Weaknesses: tpc+ damping cartridge last only a few months, seals are crap especially in the wet and the preload adjuster is very stiff
Bottom Line:
these arent really strong enough for any type of jumping or drops, i know several people that have broken the steerer/crown joint and had similar problems with their damping.
i wouldnt buy these secondhand if any come up for sale as you can no longer get replacement damping cartridges. buy some old z1's instead.
Weaknesses: if you dirt jump or ride drops or downhill, these forks won't last long they are weak where the crown joins the steerer tube. i snapped this join after 8 months and it wasn't even a particularly large stack.
Bottom Line:
good if you don't ride hard, they're plush and not too soft, like marzocchis, but they are fairly weak and not that well made.
Bike Setup: spooky bandwagon 24", Back hope, DMR wing bars, halo 24".
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Submitted by
Zachary P
a Weekend Warrior
from Stillwater, OK
Date Reviewed: January 10, 2002
Strengths: adjustibility price plush travel
Weaknesses: weight
Bottom Line:
This fork has never bottomed out on me.Even doing stupid 5 foot drops on campus, which has destroyed my wheels, this fork has remained strong. Download the tech manual at their web site (answerproducts.com). It has instructions on how to fine tune your fork, better than the included manual, according to your riding conditions, weight, etc. A bit heavy, but the great performance outweighs that. Only way I can see giving this fork a lesser rating would be if I did'nt have it adjusted properly.
Similar Products Used: mars elite,spyder r,judy t2,XMO
Bike Setup: Klein Pulse RaceFace King Bontrager Maxxis
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Submitted by
wayne young
a Weekend Warrior
from surrey,b.c
Date Reviewed: December 9, 2001
Strengths: feels smooth,looks cool
Weaknesses: brace,damper has no seal on detent ball, upper damper fills with oil and stops working, manatou rep, told me that I had abused it because I hit a 5ft drop,so......dont give those dildos a reason to not warranty you and you will still have to fix it yourself because the shops just look for broken shims and change the oil. the new fox fork looks way more solid and marizochi stands behind their product! but it is a good fork for the $ Just put a few extra shims in and seal the sleave with the detent ball with gasket silicon, or you may have to deal with there warranty female dog.
Bottom Line:
the fork works good but when the damper goes its dangerous!! I should have sued those manatou dudes, Its dec now and I have been healing since june,I didnt hurt myself when it blew but I kept riding it, the shops put oil in it and said it was fine. So If the rep and company wont stand behind the product its fecal matter!!!!!! f in rights im bitter I lost the whole season thanks to manatou #*!!!and the rep BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Strengths: - Stiff - Tuneable and easily adjustablt to any ride - Reliable - EZ Tear down - Smooth and bottomless feel - Cheap ($250cdn) -
Weaknesses: - Seal suck - Preload knob froze - rebound knob is a piece of plastic which fell off - Boots really dont do much
Bottom Line:
These forks work extremely well for their price, it was either these or a pair of Z-5's. These for the same price get much mroe tuneability and have grease ports so it is easy to maintain, these forks will take any kinds of hits and can be setup any way you want them to be. from stiff to super plush you are able to. The only problems are that the the rebound knobw fell off and my preload knob is frozen, but that is fine because ihave them set up the way i want them. The seals suck, after only 1day of riding in whistler my forks blew so i had to replace em. everything else form stifness to plushness is all a plus
Bike Setup: LX/XT, XVERT 4in, F/R Sun Mammoth Rims w/ XT disc(f) LX rear, Hayes hydro front, avid arch rival rear, rokko 2.4in(f), tioga 2.1in (r), Black Spire bashguard, FUNN 2in rise w/mosh Flat BMX Pedals
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Submitted by
Mark
a Cross Country Rider
from Upland, Ca
Date Reviewed: July 27, 2001
Strengths: Very stiff for single crown. Excellent cross-country or free ride for those who ride to the top. Easy to tune with adjustments and easy to rebuild. Oil damper with a real spring, no air. Low cost!
