Fox Prototype Inverted DH fork - World Exclusive

 i agree completely. if you have equipment and or a tech working for you i think they would be good but other wise ill stick with a non invert

 well put sir

 very well indeed

 My '04 Shiver was the smoothest and most reliable fork I've ever owned. A little heavy, but definitely inverted. And I never had a problem with the seals, oil, stanchions, brake pads or bearings.

 iamamodel, well put. besides, this debate can go on and on. let's just wait and see what fox comes up with.

 www.pinkbike.com/photo/5047873

Still have one, still love it. Maintenance, durability, action. Weight...Boo..

I have had a lot of right side up forks burp oil out also. same maintenance in my mind. but inverted tend to have more flex..not always important and they definitely have less unsprung weight which makes the fork faster especially on the small repetitive stuff.

 @iamamodel

so you're just going to assume that they will require a lot of maintenence, and you really dont know much about them besides the fact that its inverted? who says seals will be leaky and you will have to replace them every ride...



you know what happens when you assume don't you?

 Ok Iamamodel how many years ago has it been since you had inverted forks?
I'm no expert but I've had inverted forks on my mx bike for years and they've been the most reliable forks of any kind I've had, and even when they did leak my brakes didn't get covered in oil.
The stanchions should be less likely to wear the same as 'normal' forks, dirt won't sit on the seals the same.Yes the stanchions are closer to the ground but the plastic fenders will be sufficient in protecting them.
When you refer to keeping your 'bearings' in good working order do you mean the headset bearings or the wheel bearings and why would that have any relation to scratching the stanchions, unless you are meaning the bushes within the fork?

I say give fox a chance to show us what they can do with a chassis of this type, the technology in this sport is evolving and if these work well they will catch on just like inverted forks did in the motorbike scene both on and off road.

 No one mentioned White Bros forks, they were amazing back when.

Generaly what works in moto cornering works here (except sitting down, but those are issues adressed by rider interface, geometry and a very powerful engine between your knees)

As far as shivers go, beauty of a fork, but look inside them. Not exactly a complicated damper in comparison to todays cnc'd alluminum internals. As i recall they had a few pieces of plasic and a rod, worked great, but always smelled like VW bug engine oil when you drained them lol.

Push the envelope, try new stuff, if it works and is reliable, send it.

 i think the price will say alot about who the forks are made for and to be honest i think there going to be £2500+
and i highly doubt if they would have a few spare sets of seals and a tub of oil to help out

 I don't think they'd be that much, they're going to be in competition with the likes of manitou dorado which sell for about £1200 if they do come into production so I don't think it'll be much more than that. Anyway when buying anything, a car, a motorbike or a set of forks you should always factor in maintenance before deciding how much to spend. I don't get why the 'pinkbike engineers' that have to bash something before it's even in production are thinking the seals will be going all the time, they are forks and will most likely be as reliable as any other fork. Fork oil is only £10 or so for enough to cover 3-5 services, seals cost near £30. For a fork that costs £1000 that's cheap, I have complete faith in inverted forks and what the capabilities are.

 I owned some White Bro's as well on an old Foes a fair few years ago. Buttery smooth and they tracked the grown so, so well. It would be interesting to see what the Proto's are like. With the development of technology in this day and age, there's no real danger of suffering from the generic problems we all did 5-10 years ago.
These will be on the market in 2-3 year I reckon. If Fox has placed it on a Pro's bike and allowed it to be seen by the worlds media, its not far from completion in my eyes. He'll ride them for the season and test them on the long term.
Good on Fox for not sitting on their Loral's.
I think here in the UK, they will be expensive but not £2500. More along the lines of the BOS fork. Around £1500-1800 Dave.

 my stratos upside down forks (s are really good
they are about 8 years (or more) old
and ive never had a problem with them
as rare as they are, current and past owners have always loved them
yes theyre heavy but the plushness and preload of them makes it feel the same weight as any other fork

 @da-moose its fair to assume that an inverted fox fork will require a ton of maintanence just going on fox's past record of high maintanence dh forks

 You'd have to wonder why, if torsional stiffness isn't that big a deal to them, they originally built the 40 so big and stiff in the first place. It's not like they don't have any experience in the moto world either.

