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DVO DC forks?

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DVO DC forks?

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flag apatipsychonaut4
Posted: Jun 5, 2018 at 19:55 Quote
Hey there,

I've been looking at used Emeralds on the buysell section, I was told that these forks were the f*cking best of the best, and that's exactly what i'm looking for whilst staying away from Fox and RS for taste reasons lol. Has anyone tried the Onyx DC too? I've heard that it's the exact same as the Emerald but on a normal setup rather than upside down.

I'm coming from a MZ 380 C2R2 Ti, which was great until i crashed them and were never the same anymore for some reason, now i feel like trying one of these emeralds.
flag Shiny-side-up
Posted: Jun 5, 2018 at 20:08 Quote
MetalheadWolfRider wrote:
Hey there,

I've been looking at used Emeralds on the buysell section, I was told that these forks were the f*cking best of the best, and that's exactly what i'm looking for whilst staying away from Fox and RS for taste reasons lol. Has anyone tried the Onyx DC too? I've heard that it's the exact same as the Emerald but on a normal setup rather than upside down.

I'm coming from a MZ 380 C2R2 Ti, which was great until i crashed them and were never the same anymore for some reason, now i feel like trying one of these emeralds.


Every owner is going to say that though. I'm sure they work well and tune-ability plus company support will be good.
I would like to try some Emeralds myself soon. One of the few models i haven't done side by side testing on of all the current fork generation.
flag Painhawk
Posted: Jun 6, 2018 at 7:09 Quote
The Emerald is really nice, but it's a pretty heavy fork compared to the other high end alternatives.

The Onyx DC is not the same as the Emerald. It has a new damper cartridge, as opposed to the open bath damper unit in the Emerald.
flag naturaltalent
Posted: Jun 6, 2018 at 14:12 Quote
Onyx is not even for sale yet, ive got an emerald, but it needed tuning out of the box to get it to feel good, the rebound backed all the way off was way too slow for me at 145lbs so i sped it up by changing shims. The seals arent that great either ive found, they are fairly tight and sticky but dont seem to really seal all that well, after a month i pulled it apart to check on it and removed quite a bit of fine dirt that had made its way past the dust wiper. If you are light they will need some shimstack changes and ronnie can help you out with that. Same deal with the diamond i got but it was too firm on compression instead and the seal head on the damper is the stickiest ive ever felt in a fork so far. Was super stoked for the first couple weeks but after a few months i cant say im a super fan of either fork. I am very particular about my suspension so these things may be a non issue for you. DVO has wonderful customer service from my experinces though so definitely lots of credit there.
flag apatipsychonaut4
Posted: Jun 6, 2018 at 15:50 Quote
naturaltalent wrote:
Onyx is not even for sale yet, ive got an emerald, but it needed tuning out of the box to get it to feel good, the rebound backed all the way off was way too slow for me at 145lbs so i sped it up by changing shims. The seals arent that great either ive found, they are fairly tight and sticky but dont seem to really seal all that well, after a month i pulled it apart to check on it and removed quite a bit of fine dirt that had made its way past the dust wiper. If you are light they will need some shimstack changes and ronnie can help you out with that. Same deal with the diamond i got but it was too firm on compression instead and the seal head on the damper is the stickiest ive ever felt in a fork so far. Was super stoked for the first couple weeks but after a few months i cant say im a super fan of either fork. I am very particular about my suspension so these things may be a non issue for you. DVO has wonderful customer service from my experinces though so definitely lots of credit there.

Thanks, now i'm not sure where to go lol.

i have a 380 C2R2 Ti which has internal defects so i'm not liking it, i definately don't wanna go either Fox or RS, maybe i'll go by a Dorado? the RV1 also seems plausible too, and also i haven't ridden the RUX either...
flag Lucas-Ault
Posted: Jun 6, 2018 at 18:44 Quote
I ran the emerald for two years, and switched to a 40. I also had the diamond, which i prefered over the emerald by a lot. I'd say wait for the onyx and get that, less weight and if it's at all like the diamond, a better fork too.

