Fishing for a dual-crown upgrade? Manitou may have just the thing, with its latest iteration of the cult classic Manitou Dorado. Although inverted forks are only on a small proportion of downhill and freeride bikes, the have a loyal rider following. The Dorado is exactly that, bringing inverted forks back into the game.

Read more: best mountain bike forks

Manitou Dorado need to know

• First new version of upside-down Dorado for a decade
• 180-203mm travel options
• 37mm stanchions (44mm outer legs)
• 110x20mm thru-axle
• Air or coil spring versions
• Prices: £1199 to £1699

Manitou is offering a broad selection of options with this new Dorado. The are both 27.5” and 29” wheel sizes, and a range of travel configurations, stepped at 180-, 190- and 203mm of suspension stroke. Home mechanics should be entirely comfortable and capable of adjusting the fork travel.

Ardent followers of the inverted fork idea, will be thrilled with Manitou’s latest release.

Smaller tubes – but stronger than before

RockShox and Fox both offer 40mm stanchions with their downhill forks, but the Dorado’s sliding chassis bits are only 37mm. Manitou tested tubes up to 41mm in diameter, but found that these larger stanchions generated too much mechanical friction, undoing the low-friction benefits of an inverted fork design.

The stanchions might be smaller than rival forks (even single-crown offerings such as RockShox ZEB or Fox 38), but Manitou’s engineers say the new Dorado 22% more torsionally rigid and 27% laterally stiffer, than the previous version.

Riders will also have a generous selection of offsets, ranging from 47mm for the 27.5” Dorado and 57mm for the larger 29er version.

Manitou is offering three derivatives of its new Dorado. The Comp uses a coil-spring and its entire structure is alloy, weighing in at 3565g. Adjustment tallies external low-speed compression and rebound, whilst Manitou is offering six different grades of coil springs.

If you prefer the feel and lower weight of an air-sprung downhill fork, there is the Dorado expert. It also features aluminum construction throughout, but thanks to the air-sprung internals, weight reduced to 3120g.

Pure nice that

There’s a carbon Manitou Dorado too

Manitou’s premium Dorado is the Pro, with its recognisable carbon-fibre uppers, dropping weight down to 2970g.

The company’s Infinite Rate Tune (IRT) system is integrated into the Dorado Pro’s air-sleeve, delivering very precise and adjustable air volume adjustment, promising great small-bump sensitivity without sacrificing mid-stroke support.

Both the air-sprung Dorado forks add high-speed compression adjustment.

All new Dorado forks are shipped with 203mm brake rotor compatibility, although adaptors will allow riders to mount 223mm rotors, if required. The front axle standard is 110x20mm and pricing starts at £1199.99 for the Comp, £1349.99 for an Expert and £1699.99 for the Pro.