It doesn't seem all too long ago that DVO burst onto the scene with their striking black and green graphics and head-turning inverted DH fork. Over the last two years, DVO's portfolio has grown to include a DH ready coil shock and a single crown fork with a penchant for enduro and all-mountain riding. There have however been two significant gaps in their lineup - a more 'trail focussed' single crown fork and a complimentary air shock...
2016 DVO Sapphire Fork DVO's newest single crown offering, the Sapphire, blends all the elements that DVO has become well known for in their burlier Diamond fork, but within a lighter, trail friendly package. Available this summer, the Sapphire looks set to be an exciting addition to the DVO stable.
OVERVIEW
• Quick Range Low Speed Compression
• With a quick turn of a knob, the low speed circuit is restricted providing a nice platform for climbing
• High Speed Compression Adjust
• Loader style compression provides easy access to the piston & shims for customized tuning
• OTT – Off The Top
• This exclusive and proven DVO design trickles down from the Emerald to deliver precise air spring
• Closed Cartridge Bladder System
• Just like the Jade rear shock, the bladder is compressed rather than expanded offering incredible small bump sensitivity.
SPECIFICATIONS
• Travel: 100mm / 110mm / 120mm / 130mm / 140mm (via internal spacers) Lower Legs: One Piece Magnesium Casting w/ Fender Option
• Stanchions: 32mm Tapered 7000 Series Aluminum
• Drop Outs: QR 110x15mm Axle
• Disc Brake Mount: 74mm Post Mount for 160mm Rotor
• Damper Unit: Diamond Damper Cartridge w/ Bladder Style Compression Unit Adjustability: Rebound, High Speed Compression, 6 Position Low Speed Compression Spring: Air sprung with adjustable negative coil (OTT)
• Steer Tube: 1.5 Tapered Aluminum
• Wheel Options: 26+ / 275 & 275+ / 29
• Offset: 44mm (275/26+) / 51mm (29/275+)
• Colors: Green, Black or Brown
• Weight: 1900g – 275 (includes thru axle and uncut steer tube)
• MSRP – Target $899
2016 DVO Topaz Air Shock DVO's long-awaited air shock will be available shortly and looks every bit the archetypical DVO product, oozing style thanks to its CNC machining, gloss black finish, and bright green dials and detailing. Beneath the surface, the Topaz packs an array of adjustments and features, and will be available in 200mm x 50mm, 200mm x 56mm and 215mm x 63mm lengths.
OVERVIEW
• T3 Compression
• Open, Medium, Firm - Quick Range Compression System
• Loader Style Compression
• Compression circuits can be easily removed for custom tuning
• Bladder
• Amazing small bump compliance. No stiction off the top. Seamless transition between rebound and compression.
• Cooling Fins
• Keeps shock running cool even in the harshest conditions
• Air Volume Adjust
• Tunable air can volume /via spacers
SPECIFICATIONS
• Damper Unit: Compression Loader System w/ Bladder
• Adjustability: Rebound, Quick Range Compression (Open, Medium & Firm) & Air Volume Bushing: 15mm Igus Bushings, Mounting Hardware w/ 6mm, 8mm or 10mm Options.
• Spring: Air Spring
• Colors: Black w/ green
• Weight: 330g
• MSRP: $500
MENTIONS: @DVOSuspension
"We did some back to back runs with the Emerald, a RockShox Boxxer R2C2 (2014) and Fox 40 Float (2015) down the infamous Val di Sole downhill track, and the Emerald gave us noticeably less arm fatigue than the other forks, while providing noticeably better grip than the 40." Bike radar
"Outright suspension performance is up there with the best in the business, so those interested in the ability to fine tune their ride should surely consider the Diamond. The fact that it’s priced competitively and backed by DVO’s impressive customer service helps, too." VitalMTB
We need companies like DVO to keep Fox and RS on their toes. They do generate a lot of hype but as a small company that a key marketing technique, when fighting established competition with big marketing spend.
I run Fox and BOS btw
Öhlins!!!