Weaknesses: Just the boots, they slip off the seal too easily and they are too short. Oil damper with a real spring, no air. A little on the heavy side. Decals look stupid.
Bottom Line:
Great fork, tracks good, preloads nice for technical junk. It has held up well under lots of hard riding and hours of pounding. Have not hit a huge drop on it yet, nothing over a few feet. I love this fork, the low cost is a bonus!
One word of caution: Your bike's geometry may not bet setup for a 4" travel fork. This could screw up your climbing ability. If that's not important to you, don't worry about it. You'll like the performance everywhere else.
Submitted by
Matt G
a Cross Country Rider
from American Fork, UT
Date Reviewed: July 18, 2001
Strengths: Stiff, light enough, smooth as butter, lots of adjustability.
Weaknesses: None so far...
Bottom Line:
Love this fork. Haven't had an improvement this big in my riding since I switched to clipless pedals. Now that it is broken in, every ride seems to just get smoother and smoother. Bonus: for my $169 I got an alloy steerer (not steel as advertised). Con: PricePoint sent me a Mango fork, NOT a yellow one. However, with the alloy steerer I saved a bit of weight so I didn't complain. I LOVE PRICEPOINT!
This fork climbs reasonably well (I also have 1.3 inches of spacers under my stem and a riser bar) and kicks trash on the downhills. I've loved every minute I've used it. For the money, there is no better fork out there.
You could take a marazochi off your bike, beat someone to death with it and it would not be dammaged. You would have a fork in many pieces if you tried it with the x-vert.(don't try this at home kids) After 3.5 months my compresion damper died,the manatou rep said "its a cross counry fork" . it will be warrantied but the same damper is in the dh fork I would have thought it would be more durable!
Submitted by
Geoff
a Cross Country Rider
from Canada
Date Reviewed: June 4, 2001
Strengths: -> Bottomless feel ->laterally stiff ->heavy built ->TPC+, works really well
Weaknesses: ->cheap looking decals, looks like a magnum ->maybe a tad heavy, but this makes it bombproof ->compression adj. doesn't do too much ->MCU stack seems to limit travel
Bottom Line:
Excellent fork for the amount I paid. The fork seems well built, I don't mind the weight, if it's a tradeoff for reliability, I'll take it. After selling my 00 Z4 with only a month on it, I find the Xvert takes sucker bumps better. These bumps kinda surprised the Z4 sometimes, not so the Xvert. Travel is buttery smooth, nice progressive feel with a wide window of operating conditions. TPC+ lives up to thehype, works well, I'm riding on the stock setup which I think is setup for a 160 give or take pound rider and I weight 220. I cna't bottom this fork out very easily. But as a tradeoff, I don't think I'm getting the full 105mm out of it, actualyl I highly doubt it. I think there maybe too much MCU for my application. Stiffness is about the same as my Zocchi, the Xvert's action is more transparent then the Z4 was. While the rebound control is noticeable, I wouldn't expect much out of the Comrpession adjustment, going from no dampening to full dampening shows a little difference,but I'd only use this for fine tuning your fork One of my big flames agains this fork is the decalling job. I thought I bought a fork worth 300+ dollars..not a Magnum. Both froma distance look the same, can't they do something to make it loo different? Decalling looks cheap on an otherwise awesome performing fork. I'd highly reccommend this fork and wouldn't be worried about the new Black series that you have to get the latest and greatest. This is a proven fork (TPC+ isn't available next year) whihc works well. The price cannot be beat for a level of performance like this from anywhere.
Similar Products Used: Spyder R, Z4 Flylight, Z1, Psylo XC
Bike Setup: 01 Titus Loco Moto, XT/LX, Float R, Thomson post, RF stem, Rhyno Lite/Deore Wheelset, Pana Fire XC's....
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Submitted by
Deacon Yowas
a Cross Country Rider
from NJ
Date Reviewed: May 11, 2001
Strengths: Fully adjustable, diesel lookin'
Weaknesses: gay fork boots big ugly manitou stickers (take'em off!)