Just my 2 cents
flag apatipsychonaut4
Posted: Jun 6, 2018 at 19:05 Quote
Lucas-Ault wrote:
I ran the emerald for two years, and switched to a 40. I also had the diamond, which i prefered over the emerald by a lot. I'd say wait for the onyx and get that, less weight and if it's at all like the diamond, a better fork too.

Just my 2 cents

Can you provide a more detailed explanation of your experience with the Emerald? Also, a dude told me he ordered two Onyx's, it's also up on their website.

Thanks.
flag naturaltalent
Posted: Jun 6, 2018 at 22:48 Quote
MetalheadWolfRider wrote:
naturaltalent wrote:
Onyx is not even for sale yet, ive got an emerald, but it needed tuning out of the box to get it to feel good, the rebound backed all the way off was way too slow for me at 145lbs so i sped it up by changing shims. The seals arent that great either ive found, they are fairly tight and sticky but dont seem to really seal all that well, after a month i pulled it apart to check on it and removed quite a bit of fine dirt that had made its way past the dust wiper. If you are light they will need some shimstack changes and ronnie can help you out with that. Same deal with the diamond i got but it was too firm on compression instead and the seal head on the damper is the stickiest ive ever felt in a fork so far. Was super stoked for the first couple weeks but after a few months i cant say im a super fan of either fork. I am very particular about my suspension so these things may be a non issue for you. DVO has wonderful customer service from my experinces though so definitely lots of credit there.

Thanks, now i'm not sure where to go lol.

i have a 380 C2R2 Ti which has internal defects so i'm not liking it, i definately don't wanna go either Fox or RS, maybe i'll go by a Dorado? the RV1 also seems plausible too, and also i haven't ridden the RUX either...

I had a dorado for 2.5 years, was a great fork, best build quality out of anything ive been into by long shot, not a single piece of plastic and everything is properly anodized not to mention how easy they are to work on. Cant speak for the rux or rv1, no experience with those. Another solution would be to find an old stock/unused coil sprung boxxer and getting an avy cart for it. Lots of boxxer rc's floating around for real cheap waiting for the crappy damper to be gutted for a real damper. The coil side is the same between the rc and the team, that is for my2018 and older though as my2019 they did away with the coils so they could make more profit from the cheaper to manufacture air spring. Custom tuned open bath avy damper and coil spring would be pretty amazing, people generally seem to love Craigs work
flag apatipsychonaut4
Posted: Jun 7, 2018 at 6:33 Quote
naturaltalent wrote:
MetalheadWolfRider wrote:
naturaltalent wrote:
Onyx is not even for sale yet, ive got an emerald, but it needed tuning out of the box to get it to feel good, the rebound backed all the way off was way too slow for me at 145lbs so i sped it up by changing shims. The seals arent that great either ive found, they are fairly tight and sticky but dont seem to really seal all that well, after a month i pulled it apart to check on it and removed quite a bit of fine dirt that had made its way past the dust wiper. If you are light they will need some shimstack changes and ronnie can help you out with that. Same deal with the diamond i got but it was too firm on compression instead and the seal head on the damper is the stickiest ive ever felt in a fork so far. Was super stoked for the first couple weeks but after a few months i cant say im a super fan of either fork. I am very particular about my suspension so these things may be a non issue for you. DVO has wonderful customer service from my experinces though so definitely lots of credit there.

Thanks, now i'm not sure where to go lol.

i have a 380 C2R2 Ti which has internal defects so i'm not liking it, i definately don't wanna go either Fox or RS, maybe i'll go by a Dorado? the RV1 also seems plausible too, and also i haven't ridden the RUX either...