USD forks make sense on motocross bikes, where you have 100kg of bike (instead of 15-20) plus rider smashing through whoops and braking hard from 150km/h, and the greater bushing overlap really makes a difference. They are incidentally stiff enough torsionally, given that the only thing the front wheel can actually twist AGAINST is the rider's arms... which are going to be similar strength regardless of whether you're on a MX bike or a DH bike, because they're built so beefy (20-25lbs?) to resist the longitudinal forces. The same can't be said for DH forks, so I'm curious to know why, after finally nailing all the issues that the 40s had (shortish seal life, blowing bladders out of the original dampers, stanchion wear, lack of compression in stock guise), giving them a product that is the stiffest on the market, reasonably light, and super high performance, that they chose to invert the fork. Being Fox, I'd be very surprised if it sucked, so maybe they've got some tricky magic going on in there... but they really aren't going to lower the unsprung mass by any significant margin and there's just no way they can build it as stiff for the same weight. Yes various branches of motorsport have introduced some degree of lateral flex into their chassis/suspension systems, but next time you get your DH bike leaned over past 45 degrees on flat ground at 200km/h with 4" of rock hard suspension, come and tell us how relevant that is.

As far as maintenance - dunno where that idea came from, but the quality of your seals has a lot more to do with how long they last than whether they're facing the ground or the sky.

 Inverted forks are soo much more plush! But they weigh too much My Avalanche inverted fork was the best fork i've ever ridden. And I've ridden Marzocchi's and Rock shox top of the line forks for many years now. The avalanche beats them all but it was heavy as f*ck..

 So you think the reason your Avalanche felt better than say a Shiver, was because it was inverted...? Or could it be that it felt better because it was better built (better bushings perhaps, seals I believe are actually the same) and better damped? Being inverted doesn't make a fork magically feel better; if you want some proof of this, turn your current Fox 40 upside down and bounce on it, see if it actually feels any better than when it's the right way up! Don't bother with RS or Marz as obviously all the oil will be up the wrong end of the fork meaning you have no damping when it's upside down...

 see this is what makes pb fun, everybody thinking they know better than the company thats actually making the product. I dont know how many of you know any more than whats right there on this page but i sure as hell dont. As the guy above said, they must be doing it for a reason and none of us are in any current position to prove them wrong in their choice until you've actually ridden the fork. If im honest, i would just go straigt up and buy a BOS idylle fork over anything else if you want the most reliable, consistant and highly performing fork.... even though i wish i owned a set, but i have ridden them

 I'm sorry I don't get the initial comment at all. 40's themselves require plenty of maintenance to keep them running in top form, even more so than most of the other 'high' end fork products from the other main manufacturers, including the replacement of seals, etc. 40 lowers have also shown a panache for not being the strongest. Granted I've made the switch back to right-side-up I've never experienced leaching of oil in any amount to get on rotors or calipers (both Dorado and Shiver).

 Hey Manitou! You were right all along!

 When you think that you have the brand new model of Fox... they are just doing something new... --' Sometimes I really hate that!

 I know this is fox's spotlight but maybe just maybe marzocchi bring back the shiver but put the ti spring in it thats the one I would buy

 they look so slick!

 This looks like progress to me! Though I have to say the RAD project I am most interested in is the adjustable seatpost!

 I think that this is just to make their website get more views, more people talking about the company and to get more people to view their products. They have been making top of the range forks for years so why would they suddenly change all of that and create a hole new type of fork? There's no point.

 Tom, there's a production cycle for everything. When it becomes long in the tooth there's only so much you can do. Manitou went X-Vert, Dorado, Travis, Dorado, Rock Shocks went up to a 35mm chassis for the 2010 model year, etc, etc. Look at the automotive world. Plus people have to have the latest and greatest.

