Gravity riders of all stripes will be stoked to know that the popular Manitou Dorado dual-crown mountain bike fork has been fully updated, now with three models to choose from. The new forks come in 27.5″ or 29″ configurations, with 180, 190, or 203mm of travel, and an offset measurement of 47 or 57mm. As usual, that travel can be adjusted by any home mechanic by swapping a few spacers. Like the brand’s other gravity forks, the inverted stanchions that hang out under those rock-guards each measure 37mm. All three forks have 1-1/8 straight steerer tubes, so you’ll want to make sure your frame and headset can play along with that before purchasing.
The brake mount on this new Dorado works with 203mm rotors out of the box, and folks can mount up a 223mm disk with an adapter. Also at the far end, the Dorado forks all use a 110x20mm floating axle.
The Comp model of the new Dorado is a coil-sprung fork that’s made entirely of aluminum, weighing a reported 3,565g with a medium spring installed. In addition to the spring preload and rate, this fork has external low-speed compression and rebound knobs to fiddle with. This hefty bruiser retails for $1,224.99.
The other two Dorado models both use an air spring, dropping a significant amount of weight with less steel inside. An all-alloy Dorado Expert fork tips the scale at a reported 3,120g and retails for $1,449.99, while the Pro edition cuts the grams to 2,970g with the help of some carbon fiber upper tubes, and it retails for $1,799.99. Apart from chassis materials, the main difference between these forks is that the Pro model has the brand’s Infinite Rate Tune (IRT) system in the air sleeve that allows riders to infinitely adjust the amount of air volume. Manitou says “The IRT is essentially a secondary positive air spring that controls the middle and end stroke of the fork. This allows you to adjust the main chamber to a lower pressure for improved small bump sensitivity while maintaining your ideal mid-stroke support and end stroke ramp up.”
Manitou says that the Comp and Expert models are available now through your local and online dealers, and the Pro option will arrive this fall.
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