I had a dorado for 2.5 years, was a great fork, best build quality out of anything ive been into by long shot, not a single piece of plastic and everything is properly anodized not to mention how easy they are to work on. Cant speak for the rux or rv1, no experience with those. Another solution would be to find an old stock/unused coil sprung boxxer and getting an avy cart for it. Lots of boxxer rc's floating around for real cheap waiting for the crappy damper to be gutted for a real damper. The coil side is the same between the rc and the team, that is for my2018 and older though as my2019 they did away with the coils so they could make more profit from the cheaper to manufacture air spring. Custom tuned open bath avy damper and coil spring would be pretty amazing, people generally seem to love Craigs work

if the dorado has great small bump sensivity like small chatter and so, then i'm sold. I have small,skinny weak hands and they get bashed up real bad on my 380 due to it's defects, i've tried other 380's and they feel amazing so i was thinking of getting another 380, but i might as well try something new like the dorado. thanks for the heads up m8

EDIT: i'm pretty confused on which is the best model of the dorado, i've seen dorado pro and expert and tpc+, do you know anything about this?
flag bikebike69
Posted: Jun 7, 2018 at 7:12 Quote
I had two Emeralds, both 26” versions. I’ve also owned about every other DH fork. I actually switched back to Fox 40 for the only reason of weight, cost.
But I will say that’s the only negative about an Emerald.
If you’re a heavier rider, high speed rock garden thrasher you’ll absolutely love the Emerald. It’s beefy,strong, super adjustable, take absolute beatings.
The weight and cost are what got me off of them.
flag naturaltalent
Posted: Jun 7, 2018 at 8:13 Quote
There are 2 models of dorado, expert and pro. The dampers and internals are identical but the pro is made of stronger aluminum so the weight is a bit less. The pro also has better surface finish on the stanchions so it is very sensitive to small bumps. If you do go dorado make sure to get the mrd irt kit for it.
flag apatipsychonaut4
Posted: Jun 7, 2018 at 20:56 Quote
naturaltalent wrote:
There are 2 models of dorado, expert and pro. The dampers and internals are identical but the pro is made of stronger aluminum so the weight is a bit less. The pro also has better surface finish on the stanchions so it is very sensitive to small bumps. If you do go dorado make sure to get the mrd irt kit for it.

thanks.
flag apatipsychonaut4
Posted: Jun 7, 2018 at 21:02 Quote
bikebike69 wrote:
I had two Emeralds, both 26” versions. I’ve also owned about every other DH fork. I actually switched back to Fox 40 for the only reason of weight, cost.
But I will say that’s the only negative about an Emerald.
If you’re a heavier rider, high speed rock garden thrasher you’ll absolutely love the Emerald. It’s beefy,strong, super adjustable, take absolute beatings.
The weight and cost are what got me off of them.

so how would you describe your experience with it? how was it on small chatter/small bump sensivity? i have shit hands so i need that "cadillac feeling".

Naturaltalent mentioned something about shim stacks and seals, and i would like to hear your take on it because maybe you had a different experience. I've also had similar problems with my 380, everyone seems to be doing fine with theirs except me.
flag bikebike69
Posted: Jun 8, 2018 at 5:03 Quote
Small bump sensitivity is extremely good. The “Off The Top” adjustment is a really cool feature and easy to adjust on a dial without having to go into the fork.
I never had had any seal issues whatsoever on my two forks. Ran both for two seasons without a single issue and oil stayed clean throughout.

It really comes down to personal preference. Of all the forks I’ve run the only choice for me is the Fox 40 and the Emerald. I’m 190lbs, pretty hard thrasher. I love jumps and rock gardens.
flag apatipsychonaut4
Posted: Jun 8, 2018 at 12:19 Quote
bikebike69 wrote:
Small bump sensitivity is extremely good. The “Off The Top” adjustment is a really cool feature and easy to adjust on a dial without having to go into the fork.
I never had had any seal issues whatsoever on my two forks. Ran both for two seasons without a single issue and oil stayed clean throughout.

It really comes down to personal preference. Of all the forks I’ve run the only choice for me is the Fox 40 and the Emerald. I’m 190lbs, pretty hard thrasher. I love jumps and rock gardens.

Thanks man, i'm leaning towards it, might be able to get an used one this summer.
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