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Submitted by
biker123
a Weekend Warrior
from toronto ontario
Date Reviewed: October 20, 2009 | | Favorite Trail: | trails with mud | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$200.00 | | Purchased At: | IBS | | Strengths: | lots of travel, plush, handles small bumbs well, handles big drops well, not that heavy, looks great,virtually no break in period. | | Weaknesses: | brake dive,bobs bit, a little to soft out of the box. | | Similar Products Used: | various marzocchi forks | | Bike Setup: | 05 hardrock pro, ditchwitch rims, manitou nixon, race face bars, avid bb5 brake(f/r). | | Bottom Line: | This fork is a little soft for my liking i am going to have to put different oil next tune up, if i push down on the fork i can get it to travel 3/4 of the way. yet when i hit a drop it has room to spare its crazy but i love this fork the travel is great lots of rebound. a nice all mountain fork. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jacob
a Weekend Warrior
from Nevada
Date Reviewed: April 27, 2008 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$210.00 | | Purchased At: | pricepoint | | Strengths: | very soft, nice adjustments, good amount of travel, low riding hight, bottom out bumper, internal lubrication system, looks awesome | | Weaknesses: | stock spring maybe a little too soft for my liking, RTWD knob looks and feels cheap, bottom out bumper can kinda get annoying because it limits your travel by about 10 mm | | Similar Products Used: | manitou splice, rockshox dart, RST forks | | Bike Setup: | 2006 iron horse warrior, juicy 5, fox vanilla R, kenda nevengal, sram x-7 drivetrain, wtb FR rims | | Bottom Line: | This is a great all mountain fork. This is NOT a fork for jumping off cliffs, competetive downhilling, and all day uphill climbs, some people get this mistaken for all mountain riding. Most people hate manitou for their bad rep. But this fork is amazing. 145mm means its great for aggressive trail use. Its very soft and it will absorb anything u encounter. The adjustments are also very tunable. The compression damper works very well, but you wont feel anything when your simple jumping on it. two or three clicks really makes a difference on the trail. The rebound knob at the bottom looks like its barly holding on, but it hasnt fallen off. It works. could be a bit slower at its slowest setting and i wish it was mroe like the compression adjustment where it has clicks. this one is just a simple knob. The RTWD travel adjustment is another nice feature. Even though it only lowers the travel by about an inch, it really helps in thoes hard climbs, yet there is still some bobbing.
I upgraded from 130mm to this fork at 145mm and it didnt effect my bike geomertry at all, still the same hight as all thoes other 130mm.
The other nice feature is the internal lubrication system. Keeps the fork smooth.
The internal cartrige, TPC+ is incredible, mainly on some harsh downhills. It has independant rebound and compresion pistons and another damper to adjust both these pistons according to the forks travel. This eliminates all spikes which is very nice
Over all, this fork is one of the best perfoeming trail and all moutnain forks at a bargain price. you cant go wrong for $210. Buy it if you love long rides, aggressive trails, and fast downhills. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
mark
a Weekend Warrior
from littlborough, manchester, england
Date Reviewed: March 20, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | mbr or red bull @ coed y brenin | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | looks burly for such a light fork. plush as hell, different travel options | | Weaknesses: | needs more maintainance than some other forks | | Similar Products Used: | marzzochi shiver sc, marzzochi z150, marzzochi jnr t. | | Bike Setup: | azonic propulsion tipping the scale around 34lb. | | Bottom Line: | after using the bomb proof marzzochi for over ten years i had reservations about manitou, i needent have been, these forks are so supple, especially in the 135 and 145 travel settings. im twelve stone and there bang on for me. even at 145mm the fork tracks amazingly well concidering the last four forks ive had have been 20mm bolt through.
these forks came on a second hand bike i bought to tide me over until the sales started. ive kept the fork because it really is that good it doesn't justify spending £600 on a new pair.
ive only give them 4 chillies overall because i service them more than the marzzochi due to the manitou reputation. that said they haven't broken yet. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Thom
a Cross Country Rider
from Kirkland, WA, USA
Date Reviewed: May 10, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | Parasite | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | warranty replacement | | Strengths: | holds front wheel
Good for 160 pound rider- MAX | | Weaknesses: | Bobs
dives
designed for 160 pound rider
Plastic nut strips
lifespan less than 6 rides | | Similar Products Used: | Manitou Minute 1 | | Bike Setup: | Ellsworth Epiphany | | Bottom Line: | This should be sold in Walmart with its level of quality.
PLASTIC nut for tuning spring and maintenance came factory rounded and is totally inaccessible. Even the special sockets won't break it loose. Initial spring is way too soft for 195 pound rider. Blew its oil after only a couple of rides. Can't be fixed because plastic nut is rounded off, and due to Hayes buyout, parts and replacement forks are not available from Manitou and they are letting go their one good Customer Service person.
Lousy fork anyway....Bobs more than a $20 hooker, brake dives bad enough to be a hazard and the envy of a WWF wrestler. Bad stiction. Adjustments do little to nothing. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ali
a Weekend Warrior
from Near Brighton, West Sussex, UK
Date Reviewed: November 26, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | JensonUSA.com | | Strengths: | #very stiff
#20mm no tools axel very good and easy to use
#travel adjust works very well
#very very good range of suspension
#PRICE!!!!!
