DVO Suspension rolled out a sneak peek of the upcoming Onyx D1 38 fork during the snowy Sedona Mountain Bike Festival this past weekend. As the name implies, the stanchions are 38mm, putting it in the same category as the Fox 38, RockShox Zeb, and Ohlins RXF38, forks that are designed for aggressive riding, whether that's at an enduro race, in a bike park, or on an eMTB.
Key features of the burly new fork include a floating 15mm thru-axle, a revised D1 damper design, and a brand new chassis that's claimed to be stiff and precise while delivering a smooth flex pattern.
Air bleed valves on the lowers aren't a new feature for DVO, although on the Onyx 38 they're situated lower down, rather than being just below the dust wiper like they are on the Onyx SC D1. The design resembles what's currently being used by Fox and RockShox, although hopefully DVO's design doesn't raise any
silly legal issues.
The fork will be available in August with 160 - 180mm of travel. Keep an eye out for more comprehensive details and pricing when the Onyx 38 officially launches later this year.
FIX IT
38mm, OTT (assumed) = heaviest fork in its class
I like it so much I now have 2, but the 2nd got the split pin treatment as soon as it was out of the box.
Anyway, my DVO diamond is hands down the best fork I ever owned. Incredibly adjustable AND you can easily change the shims yourself, as I did, for that perfect ride.
In my "mobile" album
OTT doesn't have clicks it works in full rotations 12 in total.
Never had any problems with it as it is a set-and-forget feature (after using the reference guide on their website) by how much you weigh.. More rotations for more weight and fewer rotations for less weight. DVO does do things a bit differently from the big 2 but once you get your head around it.. the products are amazing with great customer care and easy for the average Joe to service.
Same thing was with skis. Elan Wingman 86 felt so godamn good but that green gave me shivers
Who cares about color when they are some of the best feeling suspension on the market? I haven't ridden anything to date that would change my mind. I'm still keeping my Emerald as long as possible. Reminds me of the old plushness of Marz. I guess for me, function over fashion, but I've had a couple of bikes where the green does well to set it off.
Also DVO Onyx is a 35mm stanchion fork. The new version 38mm.
So if anything, they only get support from fox regarding the bleeder valve. But all other components are from SR suntour. Because looking at SR suntour DC fork and coil shock, they are rebranded DVO Onyx and Jade respectively.
Have you had chance to play swapping the damper valves.?
Cheers for the informative reply. Maybe a coil conversion kit for my trusty pike instead
They made this fork WAY too adjustable and robust. And even though if you call them they'll totally pick up the phone and handle your bullshit even though they're WILDLY under staffed, how come I have to read manuals and know what I'm doing to work on stuff? why cant it be smarter than I am dumb?
This is bullshit!
Related. Really. make a black option for your models. I'd be rocking a topaz NOW if it wasnt green and silly looking on my rig. only coming in green is UNACCEPTABLE
It is incredibly adjustable out of the box, but in addition you can easily change the shims yourself, or DVO can do it for you, to achieve that perfect ride. At my weight, 156 pounds, is the only fork I owned in 30 years of riding that sucks up everything: from little bumps on the trail, washed out trail rock gardens, to big (well ok in my case sort of big) hits and jumps.
If you're good, when you start a brand you begin with a clear idea of what you want, get experts (engineers, designers, riders, wrenches) to shape the designs, and then look for the best factory to make it to your specs. Looks like that's what DVO did.
Lhlins mtb suspension parts are made by x-fusion.
The threads of the crown and stanchions fit euaxh others fork. Thus if your bore up the hole on the bottom of the casting you can Mount öhlins innerts in the x-fusion metric, trace and vengeance
I think this ^ is nonsense, but if bigger sells that by all means!
Awful lot of downvotes from people who don’t own one. I had the best luck till 2020 with dvo. Now this story describes it perfectly. Every single dvo fork I’ve felt after takes a lot of break away force
There are definitely quality issues that need work (self winding OTT being the most relevant), but as for breakaway stiffness I would guess that is people not setting up the OTT properly (counting "clicks" instead of rotations/adjusting with air in the system) or not servicing their lowers frequently enough which has a significant effect on these forks.
I already said DVO is far from perfect, the OTT setup is a real headache if you are used to the normal way of setting/measuring sag and must be done individually for each rider. But after I pushed through the learning curve I am now completely on board with the system. My setup now almost sags under the weight of the bike, which sounds bonkers but is bliss to ride.
As for stickiness from new, it seems many manufacturers are leaning towards tighter bushing tolerances and riding a line where sometimes they will go too far or need to be broken in before they feel right. Is that a good thing? maybe, maybe not.
Shame about this new colour though... gloss grey? Gross!
I had one small issue with a Jade X coil and it was turned around in 48 hours.
I have had two pairs of Onyx forks, one air shock and one coil and only have had a very small leak from the bladder which was from brand new.
Pricing in the UK is much more competitive than the bigger brands, some amazing deals going around on the Onyx forks at the moment.
These new 38 forks look stunning, would love to try a pair when they become available.
DVO forks are manufactured by Suntour, if you want to start calling out copy cats.
Here's an article from 2020, that shows the bleeder valves on the Onyx:
enduro-mtb.com/en/dvo-onyx-sc-d1-2021-review
Here's the product page for the Onyx (still the 36mm stanchion model), with the same damper knob as the 38mm version. It was probably the 2022 model that switched to that damper, as they also switched the graphics. Check out the pictures attached to the "Highlights in the box" section:
dvosuspension.com/product/onyx-sc-d1
I wouldn't say I'm a die-hard, but I've owned two forks and two shocks now, and they've served me very well. Just trying to point out the obvious fact that these forks have nothing to do with Fox (much more to do with Suntour).
However, it's hard to argue that the Topaz and Tri-Air shocks don't share design elements and some components from Suntour production.