Submitted by
Lowell Walker
a Cross Country Rider
from Brunswick, Maine, USA
Date Reviewed: August 11, 2006
Strengths: This fork kicked ass for SIX YEARS. It's plush and light, tons of adjustability, and you can get them dirt cheap on ebay these days.
Weaknesses: Eventually the fork got a little sticky and the preload broke, but only after 5 years without doing any maintenance whatsoever.
Bottom Line:
Awesome light, durable, dependable fork. I had it for 6 years and it never let me down. If you're looking for an inexpensive, light, dependable fork with tons of adjustment, an old manitou SX R is a kickass fork.
Similar Products Used: Marzocchi Bomber (about the same vintage), New Manitou Skareb Elite.
Bike Setup: Old steel rockhopper with upgraded everything. XT rear, front derailleur, LX shifters, mavic 221 rear wheel, new mavic crossmax front, Avid v brakes.
Strengths: Not an expert, these were my first and I got them at a discount cos they were the last ones in the shop, and no one likes orange. Was very inpressed compared to the other forks of the price range (low end rockshox etc)they have lasted 3 years and have only just failed due to water leak in(i never had them serviced in that time though)
Weaknesses: Orange with my blue frame.... Big problem was the pastic preload adjuster, the threat slips out so it's reset to the softest after the first bump, got a replaceemnt from Answer but it failed agin 6 months later. ok for me (only 70kgs) but bigger riders would find this unuseable.
Bottom Line:
If you can get them for a good price do it, old technology but excellent budget bargain.
Submitted by
Andthereyouare
a Cross Country Rider
from Bear, DE
Date Reviewed: May 14, 2002
Strengths: It can take a licking and keeps ticking.
Weaknesses: Orange?
Bottom Line:
I had these on my old bike. Their strong and you seriously can't beat the price. I needed something lighter than the 3.4lbs. It made the bike front heavy, with the Sid everything is Sweet. I recommend '98 Manitou SX-R, although like it was once said "if you can find them".
Weaknesses: Ugliest orange color ever invented by man.
Bottom Line:
If you can find them, buy them. I can still see these shocks for sale from time to time. I think the reason nobody buys them is the orange color, but you can probably get these shocks for around $100 now. Better (and lighter by .2 lbs) than the 00 and 01 shocks that I have been on. If you weigh under 150 or more than 200, you may need new springs, which may be hard to find now. I am 175 and I was able to get them tuned in perfectly. All my friends love this shock, but are too cool to ride the big orange. If you can take the color, the SR-R is an awesome deal.
Bike Setup: Mongoose NX7.3 frame, Manitou SX-R fork, XT drivetrain and V-brakes, Attack grip shifters, Selle Italia Flite Gel seat, 2.0 Hutchins python tires, Azonic downhill bars, ontrolTech stem with Dia-Compe aheadset
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Muchacha
a Weekend Warrior
from Tokyo
Date Reviewed: November 28, 2000
Strengths: great color, plush, nice rebound, low maintenance.
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
this is one tough product-- on my daily commute to work i routinely descend 50+ stairs in downtown tokyo. it handles curbs with complete ease, that is going UP the curb at around 25-30 mph without bothering to lift the front. for those extreme city commuters out there, this is a perfect choice--not too much travel, racy, and ultimately, able to handle any urban jolts. in fact, while riding during the 1999 tokyo earthquake, i retained balance while other riders were thrown helpless to the pavement thanks to (i believe) these godsend shox.
Bike Setup: 1982 Huffy 10-speed, easton stem, disk brakes, titec enduro downhill bars, mag-lite.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Trey
a Cross Country Rider
from Valrico
Date Reviewed: November 27, 2000
Strengths: Slick Suspension, plush, easy to rebuild, adjust, Cheap for the quality
Weaknesses: plastic top preload caps
Bottom Line:
This is one great fork for the cash. I have heard the '99 is better and you can dig those up anywhere for $150. I have ridden mine hard for the past two years and with the exception of the preload cap sticking the fork has worked great. I hated the mango color when it first came out but it looks like Rock shox has fallen in and done the same with the judy. Truth be known I really like to ride on this fork much more than the sid on my 9900. This is the best aftermarket part I have ever bought.
