French suspension specialist BOS arguably sets the benchmark for downhill and enduro control, but the firm has never produced a true cross-country fork before. Does the new Dizzy still BOS it (sorry) out on the trails?
At just over 1,550g with a cut steerer, our 32mm legged, 120mm (4.7in) travel, 650b wheel version is certainly light enough to line up alongside specialist race forks like the RockShox SID and Fox 32. It’s beautifully made too, with ultra-crisp machined adjusters and a smooth sliding, machined down 15mm cam axle with adjustable-angle receiver that give a ‘handmade for the love of it’ rather than mass produced feel.
Despite running at a much higher pressure than most air forks (around 1psi per pound of rider weight) the Dizzy is still standout smooth over even the smallest bumps. That gives incredible traction even at low speeds on climbs, where it’ll also suck up steps and other speed killers.
If you push it hard, it’s possibly a little eager to get through the first half of its travel in the fully open setting. Luckily there are three low-speed compression damping modes to choose from via a leg-top lever. We’ve spent most of our trail time in the middle ‘pedal platform’ setting, which is absolutely stunning in terms of consistent, super composed, “how the hell did it cope with that?” control.
Mounted to a burly short-travel Commencal Meta Trail, we’ve thrown it down the throat of root, rut and rock sections at entry speeds that’d be suicide on a lot of 140-150mm (5.5-5.9in) travel forks and it’s burst out of the far side on point, on line and totally in control.The ‘on line’ part is particularly surprising because – like most 32mm legged, sub 1,600g forks – there’s a noticeable amount of twist between bar and tread.
Even when you can actually feel it writhing around – rather than over – rocks, the Dizzy never chokes, stumbles or threatens to throw you off unless you back off, like most forks in its category would. The amount of traction and feedback from the front tyre even on the most ragged surfaces means it never struggles to hook into lines that seem ridiculously optimistic either.
Obviously things are going to get more twangy in the longer 140mm (5.5in) travel 650b or 120mm 29er formats, but even then the Dizzy still sets a new benchmark for maximum control at minimum weight. If you’re particularly fussy about your low-speed compression threshold feel, the middle setting can be adjusted via a grub screw under the three-way lever. Considering the level of workmanship and performance, it’s a fair price too.
