Strengths: VERY stable fork, barely any stanchion play at all. Fork is very smooth, and takes anything you want it to! The fork is much lighter then the marzocchi Z1 series, but not quite as light as the rockshox Pilot. I love this forks adjustment, especially the rebound adjustment!
Weaknesses: Could use a little more travel, and bigger stanchions. Otherwise nothing wrong with it!
Bottom Line:
Great fork, smooth, absorbes almost anything, nice looking fork, better then the manitou six! This fork is good for someone from maybe 90lbs. to 145, otherwise it might ride a little low for someone heavier. Then again, it is an air fork, so it is extremely adjustable. Fork is really light, and extremely adjustable.
Similar Products Used: Manitou Scareb, Marzzocchi Z1 Dropoff, Rockshox Pilot, Manitou Six, Manitou Black
Bike Setup: Manitou Mars front suspension, K2 hardtail frame, Single Digit Seven V-Brakes, Race Face cranks, Race Face stem, Race Face risers, LX rear Deraileur, XT front Deraileur, Race Face seat post, LX shifters,
Strengths: VERY stable fork, barely any stanchion play at all. Fork is very smooth, and takes anything you want it to! The fork is much lighter then the marzocchi Z1 series, but not quite as light as the rockshox Pilot. I love this forks adjustment, especially the rebound adjustment!
Weaknesses: Could use a little more travel, and bigger stanchions. Otherwise nothing wrong with it!
Bottom Line:
Great fork, smooth, absorbes almost anything, nice looking fork, better then the manitou six! This fork is good for someone from maybe 90lbs. to 145, otherwise it might ride a little low for someone heavier. Then again, it is an air fork, so it is extremely adjustable. Fork is really light, and extremely adjustable.
Similar Products Used: Manitou Scareb, Marzzocchi Z1 Dropoff, Rockshox Pilot, Manitou Six, Manitou Black
Bike Setup: Manitou Mars front suspension, K2 hardtail frame, Single Digit Seven V-Brakes, Race Face cranks, Race Face stem, Race Face risers, LX rear Deraileur, XT front Deraileur, Race Face seat post, LX shifters,
Strengths: VERY stable fork, barely any stanchion play at all. Fork is very smooth, and takes anything you want it to! The fork is much lighter then the marzocchi Z1 series, but not quite as light as the rockshox Pilot. I love this forks adjustment, especially the rebound adjustment!
Weaknesses: Could use a little more travel, and bigger stanchions. Otherwise nothing wrong with it!
Bottom Line:
Great fork, smooth, absorbes almost anything, nice looking fork, better then the manitou six! This fork is good for someone from maybe 90lbs. to 145, otherwise it might ride a little low for someone heavier. Then again, it is an air fork, so it is extremely adjustable. Fork is really light, and extremely adjustable.
Similar Products Used: Manitou Scareb, Marzzocchi Z1 Dropoff, Rockshox Pilot, Manitou Six, Manitou Black
Bike Setup: Manitou Mars front suspension, K2 hardtail frame, Single Digit Seven V-Brakes, Race Face cranks, Race Face stem, Race Face risers, LX rear Deraileur, XT front Deraileur, Race Face seat post, LX shifters,
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Russ Gartner
a Downhiller
from durango, CO, USA
Date Reviewed: March 9, 2004
Weaknesses: Adjustment is either full on hard or fully soft. It even seems hard to tell the difference between hard and soft on it.
Bottom Line:
As stated above the adjustments might as well not be there. I have rode this shock hard for about 4 years now and have come to the realization that it was well worth the money. PS if you buy or acquire a used one they are relatively easily serviced. Happy trails to you!
Submitted by
Jeff
a Weekend Warrior
from Snoqualmie, WA
Date Reviewed: May 30, 2003
Strengths: Light weight, low cost, very plush, and easy to adjust.
Weaknesses: Stock spring is for lightweigths, not 200 pound riders like me.
