Sneak Peek: First Glimpse of DVO's Suspension Fork 5

What have we here?! This photo, originally posted to DVO Suspension's Facebook page, tells us a few things about what the new company is cooking up for their big 2013 release. Who is DVO? Catch up to speed with this release, then come back.

The image shows a dropout made using the 3D printer in the background. Companies often use these types of printers to make rapid prototypes. The process saves both time and money. What's particularly interesting about the dropout is not how it was made, though, it's that it's for an inverted fork.

Bicycling Magazine recently interviewed Bryson Martin, the former Marzocchi exec who is the brains behind DVO, about what's in store for 2013. Based on that article and a chat we had with the DVO crew at Eurobike, here's what we know:

• DVO's first two products will be an inverted downhill fork with 203mm of travel and a downhill specific rear shock.
• Both the fork and rear shock will share similar damping systems.
• The fork will be for use with both 26 and 27.5-inch wheels.
• They'll offer different pistons and different shim-stack configurations for riders looking for a custom tune, and the forks will be easy to tune both internally and externally.
• The cost of the fork may be up to $1500, which is in line with where the brand has said they want to position themselves (the top).
• SR Suntour will be manufacturing DVO's products.
• DVO is currently awaiting patent approval, and will be field testing this November.
• We can expect to see finished products no later than the middle of 2013.

It'll certainly be interesting to see if DVO can pull off an inverted fork capable of keeping up with the competition (or exceeding it, since that's their goal).X-Fusion is playing around with the inverted idea, too, and both companies will have to overcome torsional stiffness concerns. Forks of this style have less unsprung weight and require less tooling to make, both of which are wins for everyone involved.

Are you excited to see what DVO comes up with? We certainly are.

Update: DVO's website looks like it will launch just two days from now. Maybe we'll get a closer look at that time...