 That was probably said when disc brakes were first made for mountain bikes. v-brakes are light weight and work really well, why would you change all that with something so heavy like a disc brake?. This is evolution of suspension there are good points and bad points to any type, this has been tried before with reasonable success. Times have moved on a bit since the early inverted forks and obviously fox are trying to see if a chassis like this will work any better than a standard fork. A good few people swear by forks of similar design, Manitou's Dorado for one, I know how well they work on mx bikes hopefully the same is doable with mountain bike suspension.

 As for assuming (way at the top) "but Pinkbike is willing to say that that must surely be the goal down the road" did you guys have a p.r. meeting to discuss this? its no wonder pinkbike is so well respected as an impartial/ reliable source, its cuze they don't just make stuff up.

 Y'know, it has to be an awkward feeling being the guy who runs the prototype fork for the first time.

 Why are people talking so much crap ... If fox make something they will make it good .......

 because your forgeting that the majority of the pinkbike community are all on the inside of these projects set up by the leading companies in their efforts to further IMPROVE what technology they have and inovate what they know into something to make the worlds fastest faster etc. Little do we know that every person who has claimed, before theyve even been released what issues they have and will have. I dont know about you but on nearly every mx bike ive seen, dare i say it, they gots inverted forks. must be wrong, these guys dont agree. rant over

 regardless to an upside down moto fork, on a standart motorbike, it's nearly the same maintaining process as if you would have on a bike, i don t think it's a mather of doing it by itself or whatever, the good think is that the weight is low, and better handeling

 Physically, inverted forks make a lot more sense then regular forks. I've always wondered why the hell they are more popular in mountain biking??

 i guess that the inverted fork is thinking in a future fork for 29" downhill bikes

 trek are apparently working on a 29er dh bike. it was running dorados

 My 2004 Mozza Shivers were also great forks; very smooth and never had a problem with them. Best forks i've owned so far.

 congrats to joshinthebox for lowest rated comment on pinkbike ever. contact me for your medal.

 thanks. i try hard... not... i wasnt even thinking about it when i posted. didnt think people would straight poop on my comment like that. next time i just wont say how i would like to ride that fork too. il just talk about how much maintenance it requires and diss the seals and everything. i can see why people are scared of so much maintenance on the fork because they compare them to other older brand forks, but its fox, theyl come up with something cool, when it comes out and the first people ride it we will hear real reviews. I for my part love my 40s and havnt had to maintain them as much as i thought would have to. ... now seriously... wheres my medal

 people get way to caught up with the props on here.

 anyone giving that first comment positive props needs to stop believing the old rumors about inverted forks. I just have thing to say, if inverted forks were not the best fork in every single way, then how come motocross never went back to them after the last attempt on the suzuki in the early 90's. Inverted are indeed the best way to go regardless your riding/mechanic skills.

 aghodgkin, that's like saying "if 6 inch wide rear tyres aren't the best tyre in every single way, then howcome all motocross bikes use them?" - but I bet you don't run motocross size tyres on your downhill bike, because clearly MX bikes and DH bikes have different requirements. There are obviously plenty of similarities, but there are plenty of differences too! DH bikes aren't just a motocross bike without a motor.

It's also worth noting that conventional (non-inverted) forks on motorbikes didn't have the fork arch that all conventional MTB forks have, so in that case inverted forks actually increased the torsional stiffness by clamping on the larger diameter outer tubes. MTB forks DO have arches however, so inverted forks will only ever lose torsional stiffness simply because that arch disappears.

 There may be a small amount of rigidity lost. Without testing it is impossible to say how much, in some cases flex is good rather than a rigid construction which could lead to failure. If there was a loss in rigidity significant enough then we probably wouldn't see this prototype here. Obviously having the fork in this configuration allows the damping circuit to be used differently, maybe more effectively in the right hands than a conventional fork. We'll just have to see where this goes. One question Socket have you used a pair of modern USD forks?

