Manitou Dorado Test

Manitou has been in the suspension game since the early 1990's. Gone are the days of their rubber elastomer springs. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000's Manitou had a strong showing in the downhill segment. The used TPC in both their XVERT fork which was a Carbon Fibre standard triple clamp fork and then in their venture into the inverted market with the original Dorado around 2001-2003 with 30mm stantions and generation 2 came out from 2004-2006 with 32mm stantions. That fork worked well then manitou decided they needed the use the SPV vavling they were licensing from Turner and along came the MRD Dorado X-Works. It turns out downhill was not the appropriate venue for SPV. Its price was high for the time and people were expecting everything from it. That was in 2004 and 9 years ago. But some people seem to never forget things.Their new fork is using TPC + but now has a Dual Air chamber.

Today they are using a Dual Chamber Air design inside their new Dorado. In 2010 Manitou announced the Dorado Pro after extensive testing of the carbon fibre MRD version. This was good because that CF Dorado was approaching the $3,000 mark so very few people had them. The new design is somewhat light at 6.5 LBS and as plush as a fork can get. Out of the box it feels very supple and it feels better than most forks do after their required break in periods!

The new Dorado Pro is an engineering masterpiece. 7050 legs, inverted construction, dual-chamber air spring, TPC+ damping (with independent high- and low-speed compression), hydraulic bottom-out and top-out, and Manitou’s patented HexLock 20mm thru-axle add up to the most advanced downhill fork ever.

Features

Weight Lb / grams	6.55 / 2973.7
Travel	180, 203 Internally Adj. (29'er 175mm)
Spring	Air
Spring Rate	n/a
Bottom Out	Hydraulic and Rubber Bumper
Steerer	1 1/8" Aluminum
Crown	Forged Hollow-Oval Bore
Crown Finish	Black Ano Polished
Offset	49.55
Compression Damping	TPC+
Rebound Damping	Adjustable TPC
Adjustments	Air Compression (High Speed and TPC+) Rebound
Leg Diameter	36mm
Leg Material	7050 Aluminum
Wheel Size	26 / 29
Brake	Post Mount
Brake	20mm Hex TA
Crown to Axle	567 / 591
Colors	Black Ano

Hex-lock Thru Axle

Our patented hex axle locks the lower legs in place, eliminating rotation around the axle. This provides unsurpassed stiffness in a burly, no-gimmick 20mm axle system. US Patent #6, 412, 803.

Semi-bath with Evil Genius Seals

Semi-bath lubrication and Evil Genius seals have proven to dramatically increase the durability and service life of our forks. High quality Evil Genius seals, originally developed for motorcycle suspension, decrease stiction and keep fluids inside the legs where they belong.

Dorado TPC+ 4-dimensional Compression Damping

• Velocity dependant circuit responds to the terrain
• Pressure dependant circuit flattens the bumps
• Energy dependant circuit activates on big hits while providing unmatched small bump sensitivity
• Position dependant circuit creates a bottomless feel

System Advantages:

• Durability
• Traction
• Comfort
• Control

Original 2010 Press Release

"The Hayes Bicycle Group is pleased to announce the official release of the 2010 Manitou Dorado Pro.
The Dorado Pro features 7050 aluminum legs and utilizes the same premium internals as the Dorado MRD carbon version. With premium durability, the Dorado Pro maintains its World Cup DH race pedigree. However, it’s not a typical DH race fork anymore. With the added strength of the 7050 aluminum legs, it becomes a very capable park, free-ride and big mountain fork. Along with proven TPC+ damping, the fork has plush top-out coupled with a unique hydraulic bottoming ramp-up that makes the fork feel bottomless.
Updates for 2010 include an improved two-chamber, large-volume, low-pressure air spring which simplifies set-up and optimizes fork performance. The air spring pressure is now tuned by using a single valve at the top of the fork eliminating the second valve at the bottom of the leg. The pressure in the two chambers auto-equalizes when a shock pump is connected offering ease of set up by adding and/or bleeding off air from the top. Also, all mount hardware features high grade bolts with deep hex broaches offering an improved tool inter-face, and the brake line guide has been improved for optimum routing.
Spec:

• Weight: 6.55lbs
• Travel: 180mm/203mm for 26”
• 175mm for 29”
• Chassis: Alloy Legs & Crown
• Spring: Dual Air Chamber
• Damper: TPC+
• Hub: 20mm Hex Lock

The 2010 Dorado Pro was designed and tested in California and North Vancouver and is handmade in our Milwaukee, Wisconsin, facility. The Hayes Bicycle Group will continue to offer a one-year service program which allows riders to return their fork for factory service and inspection at no charge (specific rules apply to factory service). All race support at the HBG race truck will remain free of charge as we continue to support race teams, free riders and privateers. MSRP for the Dorado Pro in 26” is $1,749 and $1,799 for the 29er version."