Bottom Line:
I bought these as aftermarket replacements for the original forks on both my bikes. The deciding factor for me was the low price and the low weight of these fine forks. I've been riding them for 2 years and have not had any problems with blown seals or air leakage. I did have a problem with air pressure building up in the damping leg of one fork, but it doesn't seem to affect overall performance.
I've used them primarily for cross-country and the occasional (about once per season) gnarly downhill ride. They've worked great every time with no breakdowns! Just keep the oil fresh and juice up the grease ports every other ride to keep them running smooth.
The only drawback was the stock springs being selected for 145-pound riders! Are Manitou's customers all still in the 8th grade? We have an obesity epidemic in this country and Manitou needs to select it's stock springs accordingly!
Anyway, the new springs were fairly easy to install because the forks are super simple inside. The plastic internal pieces kind of worried me at first, but they seem to hold up alright. Trying to make up for the light springs by boosting air pressure doesn't work. The initial sag will still be too high and you will blow a gasket on the air chamber.
I'll give Manitou their props on customer service. I've found the best way to get an answer from them is to e-mail them your question. I've always gotten a detailed response within a few days.
I Like these shocks except for the fact I cant keep air in the suckers for mor than a 5 min ride on the street if i bounce at all BOOM all the airs gone. I took them apart to fix the seal. got it fixed w/ a 3.00 part from my LBS. one month later No air again It really sucks when you hit up your fav trail and 5min into it you have to stop to pumpit up again it will go down from 168psi to 13psi and then your face is in the dirt it blows I wish I could fix them some way cause I really like the butterysoft plushness of them But after the spiders and the marz I will never own anout manitou product again bummer for manitou
Weaknesses: I had a problem from the beginning, leaking! My local bike shop ordered some new parts and installed them for me. It took care of the problem.
Bottom Line:
For the price and weight they are worth it. As long as they don't start to leaking again. It's been over a year and a half and they are doing the job. So cool they are good.
Submitted by
Ken Robb
a Cross Country Rider
from La Jolla, CA.
Date Reviewed: October 14, 2002
Strengths: easy to adjust,easy to replace spring to tune ride,easy to lube w/microport greasegun.Came w/spring for rider 130-175lbs. It was OK for my 210lbs but I was running lots of air pressure to prevent bottoming. Tech service told me I was lucky not to have blown the seals at 250psi. I replaced the spring easily myself with one designed for 175-230lbs. riders. Now I get a plush ride and no bottoming at 170psi. I guess that many of the failures to hold air were caused by riders using too much air pressure instead of replacing the spring. I had to have LBS order it but it arrived in 4 days.
Bottom Line:
It's light,plush,easy to adjust and service. Plenty strong for my X-C riding.
Bike Setup: completly rebuilt specialized hardrock
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
DeReave
a Cross Country Rider
from Oregon
Date Reviewed: May 5, 2002
Strengths: Light, Cheap, Manitou custumer sevice
Weaknesses: Flexy, sized up
Bottom Line:
It worked good, then it stopped. That was a bummer at first but then I got a call from the LBS, Manitou sent me a bran-new 02' Elite completely FREE! Buy Manitou and they will take care of you
Strengths: Light one-piece lowers are stiff, even with disks easy to adjust microlube ports lockout good customer service
Weaknesses: not very plush - it's a race fork postmounts for disk
Bottom Line:
I picked this up in the late fall of 2000, and did't get to ride it much before winter hit. Then Answer had some issues with the steerer assembly, and their fix (an alloy piece to reinforce the steerer/crown junction) didn't fit my fork, so off to Answer it went. A few weeks later, I got back my lowers with new uppers, and for some reason, they threw in a lockout and boots (thanks, guys). Well, for this terrain, I wouldn't have paid for lockout, but now that I have it, I'll use it on foreroad climbs, and it does make a difference. One complaint is the postmount for disks. I put on a Magura Clara, and could never get the rotor centered. With the postmounts, you can't shim the caliper, so I ended up shimming the hub. I've since gone back to V's, so it's not that big a deal, but was frustrating. I really prefer the I.S. system, and hopefully it becomes a true standard at some point. I weigh 140, and haven't felt any flex bombing through rock gardens and over logs. Be warned, though, this is a racing fork, and has never been particularly plush, even at 90 psi (recommended is 100 +- 5). That's okay, but with the lockout, I'd like to get it a little cushier. Still a great fork, and the newer models keep getting better.