Submitted by
de la dave
a Cross Country Rider
from the donut shop
Date Reviewed: August 15, 2000
Strengths: phat color,plushhh,resonsive
Weaknesses: none maybe amount of travel but was perfect for me
Bottom Line:
get 'em while the gettings good want more travel get the '99 lighter weight the alu steerer just get it its sick blows away 98% of rockshox '00 included
Bike Setup: easton frame/lx/mavic/gripshftx-ray/avidbrks/wtbtrs/titec cockpit
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Ra
a Cross Country Rider
from Jamaica
Date Reviewed: July 16, 2000
Strengths: reliable brand name. reliable throughout all 4 seasons.
Weaknesses: the fork tabs (place where axle is bolted on) is a little to close to the fork boot. I run Chris King hubs and there is only 3mm of space between the spoke heads and the lower portion of the fork.
Bottom Line:
plush fork. I modified the fork so that It accepts 2 springs instead of one. This made it more responsive compare to just a 2.5" spring and 4" rubber. Otherwise a great fork to beat around with.
Bike Setup: Hard tail. V-Brakes. MOstly SHimano COmponentry.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Pete Lütken
a Weekend Warrior
from Ski, Norway
Date Reviewed: June 9, 2000
Strengths: color matches my 98 Specialized, sweet, cushy suspension, (to my knowledge) unbreakable
Weaknesses: maybe not the best color together with a (enter most every color here) bike
Bottom Line:
this is one sweeeeet fork. It absolutely outperforms everything I've ever tried. It definetly gets better once you break the seals & such in, and it totally screamed down the rocks & roots after I put in some of the longer/softer steel springs from the A/M Spyder R fork I got with the bike. (this probably works for me as I'm a tiny little guy @135lbs/5'9) I have been riding this fork hard for a couple of years, both racing and freeriding on a 16" Kona AA and my Specialized rig and I wouldn't be surprised if it lived to see another bike/frame.
Just keep it clean, lube the stanchions with regular chain oil and keep the springs/MCU's greased with the likes of RS judy butter and you're in fork heaven!
This thing deserves all the stars, chilis, thumbs up or whatever it can get. It is pretty much a raceable, lightweight freeride fork. And if you can still find one in the store it'll probably be at a sweet price.
Similar Products Used: RS Q21r, 96 RS Judy XC, 98 A/M Spyder R
Bike Setup: 98 Specialized Rockhopper A1 FS, Lighter, coil springs from my Spyder fork, Magura hydraulic rimbrakes w/booster
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Guido
a Weekend Warrior
from Minnesota
Date Reviewed: April 3, 2000
Strengths: Plush, stiff, color, light, simple
Weaknesses: slightly flexy, no external compression adjustment
Bottom Line:
I don't have any idea what all these people are complaining about broken crappy forks. Maybe I'm just lucky. I beat the crap out of my SX-R's. I've jumped big BMX doubles, landing hard on the front end, dropped off loading docks, down stairs, bombed down crazy rocky downhills, and haven't had any problems whatsoever. I'm 160 lbs, so I'm not exactly a heavyweight, but I do give these things a beating. I give them a good cleaning after mud or snow riding, regreasing the inner legs, but other than that I haven't touched them since 1998. These things rock. They feel so racy compared to the mushy Bombers, and are lighter. The new 2000 SX forks are even better thanks to Microlube, added travel, and one piece lowers. If you're in the market for a new affordable high performance fork, do yourself a favor and check out Manitou's SX lineup.
Strengths: Color Grows on you, Great travel, Nice Adjustability, great tracking
Weaknesses: preload Knobs a little hard to turn, had to replace stock elastomers with Hard ones
Bottom Line:
This is a great fork, I had to replace the elastomers, but that was a given seeing as how I am big (5'10", 235lb) But this thing takes the abuse I throw at it. Great at absorbing bumps from small to mid range, even better at the big bumps. Have yet to bottom out, even after ridng the stock elastomers for 6 months. Great at smoothing out anything you can throw at it. I like to take this thing down some wicked rock faces, and have yet to have a problem maintaining control. Great Fork, but have yet had to utilize the customer service. Five flamin' turds for this one.
I have a perfectly great '98 manitou sx-r orange fork that's getting a little sticky and was wondering if anyone has rebuilt one of these things? Is it worth the work & investmen Read More »
