Two Canadians were spotted riding secret technology from Fox on Friday at Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup. Both Jackson Goldstone and Gracey Hemstreet are battling for World Cup overall podium spots aboard what looks like a new Fox 40 fork.

Both Canucks are riding 40s marked with the RAD label of Fox’s ‘Research and Development’ program. We caught a closer look at Goldstone’s RAD fork in the pits. And maybe a couple other secret things.

The Syndicate star’s Santa Cruz v10 is decked out in world champion white livery. It had a RAD 40 complete with details like rainbow bands and a black/white colour scheme for the newly-minted elite men’s champ. That adds to the rainbow and white Chris King hubs you can spot in the background and those rainbow One-Up bars.

World champs stripes and a new set of lowers

The fork itself is far from standard. The arch connecting the lowers looks a lot more like what’s on the new 34 and 36SL forks than the current Fox 40, with open space showing through.

What’s going on inside the RAD 40? Who knows. Apparently even Goldstone’s own mechanics are being kept in the dark by Fox. But whatever it is, its fast.

The current Fox 40 in Kashima/Orange

Beyond the fork, or just in front of it, Goldstone has a CounterSycle tuned mass damper mounted. While this would normally be hidden by a race plate, whatever work the Canadian was having done to his bike showed off the high-tech shake weight and its clever mounting system. Tuned mass dampers are relatively new to the World Cup scene, but rapidly gaining popularity for their ability to smooth out tracks to make a bike run level and, maybe, reduce a bit of hand fatigue over long runs.

CounterSycle, XTR brakes and fancy One-Up world champ bars
RAD forks go fast at Mont-Sainte-Anne

Both Goldstone and Hemstreet qualified through to finals on Friday. Norco’s Sunshine Coast sensation was sixth in a very closely-grouped elite women’s filed, 1.428 seconds behind fastest qualifier, Myriam Nicole. The Syndicate racer was third in the men’s field, 3.400 seconds behind his rival in the World Cup overall points race and fastest qualifier, Loic Bruni.

Numbers game: Can Jackson Goldstone still win the World Cup title?

While there are no points for qualifying at Mont-Sainte-Anne, since it is the final round, that sets up a thrilling showdown between the two incredible riders in Saturday’s final downhill World Cup. Just 72 points separate Bruni from Goldstone. That leaves the window open for Goldstone to steal the lead back from the Frenchman. Here’s some math on what needs to happen for Goldstone to win Canada’s second elite men’s World Cup overall title.

Not just forks: Secret Shimano brakes, too?

Hiding behind the fork leg of Goldstone’s Fox 40 RAD is what could be a new brake calliper from Shimano. While the Syndicate rider has the new XTR levers at the bars, the raw-alloy calliper looks to be very much in development.

The construction looks similar to a current Saint brake, but much burlier. That could be Shimano following SRAM’s design cues from the Maven brake, or it could just be that this is an unfinished, but clearly working prototype. It’s hard to see too much else of what’s going on, and the numbers stamped on the calliper seem to suggest the markings of a prototype in development.

While clearly very functional – and fast – it definitely has the chunky look of a calliper in development

It’s been a while since Shimano overhauled the Saint platform. Could this be a new gravity brake from the Japanese brand?