology has been one of the biggest innovations in front fork technology of the last decade. But what's all the fuss around them? Let's find out. At the time where suspension manufacturers were sticking to shims, the WP came up with something quite different and against the tide, a shimless mid-speed valve. If you don't know how a mid-speed valve works, take a look at this video to get up to speed. The Koneval technology consists of an assembly of four components. The piston, the Koneval adapter, the cone and the spring. When the Koneval is assembled on the damping rod, the cone doesn't fully sit against the adapter. There is always an oil bypass that works the same way as the float of a traditional mid-speed valve. Fairly simple, right? Let's see how it works. When the forks get compressed, the damping rod slides up the cartridge and the oil is forced to flow through the low-speed damping orifice and the oil bypass around the cone. As the oil pressure keeps increasing between the mid-speed valve and compression base valve, the oil flow will push the cone against the spring. The area between the cone and the cone adapter will increase, allowing more oil flow and reducing damping. Once the pressure between the valves is relieved, the spring pushes the cone back to its initial position. On rebound, the oil is forced through the low-speed damping orifice as well as the cone valve's bypass. If the oil pressure keeps increasing under the rebound valve, the rebound shim stack opens, allowing more oil to exit the chamber below. This will generate rebound damping and control the forks' extension. Okay, but the cone valve doesn't seem to be so much different than a regular mid-speed valve. Or is it? Well, the truth is that the cone valve really shines when the compression speeds are something like this. Let's take a look at both the cone valve and a traditional mid-speed valve, working at similar compression speeds. When the forks are compressed, the damping rod slides up the cartridge and on the mid-speed valve, the oil flows through the float on the shim stack. On the cone valve, the oil is forced to flow through the oil bypass around the cone. As the oil pressure keeps increasing between the mid-speed and compression base valve, on a traditional mid-speed valve, the oil pressure is great enough to bend the shim stack, allowing more oil flow and reducing damping. On the cone valve, the oil flow will push the cone against the spring, increasing the area between the cone and the cone adapter, allowing more oil flow and reducing damping. If the oil pressure between the valves continues to increase, the mid-speed valve cannot allow more oil flow since the shim stack is already fully open. The mid-speed valve won't have a linear damping character anymore and will provide an orifice-style damping character, which will give a really harsh feel. On the cone valve, on the other hand, the increased pressure will only push the cone further away from the adapter, increasing the oil flow and reducing damping. This will maintain the plushness of the forks and comfort for the rider on the toughest compressions. Let's be fair, there is no magic behind this. The cone valve allows this behavior because it is simply designed to provide a linear damping performance on a bigger range of compression speeds compared to a traditional mid-speed valve. Another great benefit of the cone valve is that it is a lot less sensitive to changes done on the compression base valve's shim stack. With a traditional mid-speed valve, any changes done on the compression base valve need to be taken into account and adapt the mid-speed valve accordingly. If not revamped properly, a stiffer compression base valve can make the forks lose damping because it can generate a pressure unbalance between the valves and can deform the shims. The cone valve, on the other hand, will always provide damping according to the pressure between the valves, no matter how stiff the compression base valve becomes. The spring of the cone valve will make sure there is always a resisting force applied to the cone throughout its whole displacement. And yes, it is tunable! The cone valve comes with three different shaped cones to provide different damping behaviors. The red cone provides the softest setting, the blue cone provides an intermediate setting and the gold cone provides the stiffest setting, since it allows less oil flow through its displacement. It also comes with different spring rates. To adjust at which moment the cone should provide its characteristic damping performance. The higher the spring rate, the sooner the cone valve will provide damping. Let's not forget that the cone valve and other probe components are the result of a lot of R&D from WP's Motorsport division to allow their top athletes to perform at the highest level. So don't be surprised if common mortals like you and me can take full advantage of the benefits of these technologies. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below and if you want to finally learn how to take full advantage of your suspensions take a look at our online suspension courses on our website. Thank you for watching and don't forget to subscribe. Knowledge is power!