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DVO Suspension Teases 2014 Inverted Fork, The Emerald

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DVO suspension has been teasing their new inverted suspension products with pictures of 3D prototypes on Facebook. They’re waiting till next month to reveal most of the details but this is what we know so far…

The Emerald inverted fork will be air sprung and “have a twin tube open bath damper with optimized oil volume which makes it lighter with the benefits of full open bath.” The target weight is 2900 grams (6.4 lbs). A matching DH coil and shock using the same hydraulic technology “to match the feel of the fork” is also being developed.

From the forks silhouette it is obvious this new fork will feature a tapered steer. Those who prefer to run Angle Set headsets look away (although offset bushings will always be a cheap and effective alternative). According to DVO:

“we went with tapered steer because it is stiffer, stronger & lighter than 1 1/8 and most recently made DH bikes have a 1.5″ head tube. There are many options from head set makers so we feel most riders can make the retro fit to their current head sets & we plan on making a 1 1/8 if it’s a problem but we prefer stronger, stiffer, lighter!”

The name of the game with inverted forks is torsional stiffness and there’s no easy solution. A bigger axle won’t mask the issue because the problem isn’t slippage. The only way to make an inverted fork torsionally stiff  is by designing a stiff chassis. DVO has tackled the issue by using a “Carbon Torsion Arch” and some other details they won’t share just yet. They’ve stated that they toyed with hex or ovalized clamping surfaces (where the crown clamps to the uppers) but their upper tubes have to be round because they are externally CNCd. We’re guessing they’ve got some trick new clamps and dropouts in the works.

The Emerald is a 2014 model but it will be available in 2013….and yes, there will be a 27.5″ version!

Leave your questions in the comments.

www.dvosuspension.com

 

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Canucklehead
Canucklehead
11 years ago

I haven’t seen an inverted suspension fork since the Halson’s back in the 90s. Rarely saw them, but word around the shop was they were bombproof.

notapro
notapro
11 years ago

wish these guys the best. can’t wait to see what they create for the 160-170mm crowd. looks like they’re not messing around and got their sites set to take on the 40s and Boxxers.

SteezyD
SteezyD
11 years ago

Canucklehead.. are you SERIOUS! Manitou has been making as is currently making and selling an amazing inverted fork called the Dorado and it’s super legit. look them up! Although lately, the only place you can find Manitou suspension stuff has been pricepoint.com. Some of the other places have a fe misc forks and parts but pricepoint is pretty much the only place you can find manitou online right now.

Canucklehead
Canucklehead
11 years ago

@SteezyD:

I’m a roadie/CX’er these days.

Yeahaaa!!!_
Yeahaaa!!!_
11 years ago

I bet it will kicka**. So its freaking expensive, so what. 🙂

Pmurf
Pmurf
11 years ago

@Canucklehead Marzo Shiver, Risse, White Bros, Maverick, Lefty, Foes/Curnutt, and the aforementioned Dorado….practically everyone save RS and Fox have dabbled in inverted in the past 20 years.

Ronnie Dilan
11 years ago

@notapro DVO is actually looking into the Enduro pretty soon. The Emerald is the fork we chose to enter the market with because it is something that we have been wanting to do for a while.

JON
JON
11 years ago

“we prefer stronger, stiffer, lighter!”

So why make inverted. In the past its been everything but those three things. Haha.

Bill T
Bill T
11 years ago

Wow, looks like a Manitou Durado to me. I’m pretty sure they are going inverted to save cost and to speed up development. Tooling to make a traditional fork is expensive and takes a long time.

Topmounter
Topmounter
11 years ago

I thought the steerer would be on the bottom?

Tim
Tim
11 years ago

The lack of a fork brace on inverted forks is what kills torsional rigidity. You can make up for it with hex-shaped crown/ leg interfaces, more overlap, and some combination of bigger, hex-shaped, or oval dropouts. Of course, you could do any or all of those things on an upright fork, too, and get even better results still!

Simon
Simon
11 years ago

I saw these guys’ van out at Tapia Canyon last week. Very tempted to wait around by it with my ride buddies to see if they’d let us have some free samples! …or perhaps a sticker or two.

KevinS
KevinS
11 years ago

You could also make a kicker of a dual crown fork by using two Lefty legs in some new crowns. Light and torsionally stiff.

Tim
Tim
11 years ago

Kevin S- that already was done- the Moto fork of yore. It had no thru axle, though.
Bill T- had never thought about the tooling issue. Smart comment- making the molds for leg castings has to be $$.

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