Bottom Line:
This fork is the shiznit. I've rode it over and through the nasty gnarlies and it just sucks it all up, like your sister. A bit heavier than my old zocch' but I'm not complaining when I hit the choppy stuff at speed.
Have always been a marzocchi head - up until I tried this fork. Get'em while they're still cheap!!
Purchased At: PricePoint, where price is the point!
Similar Products Used: Z3 lite, 97/98 Judy
Bike Setup: Pacific FULL SUSPENSION!
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Submitted by
Ken Santi
a Racer
from Albany, NY USA
Date Reviewed: May 7, 2001
Strengths: Reliable, Strong
Weaknesses: Only 4 inches travel
Bottom Line:
This shock has taken a beating but still performs. If Plattekill can't break it, nothing will. Giant rocks, steep drop offs, drops, giant roots, you name it. Everything the mountain throws at it, it takes and performs extemely well for only 4 inches of travel. 5 flamin' chilis for this thing...
Submitted by
Phil
a Weekend Warrior
from Dayton, OH
Date Reviewed: April 14, 2001
Strengths: stiff, plush, very adjustable
Weaknesses: If anything, maybe the weight
Bottom Line:
I've only used this fork for a few months, but I can say it is lightyears ahead of anything I've used before(duh). I put in the spring from an X-vert carbon and removed one of the mcu's and it really helped to liven up the fork. I just got an '01 x-vert air with my new jamis komodo so I'll see if it lives up to it's name. I've never ridden an air fork, but if it's as good as the x-vert and saves about a half pound I think I'll love it. I think these are still available from price point (as of 4/14/01) get one and you won't regret it.
Strengths: This shock is the bomb! I ride a '99 FSR and this is an upgrade from the 80mm Manitou SX. This shock really balances the bike and smooths out anything. Regardless of the great closeout deal, this fork would be worth full retail. Fully adjustable, smooth, plush.... WOW. It should have been stock on the FSR, that bike is 100% better with 100+mm of front travel.
Weaknesses: Wasn't stock on the bike.
Bottom Line:
Smooth, plush, lets you go faster without concern.
Bike Setup: '99 FSR, TruVativ Husslefelt cranks, XT/XTR stuff, Fox Vanilla in the rear.
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Submitted by
Bogus Blake
a Cross Country Rider
from Flagstaff, AZ
Date Reviewed: April 11, 2001
Strengths: Plush, way adjustable, only bottomed out once (i didnt have it set up right), 30mm inner legs, tracks like crazy
Weaknesses: plastic rebound knob, just a bit heavy (that just means its beefy, so really, this is a strength)
Bottom Line:
SWEET! I got this from pricepoint for a killer price and have not been happier with a purchase (not including my bike). In fact, this fork makes my bike what it is. It is much more plush than my friends Z4, and way stiffer than the Magnum R that came on the bike. Oh yea, it has 4.1 inches of travel and TPC+. I have taken some big drops and the only time it bottomed out was the first day I had it and rode down some stairs (I only felt the last one). Those grease ports are great, and the whole thing just looks cool. Touchdown, Manitou!
Bike Setup: Rockhopper FSR comp, set up for freeride- Xvert, XT drivetrain (LX hollowtech crank: 22,32,bashring), Ritchey Zmax Rear tire (2.4), Specialized Big Hit pro front (2.5), kore chain reactor, flat pedals
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Submitted by
Mat Sterbator
a Weekend Warrior
from Vancouver, BC, Canada
Date Reviewed: March 15, 2001
Strengths: Feels great on the shop floor, grease ports are a great idea, external adjustability that works!
Weaknesses: DURABILITY! This fork doesn't like to get wet and it really doesn't like to get hammered on drops larger than a few feet. Not meant to handle rough stuff.
Bottom Line:
If you live in a dry climate and don't do any urban riding or any trails with drops bigger than 4 feet this is your fork. Out of the box it feels great but the damn TPC cartridge self destructed after 3 months of use. It'll get warrantied I know but that's a pretty short lifespan. I don't think I'm that hard on my gear so this is kind of a surprise to me.
