Our most affordable fork, the Magnum still beats the pants off the competition with coil/MCU internals, Magnesium casting, Microlube lube system, and disc mounts. For the budding enthusiast who won't sacrifice performance.
Submitted by
Hillary Corwin
a Downhiller
from Dallas, TX, USA
Date Reviewed: April 28, 2004
Strengths: Cheap, easy to maintain, good for beginners
Weaknesses: Very little travel, kinda heavy for what it is, obnoxious once you get past its comfort level
Bottom Line:
These are good forks for beginners. They were my first suspension fork and I got a lot of use out of them. They are pretty hard to mess up at entry-level riding, and will get the job done.
Once you hit their limitations, though, the problems with the fork just keep coming. You start to notice that the springs aren't burly enough to handle much air and you end up bottoming out a lot. Once you get more advanced, it's definitely time to upgrade. If you understand that, and still want this fork, by all means, it will do the weekender well. This was one of several forks that made me a die-hard Manitou/Answer fan. I will never buy another company's fork.
Purchased At: The Pedaler (R.I.P. -- I miss you guys)
Similar Products Used: Manitou: Dorado SC, DH; Sherman Firefly, Flick, Breakout Marzocchi: DJ1 Rock Shox: Judy
Bike Setup: Gack TrailMod, Manitou Dorado SC, Hadley 20mm front/SS rear hubs, Sun Mammoth Rims, IRC Kujo DH, Chris King NoThreadSet, Profile Pro Crankset, Profile XXL BMX Stem, Profile Imperial Chainring, Primo Super Tenderizer Pedals, Poverty Sofa Seat/Post, Magura HS-33 Brakes
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Submitted by
Dag
a Cross Country Rider
from Oslo, Norway
Date Reviewed: August 10, 2003
Strengths: Cheap, light, quite plush, no stiction
Weaknesses: Not stiff enough. Adjustments has little effect.
Bottom Line:
My first full suspension bike, have only ridden hard-tails with rigid forks. The main problem with this fork is lack of torsional stiffness. This was evident on my first day out with this bike. Since then I've been looking for a new fork. I mostly ride technical trails, and I want something that is predictable. It doesn't give me the confidence I expected from a suspension fork. Will probably replace it with something stiffer.
Weaknesses: Almost to smooth and bottoms out very easily, I did a small 3 foot drop and the fork completely bottomed out and the tire some how smashed up into the fork!
Bottom Line:
This fork is great for beginners. Its not heavy and I would recomend it for some one thats light weight. Im 150lbs and it bottoms out. And its cheap.
Bike Setup: Some upgrades; platform pedals, bike computer.
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Submitted by
Jeff
a Weekend Warrior
from Longmont, CO
Date Reviewed: May 22, 2003
Strengths: Good starter shock, better than most low end OEMs
Weaknesses: Not enough travel, "stiction" at the top of the stroke
Bottom Line:
A decent OEM 80mm shock. Good enough for most beginners. Not a lot of travel, if you find you're bottoming, upgrade or change springs. Pretty average shock for a mid-range bike.
Strengths: Very plush, really good for learning on, pretty smooth ride.
Weaknesses: They bottom out frekin! hard, i went off a 3-4 ft. drop and my arms went all numb, make a kinda weird noise.
Bottom Line:
They are pretty good for learning on, but when you start hitting the bigger stuff, your arms are gonna hurt, i can tell you that, if you are OK at biking, you won't want these shocks.
Submitted by
Mike
a Downhiller
from Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: March 30, 2003
Strengths: Light, has damping, adjustable damping, easy to clean, disc mounts.
Weaknesses: Stickers peel easy, not enough travel, bottom out to easy, not stiff enough.
Bottom Line:
If you're fairly new to the mountain bike scene and want forks without forking over a truck load of cash then these would be a good choice. Riding around town, or mild trails they'll work great.
The day I got my new bike they seemed ok. I set out to the jumps and bottomed them out first drop. Long story short, after not having enough to replace them due to saving for a 5Hun, they're so soft from abuse that just me leaning on them they bottom out, adjuster doesn't work, cornering and bumps can twist them enough to rub brakes.
Similar Products Used: Similar to this, hmm... Marzocchi EXR and MXC are a bit better though, few Roxshox, other Manitou forks.
Bike Setup: Trek for DJ'ing.
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Submitted by
Max
a Cross Country Rider
from Baltimore
Date Reviewed: February 23, 2003
Strengths: smooth
Weaknesses: caps blow off too much, not quite stiff enough, only single sided coil
Bottom Line:
was good for local riding, but take a 2 foot jump and its gone. if you just ride around town its fine, but dont consider doing anything tough. i just upgraded to a 03 rockshox duke xc uturn. its worth it.
Similar Products Used: 00 rockshox jett, 02 manitou spyder r
Bike Setup: 00 giant iguana se
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Submitted by
Brian C-S
a Cross Country Rider
from Franklin, NC, USA
Date Reviewed: December 13, 2002
Strengths: Its travel is the smoothest of any fork I've ever used. It's also not to complicated to clena the inside of fork. (sweet and simple)
Weaknesses: Almost too smooth. Not too stiff.
Bottom Line:
After about the first 6 months were plush and wonderfull, but later on the travel got so smooth that my front tire started rubbing the crown off of 2-3 foot drops. It's easy to take care of, so it's perfect for a begginner. And best of all, it won't take a chunk of chage to buy.
