Manitou Dorado for freeride?

What do you think about this fork for freeride? We all know it performs well for DH. Will it blow up from big drops? Will the carbon crack? Would it be as strong as a Super T?

get a shiver if your into the bigdrops, that or a monster

Maybe I could live with the weight of a shiver… but really I'd rather not have a 50lb bike. Dorado is cool because it weighs the same as the super.

stick with your shiver, maybe get a 2004 sherman slider. That has all the travel you need, its under 7 pounds, plus it has tcp+. get that

ya im lookin at gettin either the 888 or 7" sherman fork but have not desided. wha should i get?

I don't have a Shiver but it used to be my #1 pick, but then i got worried about how much the bike will weight so i decided super. I'll probably just get the Super, then an 888 next year.

You can't use a Dorado for freeriding because it's carbon and it's a manipoo…:rolleyes:

Seriously, It's probably an awesome freeride fork along with being an awesome racing fork. It shouldn't blow up on you, as long as you don't attempt anything stupid (ie. 20' to flat). It requires maintenance, but not more than you should be performing on any other high end forks…

The Dorado can take anything you throw at it, it isn't going to break.

However, keep in mind that the price and service intervals for this for reflect a genuine race fork. Is is light and agile, and requires significant tuning and attention (something any expert and above level racer would have access to). Its characteristics mostly point it to the home of a racer who understands how to make it work best for them.

Free ride bikes are not necessarliy built with shaving weight as a priority. I see little point in spending that kind of extra money to shave 2 or 3 pounds on a bike built up for hucks and abuse.

If you are a set and forget guy, or don;t have time and money or the resources for tuning and maintenance, it may not be the ideal fork for you.

Strength wise, it is up with the best of them. Internally, it is said to be one of the best, provided you have all the resources to get to its potential (which is not found when it is run as-is out of the box…it is far from it).

It is a sexy piece of equipment.

alrite ive owned a dorado for 7 months now and the oil seals havent leaked a drop.. havent needed to do any maintenance either. its a beauty. the valving is amazing nothing else compares. i like it because its very tunable(the adjustments work very well) and the valving is awesome… one complaint is the useless integrated stem. ive bent 3 sets of bolts(yes they were the right length) and when i ride really tech stuff the whole stem twists and stays out of line… so i have to finish the tech section with a twisted stem then stop and straighten it out
do it you willl not regret it

If you do big drops, you'll probably have a lot less hassle with a big for, like a Monster T. It's also a lot less money.