 Flipping the fork upside down doesn't make any difference to how the damper is utilised in a performance sense (esp with Fox who use a sealed cart anyway, and recently flipped that cart inside the 40 to boot); in the case of the 40 it was done to allow for an expansion bladder instead of a collapsing bladder, which makes it almost impossible to blow the bladder out anymore. In terms of ride quality it doesn't change anything at all though.

As far as what is "significant" loss of rigidity, well that's the whole issue here really - no inverted forks are really so torsionally flexy that they're unrideable (yes I've ridden numerous and even owned an inverted fork), but then again, no conventional forks are so longitudinally flexy that they're unrideable either, so it comes down to which one works better, or is more confidence inspiring. When you're paying the kind of money that these things cost, most people aren't looking for "pretty good", they're looking for "as good as it possibly can be".

However, given how methodical Fox have been with the 40 and eliminating all its niggling issues one by one, I'd be reasonably confident that if they're even showing this thing in public, they've got some aces up their sleeve. Who knows, they might make a fork that's surprisingly stiff and blows us all away, I'd love to see that happen even though to me it seems unlikely.

 I think that the un-sprung weight loss is so awesome and logical that arguing that the torsional stiffness makes it not worth is dumb. Socket, dh and mx bikes have different requirements (like you said, tire width) but the suspension requirements are fairly similar.

 Thank you Cedrico. I think Socket got a little carried away there trying to beat up my comment. And the tires size??? come on that was not a good comparison. Dirt Bikes weigh nearly 300 pounds, of course there is gonna be a wider tire. Ive been riding moto my whole life and now have mtb as a profession, I realize about flex and supports and all that, but thats not what I was saying, im talking pure performance. Flex can be good btw, people just read that it wasn't one day and the rumors took over without knowing facts! Shivers were, and still are, one of the best forks to hit the market, that was 7+ years ago... I think we will see some really nice inverted forks hitting the market very soon. I don't care either way to be honest, but it would be nice to have more options out there!

 Right, dirt bikes weigh 300lbs, which means they have a LOT of mass trying to bend those forks forwards when you're braking (which leads to binding/increased friction if they aren't stiff enough). Downhill bikes obviously lack that amount of mass, so they don't have quite the same loads trying to bend and bind the fork under braking (or heavy landings, esp if you case a sharp knuckle), which means that obviously MX forks are going to be a lot more heavily built than MTB forks. However, as I mentioned in an earlier post, torsional loads are developed between the tyre and the RIDER'S arms, and have pretty well nothing to do with the mass of the bike. Therefore, the heavily built MX forks are torsionally very stiff simply because they're built huge to withstand much higher bending loads than the DH forks, but only cop the SAME torsional loads that DH forks do.

Because the torsional loads are higher RELATIVE to the bending loads on a downhill bike, if you're trying to optimise stiffness/strength to weight (ie make the fork as light, stiff and strong as possible) then you need to place a higher priority on torsional stiffness/strength on a DH fork than you do on a MX fork. This is why most DH forks are "conventional" forks whereas inverted forks are obviously the superior choice for motorbikes. Get where I'm coming from?

As for the unsprung mass thing, that really is a myth on DH forks - the lowers are often as light or lighter than the pair of stanchions (plus a set of forged dropouts, which are integrated into the casting of high end conventioanl forks anyway and weigh next to nothing, but are significantly heavier on an invert).

As I said though, Fox don't do things for no reason, so it wouldn't surprise me if they'd come up with some tricky stuff in that fork that works really well, is sufficiently stiff etc.

 and if i may add to this, fox have alot of experiene with mx aswell as biking, if they can make a successful mx fork then they can surely make a suitable dh fork on the same principles for the different purpose

 A man goes to college to become a mechanical engineer,studies and studies, takes physics and chemistry and what not. Then he gets some smaller jobs until applying for a job at Fox. Fox only chooses the best, and the man gets the job. He works there for years alongside many other talented engineers. And then Pinkbike users know all the fatcs.... lol

 riggadon, you made me LOL! best comment i ever heard in months. props to you!

 anybody else think, considering they are proto typing with air they will bring out the normal 40's air sprung? then these the year after???

