Submitted by
umarth
a Cross Country Rider
from Eugene, OR USA
Date Reviewed: July 20, 2010
Strengths: I don't typically ride a suspension fork because they are all heavy, mess up my steering in tech sections or bob too much when climbing. But I scored a great deal on a used bike, so I rolled with it. It handles great, it is almost as light as some of my rigid forks, it is compliant and fast to rebound on the small stuff, and equally adept when drops get much larger. It bobs on the climbs, but...
Weaknesses: Bobbing on the climbs. As a SSer, this drives me batty, but the fork is soooo good everywhere else.....
Bottom Line:
Brilliant fork. Brilliant. I was thinking about landing a Fox at some point, but this fell into my lap and I can't be more pleased. I'm considering becoming a suspension user during the summers and drifting from my rigid during those months. Buy one.
Similar Products Used: A variety of 26" and 29er rigid/suspension forks
Bike Setup: SS Monocog Flight (maybe with 650b- there is room for them, methinks!)
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
rybow203
a Cross Country Rider
from Medford, MA, USA
Date Reviewed: July 19, 2009
Strengths: Light weight!
Sturdy.
Weaknesses: Rebound adjustment stiffens too quickly.
Bottom Line:
I needed a XC fork for a new frame and decided to give Manitou a try. Boy is this fork light! It makes for a zippy ride up hills and on the flats.
The fork doesn't feel quite as plush as my Marzocchi, but it certainly isn't sub-par by any means. My only real complaint is the rebound adjustment: there are several clicks from full rebound to fully locked out, but the rebound is really stiff in any position but wide open. It has gradually gotten better as the fork has broken in, so there is hope.
Other than that it's a stellar fork. Once you dial in the pressure it just goes and goes. Very recommended.
Similar Products Used: '04 Marzocchi Marathon SL, '00 RockShox SID
Bike Setup: Soma Groove hardtail, SRAM drivetrain
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
cspike
a Cross Country Rider
from Vacaville, CA
Date Reviewed: July 13, 2009
Strengths: Light weight and very responsive to small hits. Plush.
Weaknesses: No lock out.
Bottom Line:
I really like how plush and smooth the fork is. It soaks of small bumps really well. It bobs a bit more than my Fox fork when standing and climbing, but I think that is because there is no lock out on it. The adjustability is very easy and straight forward. The fork just looks really sharp; I have the candy apple red version on a bike with red accents. A little pricey, but it seems all suspension forks have increased in price lately. I think a lock out setting would be nice, but it's not completely necessary. Overall I am very happy.
Weaknesses: Hard to find the right psi setup
Requires a special pump
Bottom Line:
Great feel to this shock
It took a lot of tweaking to get the psi just correct but thats ok
the ride is amazing because its light, and because it works very nicely soaking up the bumps you don't lose much on uphills but down it works very well.
Similar Products Used: Many, at least 4-5 different setups
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
ljsmith
a Cross Country Rider
from Olney, MD
Date Reviewed: January 1, 2009
Strengths: Lightweight, Absolute damping adjustment work amazing, plush, awesome candy red paint
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
This is a great lightweight fork. The absolute damping is awesome and the platform adjustment works amazing. I like this much better than Rockshox motion control that everyone is always raving about. It also has one of the easiest adjusters to move while riding, no need for a remote! For such a light fork it is very stiff. The travel is very plush as with all Manitou forks. And the candy red paint looks awesome. A previous review mentioned clicking noises, my R7 Elite does make these noises, but my MRD does not. I give it 5 chillis for value since I got it so cheap, and 5 chillis overall. This is the best fork I have ever owned!
Submitted by
TreeTalker
a Cross Country Rider
from Sallisaw, OK
Date Reviewed: November 28, 2008
Strengths: Smooth action, NO noise, light weight and easy to tune. After cutting the steerer tube it came in at 2.74 pounds.
Weaknesses: None so far, will write another review after 3 more months of riding.
Bottom Line:
This is a review for the 100mm MRD TPC version.
Decided to try this fork out due to the price we found on an Ebay store. I compared the price to other high end forks from RockShox and Fox. As for weight, the only other fork I could find that was close to the same weight was the RockShox SID.
We just got back from a 7 day adventure in AR. We rode several popular areas that friends have told us about. The trails had everything from fast down hills to killer climbs with lots of loose rock and everything in between.
Here is what what we found. The fork tracks very well, never felt like a wet noodle even on the VERY ROCKY decents. It eats the small to medium bumps without any kick back to the hands. Never even feel the small or medium bumps. Now it did take us a few adjustments to get the fork dialed in, easy to do though.
It handled the large bumps and small drops very well, not as plush as it feels over the small to medium bumps though. We could feel the larger hits. Now we did set the compression higher "three clicks" for the long down hills. That did help out, but by doing this we gave up the smooth small bump feel.
I will check back in a few months to make note of any product weakness if we find any. As of right now, the fork handled flawlessly
Favorite Trail: Devils Den, Lake Leather Wood and Hobbs
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$319.00
Purchased At: Ebay, Wheel and Spro
Similar Products Used: Manitou R7 Super, RockShox Reba, RockShox Tora.
Bike Setup: Santa Cruz Superlight with Shimano XT parts.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Pinoy_Rider
a Cross Country Rider
from Livonia, MI, USA
Date Reviewed: July 24, 2008
Strengths: Lightweight, nice candy red color.
Weaknesses: Clicking sound inherent to the absolute platform seal
Bottom Line:
Have no complain so far except for that annoying clicking sound when it reaches it peak cycle. Tech support says it does not affect performance and they trying to fix the problem but it is just simply annoying. Good thing I have a obnoxiously load Hope Pro 2 hub to keep my mind off this clicking sound.
Submitted by
suganda latif
a Weekend Warrior
from Jakarta, Indonesia
Date Reviewed: January 27, 2008
Strengths: great feel, versatility
Weaknesses: none so far
Bottom Line:
I haven't owned a list of fork, so it's hard to compare performance. I ride technicaly trail in Jalur Pipa Gas track near Jakarta with a different terain. The MRD is perfect for my flux. I 've had this fork for about 3 week more than ten times and I ride this track to climb, downhill and twisted single track- in a dust and mud in rainy day and it's been 100% reliable. I'm very impresed with MRD 7
I have a Yeti ASR-SL which i need a new 100mm fork for.
Right now im thorn between the new Rock Shox SID Team or a 2008 Manitou R7 MRD with TPC damping.
The Manitou "only" got 30 Read More »
New fork, REAL BIKE STORE here in the states. Called them before I bought one for my wife.
Total price with shipping was $319, hell of a good deal for this '08 model fork. Hop Read More »
Anyone know where I might find a Manitou MRD R7 TPC with 80mm travel, V-brake bosses and is black color? Cannot seem to find the right combination...all that I can find have abso Read More »
Those are the two options i am looking at for a fork for my bike. The R7 is lighter and slighty cheaper, however i have not heard much about those forks recently here on the forum Read More »
