Quantcast

New Avy DHF 7.5 ??

time-bomb

Monkey
May 2, 2008
957
21
right here -> .
yep.

the 7.5 is single damper dual bolt crowns.

the 8.5 "MT" is triple bolt lowers, standard uppers, and thicker/larger uppers around the lower crown. Should make for a hell of a stiff fork, but I'm not convinced that the twisting isn't related to crown design rather than clamping force (ie no need for three bolts).

The damper has nothing to do with twisting, and I'm fairly certain two dampers are not necessary, especially with the oil volume and damper design of the huge-o fork.

I think the extra half inch of travel, from what somebody suggested earlier, is a measured amount of negative travel, that other manf. already include, but Avy does not...correct me if I'm wrong.
ok, gotcha. just looked at the site and paid attention this time and see the size difference. i thought the only difference was the amount of travel, and the structure only changed once you made the leap to an MTN version fork.
 

El Gordo

Monkey
Aug 15, 2007
375
0
Vernon, NJ
Acording to Craig the dual damper does help with twisting with a single damper you have a bigger chance of bottoming out which could lead to twisting of the fork with the dual damper less chance of bottoming out. Thats what I got out of the conversation.

And according to Craig Fork companies dont measure for Neg travel meaning a FOX 40 which is a 8 inch fork is really a 7.5 the only true 8 inch fork is the DHF 8.5 thats what I also understood..
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
Acording to Craig the dual damper does help with twisting with a single damper you have a bigger chance of bottoming out which could lead to twisting of the fork with the dual damper less chance of bottoming out. Thats what I got out of the conversation.

And according to Craig Fork companies dont measure for Neg travel meaning a FOX 40 which is a 8 inch fork is really a 7.5 the only true 8 inch fork is the DHF 8.5 thats what I also understood..
Which doesn't change the fact that 99.9% people feel very good with their "not true 8 inch forks". Don't really see the need for an extra 0.5'' of travel. Actually most people could probably could get with a 7'' (6.5'' in avy world).
 

time-bomb

Monkey
May 2, 2008
957
21
right here -> .
Acording to Craig the dual damper does help with twisting with a single damper you have a bigger chance of bottoming out which could lead to twisting of the fork with the dual damper less chance of bottoming out. Thats what I got out of the conversation.
That makes sense but I would imagine that would have to be one hell of a hit to bottom out the fork and twist the fork. If that happens you are going to need a new front wheel and shoulder surgery:D

I think the twisting is probably less of an issue than it is made out to be anyway. Think about how many Avy riders are out there and how many of them are complaining about this. Not many really. Chances are you won't have this problem unless you take a pretty good digger and hopefully that isn't happening very often.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
I think the twisting is probably less of an issue than it is made out to be anyway. Think about how many Avy riders are out there and how many of them are complaining about this. Not many really. Chances are you won't have this problem unless you take a pretty good digger and hopefully that isn't happening very often.
I really have to disagree here. I think there just aren't that many avy riders, and most of the ones that do exist huff craig's nuts too hard to complain about his products. There was one guy who got rid of his fork and rebadged his shock his experience was so bad...I forget who, JimM maybe?

Anyways...I've switched to a boxxer and being able to wreck and pick my bike up and ride is pretty awesome. The DHF has great damping and a smooth stroke but it ended up getting pretty annoying. There were a variety of reasons I switched (weight, trail, just trying something new) but the twisting was a legitimate concern.
 

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,740
470
I wonder how many riders with the twisting issues legitimately torqued down their crowns in the proper order, aligned the height of the fork legs properly, clamped the axle properly, and clamped everything to their correct torque specs. Any one or combo of those things can lead to twisting an inverted fork. And I will bet that not a single person complaining about the fork twisting would not be able to tell me EXACTLY how you do those 4 things on an inverted setup.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
Adjust the height of the tubes, finger tight the lower crown
install the wheel and axle, clamp in down on the brake side, leave other side loose, flip the bike back over
loosen lower bolts again and "shimmy" the fork back and forth to assure no binding, torque down lower crown bolts to spec
torque upper bolts to spec, torque steerer bolt
install stem, or tighten
tighten non-brake side axle bolts.

I can't tell you specific torques, but it didn't matter whether I had tons of torque or barely any, they still twisted. And if you put too much torque on them, you could feel the fork binding. Out on the trail, where the fork twists, you have to do it by feel, although it would be great if somebody made a pocket torque wrench with allen adapter. I'm pretty sure this is what it tells you in the manual.
 