Apart from the emerald, I think their product line is too samey though. The emerald is a real balls out different product to what everyone else is selling. The diamond is just the same, and so is this fork. The shock too. Not interesting to me at all. There was word that they were working on an upside down single crown fork in the 150-160 travel range a year or so ago though. That is something I would be interested in to complement my Jade @dvosuspension
1) DVO will talk to me and help me directly rather than tell me to "go through my local dealer". My dealer is 1000 miles away.
2) I can easily tune DVO suspension to work the way I want.
3) I CAN PERFORM A FULL SERVICE ON DVO FORKS IN MY GARAGE without spending hundreds of dollars on special tools. When I have 10 bikes between mine, my son's and my wife's, this adds up to over $1,000 a year in savings.
The only other suspension company that operates this way is Manitou, which is why we run a Dorado on his DH bike and Mattoc on his trail bike. I would have run the same setup, but was concerned about flex and support as my fat ass is 225 pounds and the Dorado has a midrange support issue for heavy riders (supposedly fixed with the new air spring upgrade option) and flex concerns with the Mattoc.
I wrote your Support 2 weeks ago because of an issue with my new Jade. I still have no answer ;-) Wohle Be nice if you helped me Outlook or gave me an Email adress,that someone of you guys actually uses B-)
I know you obviously dont spend 90% of your budget on marketing, that probably goes on tax lol, I was using an exaggerated statement.
As for the cooling fins they no doubt do their job, I was a small engine and 2stroke mechanic for 7 years so I know how they work and what they do, but they look more like some 'cool idea' added as an afterthought that didn't change the shape or size of the product and made an extra selling point, a bit like a certain speaker mfr from my hometown finding some spare knurled sheet alloy and making a speaker case out of it 'because it looked cool', then the marketing dept then marketed it as a 'diamond lattice acoustic dampening matrix' or something like that and selling it for £2000 more :-@
Please read My Mail and answer my request. Would be great, I am waiting for 2 weeks for a reply of yours :-/
IN regards to your comments/questions: as a manufacturer we also feel the frustration by these new ever changing new standards, it causes a massive disruption in the marketplace that ripples through the manufacturers all the way to the end users and its really up to the end users to decide if it really makes sense or not. For us, going to boost 110 wasn't something we wanted to do, we aren't like SRAM or Fox with deep corporate pockets and endless cash to do changes just because but we had to follow the "trend" due to the OEM demand/trend with boost. We can say that probably 95% of the people we talk to are only making/needing 15X110 for suspension forks and thats the reason why we are currently delivering this option. We do have a couple new longer travel forks in the works that may have a adaptable 15/20mm axle system which will satisfy all of our customer base. Cheers, DVO!
Any plans for a long travel fork that can use a 20mm axle and has a travel dropper feature?
Hello!
If you do a long travel fork that has a travel dropper feature, I'll mention DVO in my prayers on the first position.
I've yet to ride anything from DVO though since I refuse to give up my 20mm front axle.
After reading the recent post about 'new standards' by Pinkbike, I'd have to say that its pretty fu-king amazing to see @DVOSuspension in the comment feed talking to us all.
Isn't this what we want? Companies listening to our 'ten cents'?
I say MAD PROPS to DVO.
Respect the customer and the sales will follow.
When will the other companies wise up too.
And magnesium cast lowers are super light compared to aluminium stanchions and aluminium or magnesium dropout on USD forks. Like 50/100g at least in favor of non-usd designs.
There is USD forks in MX because they can be heavier, and they need more frontal stifness and more bushing overlap due to their powerful motor.
In mtb, we also need more torsional stifness than frontal compared to MX, so USD forks won't be the norm unless they improve the torsionnal stifness. Like putting two lefty forks, so it make a full and stiff USD fork.
I also have a domain SC with a custom open bath cartridge that ride batter than any other fork i rode.
Small bumb sensitivity has nothing to do with unsprung weight. if unsprung weight do something, it's avoiding wheel to bounce.
bushing overlap, quality made fork, less torsionnal stifness, low damping, are what makes your fork good over small bumbs. unsprung weight is a legend told to children.