 The stantions (and inevitably the seals are HUGE) making gaining a seal MUCH easier

 i wud buy em

 www.pinkbike.com/photo/6237474
www.pinkbike.com/photo/4994186

Hmmm. Defo inverted...

 my forks take 35mm seals can be bought easily from a motorbike shop company thought of everything

 If a motocross bike can handle inverse forks then I'm sure a bicycle can handle it. I cant imagine them needing any more maintenance, and if they would for some reason, forks aren't that hard to rebuild. Being mechanically retarded isn't a reason not to get nice forks.

 Haha, I still want one, regardless of where the knobs are.. I don't adjust my fork while I'm riding anyways.

 If you routinely need to adjust mid-ride, you might be doing it wrong.

 yeah your damn right! just cant win no matter what you ride - they say well im winning because i enjoy riding, no matter what i ride

 'fox have brought them out and a dh rider has them they must be better than anything else EVER invented even better than food'

 food is over rated

 Im more suprised with the army of kids who claim inverts suck even though probably 90% of them have only seen one in pictures given their popularity.

 No, I it should be called the XOF 04

 0h = inverted 40. The fork is upside down. Hence Fox 0h.

 well if you're naming it that then technically it would be 04 XOF...

 @boggie, I get it, but I just thought it would be better to invert the whole thing. But since there is no key that looks like an upside down F, I just decided to make it backwards.

 wait shouldnt it be called the Fox -1/40? Mathematically speaking, of course.

 shouldnt it be called the fox xx usd

 angrynipples you're a legend

 haha angrynipples - I can just picture the marketing slogans now!

 I'd love to see your sources regarding the R&D of Fox, SHOWA and Manitou....

 I am 100% estimating the cost I can only guess. A Showa suspension R&D engineer who I have know for 25+ years was talking with me about the Dorado 3 or so years ago. Maybe it is not a 10:1 spending ratio difference.

 my dorado is really reliable. i love that fork

 i dunno about your r and d estimate figures there fox is a pretty damn big suspension company alot of companies use them on their vehicls as stock parts

 So what if your R&D friend talked to you about the dorados 3 or so years ago, they have been out for over 2 years, so not much to brag about there... As for Fox, didn't they spend like 5 years testing different versions of stanchoins? Way longer than Rock Shox or Manitou have been testing stanchions! They must have tested a dozen of those nickel coated ones before finding Kashima coat.

 Ok Domino0 you seem to know heaps about R & D too. Rockshox are currently doing testing on stanchion coatings as we've seen on the pros bikes. Manitou seem to have already done their homework on inverted forks, they even took the product off the line to continue development for several years. As far as this fork type goes manitou have proven themselves already and are continuing to improve it. We have little insight into how much R & D actually goes on.

 I was never implying that Manitou haven't proven themselves with this fork type, nor that they are continuously improving...in fact I believe them to be very successful.

I was merely commenting to 'downhillnews' that Fox have spent far more time doing R&D than he thinks! And yes Rock Shox are doing a lot of testing with stanchions now with their DLC coating, but they have only just started this in the past year, whereas Fox have been doing it for over 4 years, therefore contradicting what was said about Fox not doing much R&D.

 The $$$ figure comparing MOTO suspension to MTB is not fair due to Motorcycles having a much bigger market overall than DH Bikes do. Think about it for what 20 plus years now SHOWA has been making Motorcycle suspension systems. We are talking GP teams spending $10's of millions per season. So yes that falls into the R&D expense they have a lot of experience with inverted forks. So being able to access what a HUGE companies engineers have learned over decades of racing moto was surely beneficial to Manitou and their chassis design. So if FOX spends their time and develops the chassis properly it should work out well.

 someone point that contour down towards the tire

 The best your're gonna get for now is to open the image in a new tab in your browser and click on the highest resolution.

 dorados arent so stupid after all!

 sounds really awesome, i would like to see how the weight turns out

 ʇı ǝʞıן ı

 Wow. Oooo reminds you of a Manitou, Dorado. Just because Fox comes out with one everyone likes it. Big whoopy.