We have gone through 4 or 5 Dorado forks now. The first one we had went on two different test bikes. Since then I have bought 4 others to build personal bikes with and demo bikes. I am known as a maintenance hack. My time is more valuable to me than spending a few hours rebuilding a fork every 4 weeks. Thats not gonna happen especially if I pay $1700 for the thing! 

Our first test bike we built up with the Dorado Pro was the Canfield Jedi. Over the course of our 6 months of testing the fork preformed flawlessly. It mounted easily, has respectable weight, and you dont need suspesnion analysis software to dial the thing in. The Jedi got alot of vertical feet put on it and fast. In its first day out on the hill it had almost 25,000 feet ridden.

The Dorado felt perfect out of the box. Smooth as can be, the only other fork I can compare it to is a Shiver or old Monster T. There was no detectable stiction and the whole way through the fork just eats up chunky terrain like it is not even there. This is one of the areas it leaves other forks looking feable. Not only is it very small bump compliant but the air spring has a natural ramping effect making a bottom out on the Dorado a rare occurance and if it does happen the rubber and hydraulic bottom out control makes it a non issue.

As stated earlier maintenance is something I despise and having a fork blow a seal every month or needing a major overhaul is just way to much. That first Dorado we had was on 2 test bikes and easily eclipsed 300,000 vertical feet of hard decending on it. Never once in that time was the fork serviced! They suggest doing a service at regular intervals, it sort of slipped my mind and the fork ran great the whole time.

Towards the end of year two it was sent in for a complete rebuild and service. It was still under the service period so that was free. We have tested other complete bikes, one had a Boxxer WC and the other had a Fox 40 coil. Both of these developed seal leakage with 3 months of riding. The durability of the Dorado is simply amazing.

Setting up the Dorado was really very simple. In fact with the suggested set-up instructions Manitou includes it is pretty straight forward. We ended up using the DH Race tuning as a start point and then sped up Rebound and increased TPC + a few clicks. I weigh 209 and ran 90 PSI almost the entire time. Sometimes a little less depending on the trail.

Clicking the adjusters just one click is noticeable in the way the fork reacts on the trail. The fork has a fair bit of adjustment range to suite most users. Having the ability to fine tune the preload with the addition or removal of air in such small increments gives the Manitou Dorado Pro a distinct tuning advantage over a coil fork.

We rode the Dorado on rough chunky rock filled trails, down loose steep brake bump filled shoots and over smooth hero dirt up in Santa Cruz. The fork excelled everywhere it went. It provided traction over rough trails and as the speeds increased it had no problem keeping up and making the trail feel more like a sidwalk. The Dorado has the ability to keep low speed and high speed hits well in control without sacraficing one to make the other better. This is another area the fork excels at having a High and Low speed compression that truely seems independant of one another.

Also of note is the Norco Aurum 1 we tested came with the Manitou Dorado Expert. This is a lower dollar fork that is a bit heavier than the Pro version but internally it is identical. Manitou gained some weight and lowered cost by using a 6000 series aluminum, and forged triple clamps on the Expert. But riding the fork it feels just as plush and responsive. You can get the Expert brand new for about $1100 which is a pretty killer price!

We found a few negatives worth noting. The older Manitou Dorado came with two different top crowns one was flat and the other was a drop crown. They have since done away with the drop crown and now it comes with just the flat crown. That takes away some adjustment which may be a concern for some. Another issue that some of us noticed if paying attention you might notice that the fork is a little more flexible than a conventional fork. It is more noticeable going from a Fox 40 to the Dorado. I would say the Dorado has about the same amount of flex in it as a Boxxer WC does. Some people think this may be a benefit in its ability to track over rough terrain. Not sure but the fork really does shine on rougher trails.

Conclusion

Overall the Manitou Dorado Pro has proven to be an awesome fork. Its realibity, tuneability, responsiveness and dampening characteristic are something that none of us have experienced in any other fork. A fork is a very important piece of kit it controls the front wheel, where it goes how well it tracks the ground and how much traction the rider can get. There was never once while riding the Dorado over the last 3 years that I thought it could be mcuh better. In fact most of the time it worked and I forgot all about it being up there. I just knew it was doing its job up front. Point the bike where you want to go and the Dorado Pro will see that the front wheel gets up and over any obstacle in your way without much fuss. The hard part will be finding a rear suspension that can keep up with the fork! We would for sure reccomend the Manitou Dorado Pro or Expert to any of our friends with the new Manitou Dorado line effectivly becoming the downhill fork to beat.

Dorado Pro Owners Manual