Takes your shivert apart, weight the lowers/dropout. they'll probably weight 750g-850g (shiver SC has 700g lowers). Boxxer lowers are in 650g range, argyle's lowers weight 630g. Less unsprung weight, you said?
An don't forget each bump has to lift a 2kg wheel/tire/brake disc/caliper, let alone 1/3 of the oil and 1/6 of the coil spring
1) Don't announce products ahead of time as your customers will hold off buying what you are manufacturing now in order to purchase the latest and greatest.
2) Don't announce products ahead of time as it will give your competition an opportunity to develop a competing product at the same time and minimize your competitive advantage.
3) Don't announce products ahead of time, as invariably between now and your intended release date, you will have to redesign something or a part will be late resulting in delays, then the customers in 1 above will go buy another product.
In short, don't announce products until you are sure when they will be shipping.
Although marketing 101 seems right for the manufacturer, the buyer which ultimately supports the company should also get some information on what's next. In theory, like carym said, this could kill the sell of one Diamond today. But also, it could make another hold off the purchase of a product from a concurrent brand, to buy later from DVO. So at a greater level I think this is evening out, and the bonus for DVO is that it can preserve and grow its open attitude towards customers. I think long term trust is better than only looking at today's sales. And with suspension being probably the part which has the most impact on a bikes handling, capability and fun factor, the customer should be able to make educated decisions.
I'm looking for a replacement the coming season and want to support a smaller brand instead of Fox and RS.
Kudos for your marketing and your user focused business model!
DVO sell their products at Target now?
The saphire would do great on my bike but want to keep adjustments simple and less is more (except Bos) when it comes to trickery knobs.
Don't ask what size stanchions are. Ask "is the fork flexy, or not, for a rider at my weight & riding style?"
Huh? Whats this mean?
Is the bladder infact a balloon full of gas? Cos if it is, its been tried. It sucks. If not, then what is it? And whats it got to do with small bump? It's not like forks have IFP's...
Chargers work by filling a bladder with oil under pressure. This is a much better idea. AND doesn't give you any worse small bump performance whatsoever. Not quite the same in rear shocks where the ifp tends to have hundreds of psi behind it and DOES reduce small bump. But this is a fork.
Putting a bladder full of gas at hundreds of psi in a rear shock does give you nice small bump. But only for about ten hours, by which time all the gas is now in your damping oil.
The DVO design does flex the membrane repeatedly. It doesn't stretch it, but there is no problem with stretching a charger bladder. It causes no extra friction. Maybe a tiny increase in spring rate, but no friction. I see no advantages to the DVO design over the charger design, but i do see disadvantages...
And there is no way regular breathing air is going to force its way through a rubber membrane at what, maybe 5 psi when compressed? That's nothing.
After how many thousand years is this?
Yes the air will go through the membrane, at any +ve pressure. It just goes through faster as the pressure increases.
@gabriel-mission9 What's "+ve pressure"? Is that supposed to mean positive?
its good to discuss stuff. makes you see things differently
So yeah there really is no reason for air to leak out of the bladder in this instance. Cheers pedro
*edit* still not much stopping it from migrating out tho, so I can imagine you would still get air bubbles in the oil. But yes it would take far longer than I previously thought. replace the bladder every couple years perhaps. Still don't really imagine a charger or fox bladder ever needs replacing unless it is damaged during servicing, or over/under filled.
@lccomz Manitou uses closed cell foam. The foam doesn't absord any oil (they want the air to stay trapped in the foam), it just compresses down to make room for oil.
What do you mean by a larger bubble? A bubbles size is not really related to the gas it is made up of....
Are you referring to molecule size? The size of an O2 molecule isn't that far from the size of an N2 molecule and they are both extremely small. The advantage of using nitrogen in a shock is it is more temperature stable, and less likely to corrode the inner workings of your shock due to airs moisture content. I don't understand why you claim otherwise given your experience with shocks...
Yes a bladder improves small bump over an ifp system, but forks don't use ifp's so I don't really get how that is relevant. BOS produced a fork with an ifp a while back but they dropped it pretty quickly.