 Dorado's are sweet, we've known this for a while.

 'bout time inverted forks come back into style.

 corr people say h bikes are just motocross bikes without engines. now tere having same style forks! renthal bars!, what else? big front and rear fenders... oh wait.

 Maybe an MX bike is a DH bike with an engine!

 yessss!!!!!

 everyone knows the tech from mx usually filters down to the cycle world thats always how its been

 I would love to see virtual pivot point on Mx bike though.
Pedaling effeciency my ass in there ;D

 Well I did NOT see this coming!

 yeah i believe thats the only downside is weight but as i sad above, the way a usd fork works, its doesnt translate to a 'heavier feel' just feels the same really - if not better

 I've had two sets of shivers and still have a set of FAT forks and they are still way plusher than my new 2011 888 evo ti's. IF marzocchi made another shiver dc type fork today, i'd but it instantly - they are stiffer where they are needed, plusher, require less maintenance as the seals are constantly coated in oil and just look way cooler

 I heard Marzocchi has a new Shiver coming out.

 The Dorado rules. TPC+ Damping kicks ass.

 thanks dude. yea inverted forks really are the best. the dorado really is the best dh fork ive ever ridden, ive ridden old boxxers, new boxxers, old fox 40's and new ones, the dorado blows them all out of the water. people talk about the issue of the forks flexing, when the fork is all the way extended it will flex some, but it flexes in a good way, the wheel tracks by itself onto the smoothest path, however much it moves, you cant feel it at all, when the fork is fully extended as well, it isnt quite as importent for the fork to be stiff as the loads it encounters arnt as high. However when the fork get compressed more, the loads and forces on the fork get higher, and what happens is the fork becomes stiffer as it compresses, therefore making it stiffer when it needs to be stiffer.

 Hoooooray

 and it was funded by the us government to cover up the alien abductions...

 Nay, it's about oil again... Fox works with Exxon who discovered super oil near the North Passage while they were doing deep sea drilling. It will make McDonald increase theit fastfood sales in Quebec and push BP out of business. But someone stole a bit of it and hidden it in this upside down fork. Gee will take the samples and deliver them personally tp the hands of Her Majesty. Gee is MI 9 agent, the bit at the bottom of the leg is actually a silencer. Beware of Gee doing manuals!

 i knew it! best 20 seconds of my night was spent reading that hahaha

 the only way your shivers could of weighed that little is if you forgot to put oil and springs in .

 Marzocchi has a 55mm, 8.5 lb upside down motocross race fork, I'm sure they can make a 7 lb Shiver with oil and titanium springs.

 dude, 10 years?
my forks is about that old and its still amazing

 Yeah it would be nice to dump 300-500 off 40 price and make the Invert the high dollar fork.

 i bet that, given the same number produced, inverted forks are cheaper to make. with right side up forks, you are required to make cast lowers, which are very complicated. inverted forks basically just use tubes that slide within other tubes and have machined crowns and dropouts (could also be cast, but would be dirt cheap because they have a simple geometry). plus, i like how inverted fork seals are always being lubricated

 Oh deffinely dude. They probablly are way cheaper to make. There way more simplar too.

 I agree with you that inverted forks have been used for a long time and are great. The Honda used Showa suspension (same company that makes the moto suspension for Honda) rather than Kowa.

 i myself was worried about the stantions from shuttling on my dorado, but im happy to report that i have yet to have any issues, no damage at all

 did rock shox ever make an inverted fork?

 No I don't think so but Im saying when they do it should be rad!!