#rebound adjust works very well
#keeps ride ride much lower then any 6inch front fork
#LOOKS GREAT | | Weaknesses: | #when standing up pedaling can be too soft with pedal bop
#the blue toggle on the bottom of mine fell off on my 1st ride(on the road!!)
#almost impossible to change ride hight while moving | | Similar Products Used: | Drop offs | | Bike Setup: | GT idrive 5 | | Bottom Line: | very very good forks for any type of riding tho the spring rate can be a bit too soft. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tyler
a Weekend Warrior
from Phoenix, Arizona
Date Reviewed: November 12, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | National | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$248.00 | | Purchased At: | Price Point | | Strengths: | Really plush, nice and stiff, a ton of travel. Not to mention the price from Price Point. | | Weaknesses: | The travel adjustment feature. It works, but it is pointless, since it only adjusts about an inch. | | Similar Products Used: | a Manitou Axel, other crap forks | | Bike Setup: | Motiv frame (cheap but light), discs front and rear, Rhyno Lite wheels, LX-Deore components | | Bottom Line: | This fork has worked out really well for me... the increased travel (from 80mm) has led to the bike being much more capable. A lot of lighter people (I am 215) have complained about the supposed overly softness of the Nixon spring, but for just "riding the trail", it seems just about perfect for me, a good balance of travel, plushness, and dampning. Although the height of the fork changed the geometry of my bike a tad, it hasn't hurt the bike- since it was a hassle to climb with before. It is also relatively light-weight being ~4.5 lbs, and was a great deal for 248.95 from Pricepoint. Looking back, I can't believe I didn't make the jump to a longer travel fork for so long, it is a complete world of difference. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Erik Kellison
a Weekend Warrior
from Bellingham, WA, US
Date Reviewed: October 30, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | Many... | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | JensonUSA | | Strengths: | Lightweight
Great TPC+ Damping
No tools 20mm axle
Plush out of the box, virtually no break in period
Affordable
RTWD system does not require a shock pump to adjust
Low stack height
Ano Al knobs are easy to turn
Adjustments make a noticeable difference
Rubber bottom out bumpers to prevent harsh bottoming | | Weaknesses: | Bumpers lower travel to 137mm
Stock spring is too light for my 185lbs
No tools 20mm axle loosens itself just slightly despite Manitou's recommended help to prevent this, and play in your front wheel is kinda scary, even when it's minimal
RTWD knob is difficult to turn back out
Manitou will not deal with consumers directly | | Similar Products Used: | 2002 Marzocchi Z1 Freeride
'03 Dorado, '06 888RC2X, '03 Super T | | Bike Setup: | 6" Helius FR, built light and durable for trail riding, not XC, not FR, somewhere in between. I weigh 185ish. | | Bottom Line: | I am reviewing the '06 Nixon Elite, and I have had it on 12 rides so far, probably 35 hours of riding.
I heard that the '05 sucked, but that they fixed the problems, and I am now convinced that they really did.
None of the problems I have read about, such as not getting full travel, adjustments not working, damping being of poor quality, etc. do not apply to the 2006 model. This thing is very similar to my Dorado, which also had TPC+ damping (the '05 Nixon's had plain old TPC), and they feel very similar. The compression adjustment doesn't do much when you're just jumping on the fork, but it makes a difference when you're riding. I have the knob somewhere in the middle, as well as the rebound. All in, the fork is difficult to move past half travel, and the rebound, the fork pretty much stays down (though it's not meant to be a lockout). All out rebound, the fork is a pogo stick. The adjustments work! As for travel, I get all 145mm - I measured, but only on a harsh bottom. Effective travel is limited to 137mm due to the bumper.
This fork is about a pound lighter than the Marzocchi Z1 Light that I was considering, and at what I paid, well less than half the price. Ridiculous! How can you go wrong? I am thinking that the fork may need a stiffer spring in one leg, but that's because I'm fat, and no fault of the manufacturer.
The small bump performance and sensitivity is amazing.
I really can't imagine a better 6" single crown. Well, I guess it bobs on the climbs, but I don't care at all. Dialing the travel down to 115m for technical climbs makes a huge difference, at least on my bike. Even withou RTWD, one doesn't lose much efficiency if the fork bobs, as longs as one stays seated while pedaling (it's the rear that matters for efficiency). I like the fact that the fork's sensitivity to small things such as roots and rocks on the way up allow it to roll perfectly without wandering or bouncing.
This fork is money. Buy it. I can't believe they still have them in stock at JensonUSA for $250 a pop. Ridiculous.
Oh, you should buy this fork if you like trail riding, all mountain riding, XC riding or light freeriding (no hucks over 10'). You should not buy this fork if you're a huckmaster, a hardcore DH'er, or a weight weenie XC'er who's gonna gripe about the fact that the plush travel allows the fork to bob a little. I say screw platform damping, it's what gave Manitou's (SPV) such a bad rep anyway! I give it a 4.6 or so, which gets rounded up to 5. It seems that people on MTBR only know two scores, 1: if you have any problem whatsoever, and 5: if you don't have any current problems. I would give it a 4, but I can't fault them for stock spring weight, and the axle thing may be a fluke. All in all, incredible. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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