Submitted by
Laefer
a Cross Country Rider
from Orillia, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: November 19, 2004
Strengths: good durability, really good adjustment and is light (2.8lbs)
Weaknesses: the adjuster knobs break easily and are very sticky promoting the breaking. bottomn nut for dampening strips easily
Bottom Line:
Great shock, the adjuster knobs need to be beefed up but a good for for the XC ridder who likes the feel of a plush fork. It is very light for a spring oil elastamer fork. Great if you can one. Not very good for heavy riders (140+) or big riders (over 5' 11"). To bad Manitou does not make it any more.
Similar Products Used: Manitou SX 100mm '01, Juddy TT, Rock shox sid sl, Manitou X-vert
Bike Setup: oryx equipe 1500, XT, truactive isis, Sram 9, Mavi 517
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Submitted by
Jim Turner
a Cross Country Rider
from Dallas
Date Reviewed: May 5, 2004
Strengths: Light wieght and durable
Weaknesses: no disc tabs
Bottom Line:
This has been a great fork for over 4 years of hard core pounding on some of the most technical terrain in the country. It is not a plush as several newer models, but what a great light wieght fork
Bike Setup: Adroit Pro/XTR/King/Mavic/Easton - 21.5 lbs
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Submitted by
bikerx40
a Cross Country Rider
from Boise, ID
Date Reviewed: February 2, 2003
Strengths: Lightweight, external compression and rebound damping, Micro-Lube, stiffness.
Weaknesses: Not very plush. Took a long time to break-in initally, leaks a little bit of oil at the bottom where the rebound adjuster is. Possibly the long-term longevity.
Bottom Line:
I've been using this fork since it came out in 1999 and I haven't had a problems like others have described (knock on wood anyway...). I love the fork's light weight and adjustablity. However, the fork had never been very plush. Low amplitude bumps and big hits both seem to overwhelm the primitive elasomer/spring stack combo. I've tried nearly every possible damping setup and it never seems to improve. I think that 63mm of travel just isn't enough. I've always been impressed with Marzocchi forks, so I think that's going to be my next investment!
Just giving evidence the third time now, see below. The SX Carbon is still going strong under my 220 lbs of weight. It has never seen any downhill stuff, but apart from that anything else. It is still THE perfect race XC fork: it is NOT super soft, but the control, thanks to the perfect dampening, is simply optimal. I had a Marzocchi Atom 80 '00 in the bike, intermittently: the one and only fork, that has a still better function: control is equal to that of the SX, but is is plush at the same time. The Marzoc is heavier, though, so it is not as racy as the SX. Forget RS, if you are beyond 160 lbs. As for the quality problems: no ones here. I don't know, whats wrong with those that broke. I used it with brake boosters only. Perhaps the thing does not tolerate the rotational forces between arch and stanchions without boosters. Or they used a bit less glue with some other forks. I didn't want to give any rating this time, because I don't want to bribe the average, but the review was rejected without. I still think it five chilies for the purpose it was made for: xc racing.
Submitted by
Will
a Weekend Warrior
from Washington, DC
Date Reviewed: July 30, 2001
Strengths: light, really light coming in at 2.6lbs.
Weaknesses: really flexible. Creaking and whooshing sounds coming from crown. Carbon Arch does not instill confidence. Way too flexible. Also, leaks oil from under fork boots and bottom of fork.
Bottom Line:
This fork, like other Answer products was rushed to market to compete with RockShox. It really should have been recalled a month after it was released. The fork, I'll admit is very light, but it is way too flexible. Stand up and hammer on this fork and the creaking starts almost immediately. I've taken this fork apart more times than I can keep track. Oil leaks from under the boots and the cap on the bottom of the left leg. (I didn't want to mention the cap because most days it just falls off on the trail.)
After all this I'm completely soured on AnswerProducts. Customer service, if one could call it that, acts like they don't need customers. Keep it up Answer; you lost me.
Submitted by
Steve
a Cross Country Rider
from Southbridge, MA
Date Reviewed: July 18, 2001
Strengths: Weight and ability to take massive abuse
Weaknesses: 73mm travel and the adjustment knobs tend to lock up.
Bottom Line:
I just bought this off of a little ole lady who only rode it on Sundays. It didn't have a scratch on it. It is an excellent shock if you can find one for less than $200. What other way are you going to drop a pound of weight for that price? Even if you are not a weight weenie, this shock is top shelf. It takes major abuse from me on a daily basis. 2.8lbs for a mean shock is unheard of! I'll give 5 flamins for value and 4 for overall due to the short travel and issues that I have had with the adjustment knobs.
Weaknesses: The arch has loosened from the right leg! i.e bad quality.
Bottom Line:
I been upgrading this bike for a couple of years and my old fork gave up so Klein sent me this one with the lock-out kit for $300 installed (thanks Klein). SInce the adroit has a special head tube it's not just to switch forks. It has to be pressed in plane and the steerer tube is modified. At the first race I was surprised over the difference. It's not a comfort fork but it does it's job well. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that my front wheel seemed to be tilted in the fork. Upon further inspection my fears were confirmed. The arch has come loose from the right fork leg. Even if Manitou will take a warranty claim it's not just for them to send me a new fork since it has to be sent from Klein. I have no idea how this will end (going to a Klein dealer tomorrow) but there won't be any biking for the next couple of weeks.