 If fox market this ...and it works, I'd say that all the main companies would have an upside down DH fork on the market. including the old shiver

www.mtbr.com/cat/older-categories-bikes/2004-front-shocks/marzocchi/shiver-dc/PRD_362987_1525crx.aspx

 rockshox should make an inverted fork with their sexy ass black stantion coating...

 mine have black stanchions

 But are they inverted?

 yessir

 My forks are double inverted!

 why no? people loved shivers to death, I've only heard positive feedback about them.

 I still love Shiver, too.

 if they could re-release them again but lighter with the same reliability I would buy the for sure

 oh but you'd be wrong mate. Plenty do and will.

 Everyone gets the right to an opinion, even if stating it makes them look like an idiot.

 yeah x fusion are doing quite well
i had an 02 shock (well still have it, just on an unused frame), i was quite impressed buy it

 they dont currently have a prototype fork out, the inverted dh fork by x fusion you have seen is very old and they dont produce it anymore, they wont have one out yet for a bit.

 the drd x fusion team were running them at fontana

 no, only 1 guy on the team ran a inverted fork, that was JD, he was riding the intense 2951 (29er dh bike) with a manitou dorado on the front, covered it with white decals so people wouldnt know its a dorado

 oh okay well that makes sense, you know your stuff

 just because it has a good brand name on it doesnt mean it will be good

that said it will probably be good

but remember those toyota cars that came out with the brake problems? - brand name doesnt mean great product

 cough *marzocchi 55 08* cough

 since the war, japan have excelled in engineering, in pretty much every way its not just being good at something, theyre a really determined race

 i think it would be a case of a different choice these forks will work and feel different but yes, you are right but this is how technology advances

 im sorry but the dorado's downfall is not the internals, the internals are what make it so great. the dorado is a great fork, id be willing to bet you havent ridden one at all or at least one not set up correct for you

 no kidding...

 My 2001 Shivers were way ahead of their time, simply amazing forks.

 They explain the benefits in the article mike. Why not give it a read.

 sorry that part of the story wasnt there when i looked at the page

 Ah. Not surprised they edited it quickly. Maybe they're updating it IRT since this is a pretty big deal and they wanted to break the story first.

 just be looking at it, the fox looks better than the manitou.

 looks aint everything, ill tell you tho, ive been riding a dorado for awhile, and im pretty sure this fork isnt gunna have anything on the shim stack damping and inertia valve system in the dorado

 ya i know, ive never tried a inverted one. i would like to some time, it would be cool to compare the two.

 it will seriously blow you away, i rode one on a friends bike, was crazy good, sold my boxxer wc and bought one

 I'd imagine that the Author wrote about the perceived issues with lateral flex in an attempt to prevent the usual flame war that occurs every time the subject of inverted forks is brought up....

 I'm pretty sure that's the reasoning... futile, but I guess I can appreciate the attempt

 if you put a 29 inch wheel on it your lower crown will probably come in contact with your wheel when bottomed, thats why manitou has a 29er specific dorado...

 and beyond that...who in their right mind would ride a 29'er DH bike?! I love my 29'er, but I race XC. I know from riding aggressive trails that 29'ers are NOT ideal for DH...far too clumsy, especially when they weigh 40 lbs

 Intense was testing a 2951 for a while, and seemed to think it worked really well.

 you can run a 3.0 tyre

a 29'' would fit but would be pointless - something like 11'' or so of clearance then minus travel (mine are 8'') would be a close call!
26'' is just right

 29" tires havent caught on for DH since they
1. need larger forks, rims, etc.
2. have low torsional rigidity since there is more leverage o the hub
3. WEIGHT
if they can solve those issues with 29ers somehow then they could be pretty good for DH

 Pretty impossible to solve the issue about low torsional rigidity though. Unless you cut the diameter back about 3in

 You do know the 29'r Dorado is just a regular Dorado set at 7" with a taller bottom out.. Same could be done here.