Strengths: Light, smooth, cheap, air spring is easily adjustable
Weaknesses: Air chamber leaks after 4 months. Jenson has TERRIBLE cusotomer service! Its only XC stiff.
Bottom Line:
The fork worked great out of the box, started to leak air after a few months. Called JensonUSA they told me to call manitou, they are only concearned in healping if its under 90 days. Manitou fixed the problem in under 2 weeks (January) but would not let me send the fork in myself, i had to take it to my LBS, DUMB RULE! Over all the for works pretty good. The spring is air and MCU. The air is easy enough to adjust but the MCU, top part of the travel must be replace if you dont like the way it feels, i have just dealt with it. Seems to hold stiffnes well enough (im a clydesdale with disc brakes). The oil side doesn't have much in the way of adjustment which is probably why I don't care that it also leaks oil.
In my relatively worthless opinion forks are disposable if you race or ride hard. This fork was cheap and it works fine barring the production problems that mine has suffered. I would only by something from Jenson if you know you won't have any problems with it and it is the lowest price around. Manitou could have been cooler but they took care of it.
Overall deductions for my internal problems but still a good value.
Similar Products Used: sid xc, judy stuff, other mars
Bike Setup: hayes disc, may contribute to early bushing slop?
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Paul Palmer
a Cross Country Rider
from High Peak, UK
Date Reviewed: February 13, 2002
Strengths: Light weight, easy to service.
Weaknesses: Poor responce, don't hold air pressure, fork seal don't keep out water, damping oil becomes mayonnaise very quickly, spring supplied too weak so forks bottom out too easily.
Bottom Line:
These fork are standard equipment on the Rift Zone which makes life difficult. If I had purchased them seperately I would be getting my money back. They are totally unsuitable for the purpose of XC mountain biking. There is clearly a design fault with the air and oil seal design. The reviews here highlight the air seal problem, the wet weather in the UK perhaps exaggerate the oil seal problem. Needless to say they are on the way back to the manufactures.
Submitted by
Hank
a Cross Country Rider
from Tucson, AZ
Date Reviewed: January 27, 2002
Strengths: Light, user friendly
Weaknesses: Weak spring - Manitou should stock with mid-range spring, not the lightest they have
Bottom Line:
I really like this shock - it's light (I felt like I had to lower my tire pressure to improve grip on loose soil), and I've found the shock (and instructions) to be user-friendly. Rides nicely over all terrain - though at 180#, I find that I need to use a higher pressure than suggested... in checking with Manitou, I found that this is because they ship their shocks with the lightest spring (<120# rating)... come on folks... look at the average of sales - I'd bet most riders *don't* weigh <120#... just a cop out to get us to buy the heavier spring, huh? Well, it's worked - I've put my order in. This aspect alone drops the overall by a couple of chilis... otherwise, I'd rate a "5" on both aspects. Once I install the beefier spring, this will be a shock that I'll stick with for a long while.
Submitted by
Mark Westwood
a Cross Country Rider
from The USA
Date Reviewed: December 1, 2001
Strengths: Light, air, plush.
Weaknesses: None, i am only 120 pounds so stiffness is not an issue.
Bottom Line:
It seems like the poeple who did not like the fork bought the fork aftermarket and when they got the fork it was not working. In other words, everyone who liked the fork had a working fork, everyone who hated the fork, recived it dead on arival. I got stock on my bike, and i could not ask for a better xc fork. Its super light (3lb!!), tuneable, and for my weight its stiff. So if you can get one that works out of the box, do so.
has anyone out there replaced the spring in their mars for a stiffer version?
the reason i ask is because i just cant seem to get my mars stiff enough by adding more air. once i Read More »
Can I remove the shock boots on my 01 Manitou shock?
Also do I need to lube it since it is an air shock?
[url]http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Front_Shock/product_78186.shtml[/url Read More »