Although it brake I liked the fork. It's pure racing, just like I want it.
Bike Setup: Klein Adroit, XTR, Avid 7.0 + levers. Hope/517 fr. XTR/517 rear. Race Face etc.
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Submitted by
Gregor
a Cross Country Rider
from Idaho, USA
Date Reviewed: June 25, 2001
Strengths: light, hard, loves big hits
Weaknesses: flexy, broken
Bottom Line:
cracked the brake arch in the 24 hrs of snowshoe. Purchased this thing almost 1 year ago to the day (but not quite). Loved the ride, till it broke. I wouldn't recommend this fork to anyone for the simple reason of poor quality control. I knew about these issues, but took a gamble anyway and am now paying the price. On to the warranty game! I'll keep you posted. (My rating does not reflect any of the hassle yet to come with the warranty issue.)
Bike Setup: Kelin Adroit Pro w/ XTR, Bontrager post & bar, Avid brakes, Sun rims & IRC Mythos XC
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Submitted by
XC Frwak
a Cross Country Rider
from UK
Date Reviewed: May 21, 2001
Strengths: Nice and bouncy
Weaknesses: bit ard at the lower end but i am only 14
Bottom Line:
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm nice, yeah a great fork but i think that they could ave a bit m ore adjustment on em but v.light and i think that they ought to b in carbon fiber crisscross like pace
Bike Setup: gary fisher sugar 3 frame xt everything rolf 8 spokes everything else titanium thats possible
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Submitted by
Andreas Klauser
a Cross Country Rider
from Munich
Date Reviewed: March 14, 2001
Strengths: Good Performance, simple maintainance, low weight.
Weaknesses: Not as stiff as it might be
Bottom Line:
I 've used it another year now (see review below), and it still performes flawlessly, though being in use with a real hefty rider. Stiffness is still not top, but else it is one of the best CC-forks for hard-tails. Especially the dampening is definitly super and equal to the Marzocchi Atom 80 which I use in another bike of mine. So one in all, I still think it the best light CC-race fork I 've used. The Marzocchi is more active with the small bumps and vibrations, but there are a good 400g more weight on the front end of the bike. I 've put the Atom 80 in the Trek frame just for fun once, and you feel the extra weight. The one who wants a comfortable ride chooses a Marzocchi, the one wants a swift biks chooses the Manitou.
Strengths: This fork lookes bomb-digity. So far it has been very reliable. I love the action of the titanium spring verses the sometimes problematic nature of an air sprung fork. This fork performs very well on the trail if you own a cross country hard tail. I also have a Marozocchi bomber on my full suspension neither one is better than the other. They are totally differant forks for differant applications.
Weaknesses: Manitou's waranty dept. sucks. I also am pretty pissed that it is a 99' fork and they already stopped making parts for it like, steer tube assemblies and such and such and so and so. The freaking price, I totally know were the money went ;like carbon bams, carbon steer tube inserts, titanium springs. But Manitou if you are going charge this much for a product back it up with a waranty.
Bottom Line:
This fork performs awesome it has better action on my cross country bike than my Marozocchi. The fork is just a little expensive for what you get. For the price of this fork it should weigh like 2lbs. But I would take over most sids.
Bike Setup: scwinn homegrown factory with full XTR, crossmax wheels,chris king head set, easton EA-70 stem with carbon handle bar and seatpost.
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Submitted by
Dan M
a Cross Country Rider
from Bristol
Date Reviewed: October 18, 2000
Strengths: Smooth travel, very adjustable, low mantainance, extreamly dependable now (read on)
Weaknesses: First two were junk. Seized while on a winter ride. It took manitoue @6 weeks to get it fixed and returned to me. The carbon arch broke @3 weeks after getting it back and another 5 weeks to get it back. Then I recieved a new 'in the box' fork from the factory, built up for my wieght. It has been fantastic since last fall and continues to be very reliable.
Bottom Line:
If you get a good one its the bomb. Manitou's quality controll sucks. Although I love my fork to pieces now, I'll be riding a Marzocchi on my next rig.
Bike Setup: The fork was originally on a M4 hardtail, now it lives on a FSR xc.
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Submitted by
C E
a Cross Country Rider
from Norwell, MA USA
Date Reviewed: September 26, 2000
Strengths: light
Weaknesses: poorly made
Bottom Line:
I've had this fork for just over a year. I split my time between my road bike and mountain so it hasn't seen a whole lot of action. Problems, problems, problems. Oil leaking from under the left boot (I've slowed it down by taking the entire fork apart). Oil leaking from the bottom of the left leg (also slowed that down a bit). Answer support has been NO help whatsoever. Very poor customer support.
Now, to add insult to injury, my fork just started creaking like mad. I can't tell exactly where it's coming from, the Carbon arch, or where the legs go into the crown. This really is incredible. I will never buy Answer stuff again. I keep asking myself why I bought Answer in the first place.
If you have one of these forks or are looking to buy, buyer beware!
