DVO DIAMOND D1
£899.95 www.windwave.co.uk
The Diamond has externally-adjustable high- and low-speed compression damping plus low-speed rebound, along with DVO’s OTT (Off The Top) system – a coil negative spring under the air piston. While it’s heavy for a trail fork, we didn’t notice this when riding. The 35mm-stanchion chassis handles well through drops, turns and jumps, and can be pushed hard without a concerning amount of flex. There’s no doubting the D1’s initial suppleness, and the fact that you can tune it by preloading the OTT spring is impressive. On the other hand, it’s an extra dial to fiddle with and means the fork takes longer to set up.
Once dialled in, the Diamond has a groundhugging ride, with the front tyre staying planted over small chatter bumps. Friction in the system seems minimal. Unusually, DVO use oil, rather than volume spacers, to increase spring progressivity. We didn’t need to add extra and found the ramp-up was good, letting us access full travel during hard compressions without ending up deep in the travel too often. Mid-stroke support is decent, and the fork doesn’t dive or wallow in high-load turns, on steep trails or under braking.
Sadly, the D1’s supple beginning-stroke and ample support doesn’t translate into the most comfortable ride. It doesn’t deal with squareedged hits and braking bumps as well as the best forks here, and, even with the high- and low-speed compression fully open, doesn’t soak up mid-sized bumps with the same composure, leading to noticeable hand fatigue. Our 76kg tester ran 106psi in the air spring, which matched DVO’s online set-up chart, but had to run the rebound damping fully open. Lighter riders may need a custom tune to make the fork active enough.