Doesn't stamped steel bend super easy, I know they have put ridges to stiffen it up, but still, it is no where near as durable as aluminum for this kind of application.

I think there is a misconception about why the Dorado is so expensive. Although the internals are really nice with the anodized finish and no unfinished pieces within the fork (for a good reason), the main expense difference between a Fox 40 and the Dorado Carbon is the actual carbon. As far as I have heard, the aluminum Dorado will be quite close in price to the Fox 40 and Boxxer WC, but with the super nice internals to boot. Plus, they didn't even mention that you get 4 free factory services from Manitou on the Dorado Carbon, over a 2 year period. They are really backing this product up. This fork is for the high end gucci racer guy. As for graphics, they are thick decals, if you don't like them, peel them off. It is a race fork, so they made it look like a race fork. It still looks a damn sight better looking than the stuff Marz put out the last couple of years.