DT’s crazy-light race fork is going to appeal to some of the fastest cross-country riders around, with World Championship stripes and a Dalby World Cup win to prove it. But steering and braking stiffness aren’t its strongest points.
Even with its minimalist remote lockout lever, the carbon fibre slider, steerer and crown fork clocks in at 1,267g. That’s 100g lighter than the lightest Magura and Manitou options, and almost 250g lighter than a Fox F100 or a RockShox SID.
The stroke is smooth enough for racers too, with the single-sided air spring getting a coil negative spring to keep it supple off the top. It can slam into the stops if you really hammer it, but otherwise the rebound adjustable Twin Tube damper keeps it controlled and consistent over mid-sized stuff. The solid lockout also gets a blow-out valve in case you hit something unexpected when sprinting.
The skinny 28.6mm stanchions and carbon fibre top end really writhe around when you start turning or braking hard though. We’ve even managed to go over the bars sprinting up steps when the fork has stumbled and twisted underneath us, so aggressive or ham-fisted riders should stay away. But for smooth racers on a cost-no-object, weight-saving mission it’s really very good.