 i didnt sir, my usd forks are years old

 bet you havent ridden a dorado

 Why did Gee on do one run on the new fork? Wonder if its too proto for him to race on.

 nope

 There is not Only Dorados.
Is also one model of the Japanese brand Kowa. The 200 GF model.
40 mm Kashima coated (yes Kowa suspension have that coating technology for 11 years now) stanchions, Air pressure, Rebound, High & Low compression adjusters and stepless Travel adjustment from 10 to 200 mm to never again scratch stanchions when you are shuttling your bike up to the hill.
www.pinkbike.com/photo/6566619
www.pinkbike.com/photo/6214934

 Kowa has been making moto forks longer than most bike companies have been around. any one remeber the honda RN01 (oh how i drooled) that was Kowa front and back. And when honda decided they had their fun, they left. Sad day to me.

Real Riders Ride Red.

 maybe it was showa, but regardless, Kowa been around

 Kowa is a total different company than Showa

 A friend of mine used to ride Avalanche DHF 7.5 before selling his bike. That thing was a bit heavy, but the performance was... Simply the best. Plushest fork I've ever ridden, absorbed just everything (that also means brake bumps) and never had any problems with sealy or anything in two years.
www.avalanchedownhillracing.com/dhf7fork.html

 how many other people run inverted forks?
not many
that in itself makes it bling

 dorados are the epitome of bling

 i guess some people would rather huge golden stanchions than colorful graphics :/

 wow, i cant believe you actually care about looks to that extent, is this a fucking fashion show, or an extreme sport. Unbelievable.

 is that because it has fox on it?!

 Probably, it's pretty ugly though

 Girvin PDS system was the king in its time !!

 lol, i doubt you've tried a dorado..

 what the fu*k is a dorado
the only dorado i know is a fish and that has nothing to do with this

 the dorado is the inverted fork made by manitou

 oh, and manitous are bad ther break easly and they don't work as well i would rather take any shock made by rock shok than the best manitou

 pretty much everything you just said was wrong

 so what would you wrather have boxxers or the best manitou

 yes, i currently ride a 2010 manitou dorado pro, i came off a 2010 boxxer wc, and before that i rode a older boxxer, and a fox 40, the dorado blows them all away

 keep wishing dumb a**

 any one who would sell boxxers for dorados is got to be mentaly retarted

 i aint wishing and i aint a dumbass, betcha im faster down a hill then you, stop trying to act like you know everything and go ride your clapped out Kona

 well... i just watched one of your so called "downhill videos"..... and im sorry but you are truely a pathetic person...... im pretty sure after that little video i have lost all the little respect for you that i once had..... fu*k you sir fu*k you

 i agree with pspoons, manitou dorado is a gay fork, this fork is probably better made because its fox but it's still gay....

 pspoons cant say shit cos he rides marzochii the worst of all...but fox is the best

 im pretty sure rock shox is the best.... i would loose respect for rock shox if they made an inverted fork...but they wont because they know the design sucks. but i guess fox didnt know that

 i agree the desighn sucks but fox is still better

 rock shox is so much better

 lmfao your soo stupid...you only like it cos coastal crew does....if they liked fox soo would u...i garuntee that

 Deffinatley..... Pfff. I've always loved rock shox, it's becuase there the best quality suspension company. Not because of the coastal crew

 rookie, and pspoons you are the most ridiculously stupid pieces of shit, I can't even believe what I'm reading its so pathetic, first of all the inverted fork design is probably much superior. Have you looked at any modern motocross bikes thats the most common design. Besides that you fucks are biased towards the companies shit you ride for and haven't even tried anything else.... Dorado is amazing. btw rookie you are from the coast, your a bitch. HAHAHA conner, I have actually seen these kids ride I'm serious they fuckin blow, I just watched your video, some nice shredding this is so funny man

 Thanks dude lol

 chris i just watched your video and for 16 you can"t ride a bike for shit

 ride one and it'll change your mind, thats what i did

 dont knock what you havent tried