I prefer Suntour's air systems - either swapping the negative springs or the EQ - over DVO but you've just opened up an interesting question in my find about damper swaps. I brought up the Avy damper as I've been a bit nostalgic about my last one lately and taking the excellent Durolux chassis and EQ air spring and adding in a custom valved Avy damper is still cheaper than other top-end forks on the market.
I probably shouldn't give away the whole review, but combining a Suntour TriAir shock with an Auron RC2-PCS up front would be an excellent suspension package for any 140-160mm travel bike with the giant-killer type of build you're talking about. Shimano Deore drivetrain, RaceFace Aeffect R cranks and wheels, CODE R brakes, and Maxxis EXO+ MaxxGrip tires. Just add CushCore.
One cool thing about SR Suntour that I've seen in the past is that they'll decal their forks and shocks as you like. So, for example, if Rocky Mountain wanted to do a killer min-maxed Altitude build they could order up TriAir shocks and Auron or Durolux forks that are Rocky Mountain branded. Same service/warranty from SR Suntour but trading off their name rather than a suspension company that the average rider of that price point of bike may categorize with more entry-level bicycles. Rocky comes to mind because that's exactly what they do with their Rocky Mountain branded X-Fusion Manic dropper posts.
Jan. 26, 2021, 12:06 p.m. - Andrew Major
I prefer Suntour's air systems - either swapping the negative springs or the EQ - over DVO but you've just opened up an interesting question in my find about damper swaps. I brought up the Avy damper as I've been a bit nostalgic about my last one lately and taking the excellent Durolux chassis and EQ air spring and adding in a custom valved Avy damper is still cheaper than other top-end forks on the market. I probably shouldn't give away the whole review, but combining a Suntour TriAir shock with an Auron RC2-PCS up front would be an excellent suspension package for any 140-160mm travel bike with the giant-killer type of build you're talking about. Shimano Deore drivetrain, RaceFace Aeffect R cranks and wheels, CODE R brakes, and Maxxis EXO+ MaxxGrip tires. Just add CushCore. One cool thing about SR Suntour that I've seen in the past is that they'll decal their forks and shocks as you like. So, for example, if Rocky Mountain wanted to do a killer min-maxed Altitude build they could order up TriAir shocks and Auron or Durolux forks that are Rocky Mountain branded. Same service/warranty from SR Suntour but trading off their name rather than a suspension company that the average rider of that price point of bike may categorize with more entry-level bicycles. Rocky comes to mind because that's exactly what they do with their Rocky Mountain branded X-Fusion Manic dropper posts.