Avy Rider

Monkey
Feb 26, 2003
287
0
Muskoka,Canada
I owned and rode an Avalanche DHF-8 fork for years doing some pretty brutal urban riding and the occasional DH run and never had any twisting issues. Never had any problems with the fork at all. Only sold it when I finally just wanted to lighten up my bike due to shoulder problems that made the heavier set up painful to bunny hop and manual etc.

I'm now rocking a 2007 Marzocchi 888 WC which is a sweet fork but it doesn't match my DHF-8 for quality of damping. You'll be able to buy Avalanche internals for my forks in the near future along with a number of other forks. That might be worth looking into for the weight conscious riders out there and who prefer non inverted designs.
 

bushrider

Monkey
Jul 4, 2006
146
0
NYC
I own a DHF8 single damper, DHF7 Single damper and a DHF8 with dual dampers with the triple pinch bolt lower crown.

Both single damper forks will twist most of the time If drop the bike or clip a tree. What causes the fork to twist is is not a harsh bottom out. More often its from the handlebars hitting a tree or the ground and twisting the forks steerer tube relative to the fork legs.

I have never twisted the fork in a non crash situtation.
I crash rarely maybe once every 3 or 4 days of downhill riding.
It takes a good 15mins to loosen all the bolts, straighten out the fork and torque all the bolts up again. Its a hassle and does honestly detract from the auesomeness of the fork. When I twist my avy I tell the other riders to catch me on the next run it takes that long.

The DHF 7.5 is a good choice if you can deal with spending 15mins or so straightening the fork after a crash. The fork needs almost no maintaince so, while you might need to straighten it a few times over the course of a season your not going to have to change the oil multiple times like you would with a 40 or boxxer.

The 7" positive travel on the DHF7.5 outperforms most 8 inch forks. At $1000 its the best fork for the money.

One feature/issue with the fork is that it has considerably more offset than other DH forks. This changes the handling of the bike making it more stable at high speed but gives it a tendency to tank slap at low speeds. This takes a little getting used too. IMHO the increased offset is an advantage for more expirienced riders who are practised falling into a turn rather than steering with the bars to make turn.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
everything i said is true
I agree entirely, great synopsis.

to redman, people say it's great because they spent so much money on it. Would you want to spend oodles of cash on a part and believe that it sucks? That's a lot of cash to be disappointed about...so people force themselves to believe something is the greatest. Most people I know of are not disappointed with Avy suspension...I loved my rear shock and the damping of the fork was spot on...

...but the chassis wasn't all that up to par. If Craig is indeed finally releasing dampers for other forks, I will buy one. I imagine a 40 with an avy damper would be extremely solid, and reasonably lightweight. A boxxer not too bad. I love the inverted design, but there are certain flaws that he just never fully addressed....like the offset. Definitely works for some people and riding styles, but if things get tight, oh my god does it get sloppy. I imagine that's helped mucho by the wider bars of today, but I had a lot of problems getting used to it. I wonder if the added trail was why my otherwise steep brooklyn felt very comfortable under most conditions?
 

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,740
470
First things first, get the bike in a stand, put in the fork legs without the wheel, then take the axle and slide it through the dropouts. Adjust the height of each fork leg NOT BY THE HEIGHT ABOVE THE CLAMPS, but by how smoothly the axle can spin in the dropouts. Once it can spin without catching, the forks are level, then tighten down the lower clamp accordingly to the right torque. Leave the upper clamps loose for now, or just finger tight.

Put in the wheel, tighten the pinch bolts on the opposite side of the axle nut, then tighten the axle nut, tighten the pinch bolts on that side, then loosen the pinch bolts on the opposite side. From here, either put the bike on the ground and hold the front brake while compressing the fork a few times, leave the bike on the stand and spin the front wheel and grab the front brake a few times, or take a small screwdriver and pry open the dropout and let it find its natural resting position side-to-side (these all effectively do the same thing). Then tighten down those pinch bolts.

Finally, take put the bike on the ground, grab the front brake, compress the front end a bunch, then tighten down the upper clamps correctly.

I have heard that blue loctite on the clamp bolts, particularly the lower ones can help resist the twisting issues.

Also in a pinch, you can just find the nearest tree or rock, and twist the front wheel against it to get you down the hill.
 

UiUiUiUi

Turbo Monkey
Feb 2, 2003
1,378
0
Berlin, Germany
haha maybe but you dont have to rebuild a boxxer like 3 times a day...

honestly i loved my first gen DHF8 back then, It is the best feeling fork ever the twisting sucked though and that's the reason why i am not getting another one, except maybe if i get around to build my own custom crowns...
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
Anybody know the spacing and diameter of fox 40 crowns? I almost wonder if they'll fit, or could with shims. I know the spacing on the avy is 6" between for tubes. I think I would buy a 7.5 if I could finagle a 0 offset crown that wouldn't twist...