Devilles fitted and ridden today. First off I should say that the Surrey Hills are not the sternest test of a set of forks, especially in Winter. However, after a 3hr ride I got a good sense of their character. First off they feel pretty plush out of the box, but then these days so do most forks. Out on the trail, at slow speed there is nothing special to comment on – its not coil-plush, but nothing to complain about. Once the speed picks up however, I started to feel the damping was providing just that bit more control than the Fox Float 36’s these replaced. Difficult to be precise on what it was, but over downhill sections of roots I seemed to focus less on the roots but more on picking the turn-in points on the corners, leaving the fork to cope with the roots and me to focus on the lines.
Stiffness-wise, they look slimmer than the 36’s, but out on the trail I didn’t notice any lack of stiffness.
Weight-wise, with steerer at same lengths, the BOS is 150g lighter than the 36’s (2010 model).
I didn’t tinker with any settings today, with the factory ones seeming to do the job. I would note though that the rebound adjust is very fine, with not a huge difference end-to-end of the adjuster knob.
All-in-all, taking into account slightly lower weight, the new pricing point, and the better control, I reckon these forks are better than the Fox Floats – not by a massive amount but noticeable, and deserve to sell well.