Bike Setup: Raleigh frame, LX components, Mutano raptor tires
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Submitted by
James W
a Cross Country Rider
from Kingston
Date Reviewed: December 7, 2002
Strengths: The strengths are fast single track and lots of roots.
Weaknesses: There is one weakness. It is the product doesn't absorb everything you would like it to if you are 100 pounds or lighter.
Bottom Line:
The bottom line is it is a very well rounded fork for someone who got there first good bke. So if I were you I would get this fork for your first good bike.
Strengths: Looks good, comfortable feel, does the job for recreational riders
Weaknesses: Compression button hard to turn
Bottom Line:
For anyone using its bike recreationally, putting value to comfort and not weighing more then 85kilos, this fork should do. For the hard work, a little to soft, but in hardest position good for road use.
Bike Setup: Came with the bike: Standard Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo 2001.
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Submitted by
Allen Weston
a Weekend Warrior
from Alamosa
Date Reviewed: September 19, 2002
Strengths: awesome travel for me, a 14 yr old obsessed rider, i like it, it came with the bike
Weaknesses: this last weekend mountain biking, i took on about a 2 ft dropoff, and the seals broke, leaving me with a leaking shock
Bottom Line:
i loved this shock, but it made me bad when the seals broke, considering that it isnt even an air shock, awesome shock for beginners and middle class riders, but definately not a very experienced riders fork, good for the money, but i dont think that they are made anymore, not sure though- but i like the manitou name and the rock shox name next to that- check them both out and compare before buying, you wont regret it! thanx- peace out!
Similar Products Used: um, none for me, uncle has fisher suger3+, friend has fisher marlin, both good rides
Bike Setup: specialized rockhopper, sigma sport computer, good tires, stock wheels, shimano deore front and rear derailleur, specialized body geometry seat, red and silver
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Submitted by
Justin
a Cross Country Rider
from Nashua
Date Reviewed: July 19, 2002
Strengths: decent travel, easy located micro lube, cheap, works well, and very dependeble for me so far, compression adjuster, looks cool
Weaknesses: no preload, compression button hard to turn
Bottom Line:
i love this fork, it is great for me and it is not the crappiest thing i own for once... it has a good amount of travel for me, but not much.. my cousin has a manitou black fork and he said this was an awsome fork.. that is pretty impressive to have a fork like this be compared to that... this is not the best fork, but it definately isnt the worst fork... for any beginners and intermediate riders, i reccomend this fork to you..... HAPPY TRAILS!!
Bike Setup: gary fisher tassajara manitou magnum shox, shimano deore deraileur, bontrager seatpost, san marco saddle,velociraptor tires, bontrager wheels
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Submitted by
Lou
a Cross Country Rider
from Portola Hills, Ca USA
Date Reviewed: April 30, 2002
Strengths: Price - at $50 who can complain?, yellow color is pretty nice, not overly heavy and plush. Very smooth ride for cross country. Doesn't mess up geometry and handles pretty well at fast speeds.
Weaknesses: Bottoms out very easily on 1+ foot drops, you can adjust them to a point, I ordered the stiffy kit (firm springs) from Manitou. Longevity remains to be seen.
Bottom Line:
Very plush and ample for cross country and recreational riding. You should get the firm spring/coil kit ($15-20) for this one if you're 175+ lbs rider like me. I basically use this on my thrasher/back-up bike. Not recommended for free-riding or racing.
Submitted by
Matt
a Weekend Warrior
from Wyckoff, NJ, USA
Date Reviewed: April 26, 2002
Strengths: It hasn't completely broke with me YET (feels like its going to)
Weaknesses: Bottoming out at will even when riding on a straight road. Bottoming out realll hard on 3ft. drops. Really bad sounding fork. Not recommended for people who ride bicycles at all!!! WORST FORK
Bottom Line:
Dont get this fork unless you are riding plain old street. If you ride trails get something with more travel. Recommended: Do Not Do Big Drops With Fork. It will fall apart!!!!!!!
Submitted by
robert smith
a Cross Country Rider
from new york
Date Reviewed: March 7, 2002
Strengths: did not cost much
Weaknesses: since it was so cheap,nothing
Bottom Line:
great fork for recreational riding,i use my trek mostly to get to and from work about4 miles .theres a 3/4 mile river trail on the way home i ride,nothing to technical fork works fine for that.bottom line if your a beginner, ride to get around or, do light trail riding this forks for you.DO NOT PAY MORE THAN $100 with shipping for this fork
Hi! I wonder if these famous springs on ebay are valid also for a [B]Manitou Magnum[/B].
[url]http://cgi.ebay.com/Dual-Linear-Springs-Answer-Manitou-3-4-hard-190lbs-up_W0QQitemZ Read More »
I've been looking around for a nice lightweight air shock to replace the '01 Manitou/Answer Magnum R on my Trek 6500. It's a 1-1/8" threadless, 80mm travel, 26" fork, v-brake boss Read More »
A friend has a Tomac Magnum 204 that he'd love to upgrade the rear shock. It has the vanilla on there now, can he put a newer DHX or RS coil on there? I'm about 400 miles away from Read More »
And I just got back from the shooting range where I also owned the 44-40 carbine :)
That old power supply of my damn PC don't give a **** anymore since S&W took care of it :D
C'm Read More »
So, as I have never once serviced the fork on my '02 Rockhopper myself and it's been 6 years since I've had it looked at (and probably longer since it's been apart fully), I though Read More »