Bladders have been tried in moto, and they allow the nitrogen (a slightly larger molecule than o2 if we're nit picking) to diffuse into the damping oil. O2 will do the same, if not very slightly worse. Yes this is a pretty small issue in forks, but a bladder has no advantage in a fork. In a shock where there is the small bump improvment, this is negated by the fact that the air gets into the oil.
Have you done anything to rectify this problem in rear shocks?
What is the reason you chose to go down the compressed bladder use in forks?
Saying a nitrogen bubble is bigger than an air bubble makes literally no sense. You may as well say a bit of rope is longer than a bit of string. Its nonsense.
A nitrogen molecule is a tiny tiny bit larger than an o2 molecule, but both are tiny. Yes nitrogen will diffuse through the bladder a tiny bit slower, but it really wont make much difference at all. The actual advantage of nitrogen is its temperature stability and the fact that it is relatively pure so won't cause corrosion.
What is the reason you chose to go down the compressed bladder route in forks?
I hope some of dvo people will read this comment and start to understand that they cant sell such hight $$ product and have such a suck service.
very fast.
Free Ride aint dead.
Or be a "refugee" and ask your chancellor for a free DVO shock.
Asked for a spare part for a c Fusion product ....USA price 200 Dollars,switzerland 240 CHF. ..like 269 dollars andere Germany 395 euros...like 440 dollars.
But to Be honest it is another importeur ;-)
FAIL
The X-Fusion Trace w/ Rough Cut damper and 34 stanchions is 1930 for a 29er.
The 1900 is for the 275., so I assume the DVO 29er is even heavier.
Both are less expensive too.
I myself don't care about weight (I have a 36 on my trail bike), but I am just calling it out.
I have to question that statement. Are you suggesting you've engineered flex into the fork intentionally, or that flex is a desirable quality in a fork?
Sorry if Fail seemed too harsh, but the bar for trail forks is pretty high right now.
For the ones who do not mind carrying 200 g of oil for sublime feel of the fork,
do you plan to release an open bath fork for trail or enduro?
Actually, what quantity of oil is standard for each of the two legs of the Diamond and the Sapphire?
Do you plan to introduce also coil version for either of this forks? Would be a real treat for many of us.
For the ones who do not mind carrying 200 g of oil for sublime feel of the fork,
do you plan to release an open bath fork for trail or enduro?
Actually, what quantity of oil is standard for each of the two legs of the Diamond and the Sapphire?
Do you plan to introduce also coil version for either of this forks? Would be a real treat for many of us.
By posting full guides and tuning tips on the DVO site, you do encourage users to understand and service themselves their forks. Which is a very very strong selling point. Next step for some of us is to want to custom tune or modify the forks. So, since you also promote the mantra of listening to the market, please take into consideration offering upgrade kits for those who want to ride coil. In my understanding, to be able to fit a coil spring into a fork means "only" changing the pumping rod and some other tiny bits, and I'm pretty sure it would blow away the performance of the air version. Yes I know that nowadays the market digs for low weight, but it would be awesome to give purists some choice. I totally respect what you're doing and your views regarding DVO design, it sure did occupy whole years of exhausting work. And by the feel it seems also that the Diamond is better than many products out there. But speaking of the roots from MZ, it would be a hit to shake the world again with ultimate performance like you did back in 1997. Respect is very good, passion is on a whole other level. Would gladly bike half the globe to personally pick up the first Diamond Coil Open Bath conversion kit.
Thanks for bringing some hope in. For a start, very simple would be not messing around at all with the damper side, I think converting only the air spring side in coil+a decent amount of oil (more than 100 cc) would do wonders. Personally I would be satisfied with that. If the damper becomes open bath too, that is a bonus. There are producers who offer aftermarket carts (AVA), but I imagine that one developed in house would be at any time better. And the modular approach works for other industries. You want light? Get the air version. You want absolute bump sensitivity and linear feel? Get an upgrade to coil. Want absolute trouble free ownership? Get the upgrade to open bath.
With the Emerald you've gone the open bath way (minus the coil). I only do trail, unfortunately I can't enjoy this product,
so I can not but hope to have that technology in an enduro or trail fork in the near future.