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Submitted by
Laefer
a Cross Country Rider
from Orillia, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: November 19, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | sidewinder | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$200.00 | | Purchased At: | Silent sports bike swap | | 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 | | 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 | | 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. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jim Turner
a Cross Country Rider
from Dallas
Date Reviewed: May 5, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Mt Snow Vermont expert loop/Flume Trail Tahoe | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Purchased At: | Richardson Bike Mart | | Strengths: | Light wieght and durable | | Weaknesses: | no disc tabs | | Similar Products Used: | rock shock | | Bike Setup: | Adroit Pro/XTR/King/Mavic/Easton - 21.5 lbs | | 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 | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
bikerx40
a Cross Country Rider
from Boise, ID
Date Reviewed: February 2, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | 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. | | Similar Products Used: | Rock Shox Judy SL 96,97,98 models, Cannondale, White Brothers SC-70 UL, Marzocchi Z-1. | | Bike Setup: | Litespeed Hiwassee Full Suspension, Full XTR, Risse Terminator rear shock, 1.8" Panaracer Fire XC Pro tires, Speedplay Frog pedals. | | 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! | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dan
a Racer
from Santa Cruz, Ca
Date Reviewed: February 16, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | east and west of twin gates | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$200.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | they are nice until | | Weaknesses: | they break | | Bike Setup: | 2000 GT Backwoods, Manotou Mars Comp Coil (80mm),KORE Strictly D Bars, Lx crank, Xt disc hubs on WTB laserdisc DH 36mm rims, Xt Derailers and shifters, Avid CPS mech. disc brakes, Panaracer Fire xc pro 2.1 | | Bottom Line: | I am glad I still had a warantee and they sent me the mars comp coil. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andreas Klauser
a Cross Country Rider
from Feldafing
Date Reviewed: August 26, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$650.00 | | Purchased At: | extreme bike in Munich | | Strengths: | Design, dampening, low weight, low maintainance | | Weaknesses: | stiffness | | Similar Products Used: | RS SID 98, RS Judy100, RS Judy SL 00, RS Judy XL, Marzocchi Atom 80 00, Marzocchi Z1 98 | | Bike Setup: | Trek 9900 OCLV | | Bottom Line: | 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. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Will
a Weekend Warrior
from Washington, DC
Date Reviewed: July 30, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$600.00 | | Purchased At: | mailorder | | 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.
| Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Steve
a Cross Country Rider
from Southbridge, MA
Date Reviewed: July 18, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Case Mtn, Manchester CONN | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$150.00 | | Purchased At: | Friend | | Strengths: | Weight and ability to take massive abuse | | Weaknesses: | 73mm travel and the adjustment knobs tend to lock up. | | Similar Products Used: | anything and everything since 1991 | | Bike Setup: | Stumpy FSR XC pro all decked out with goodies. | | 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.
-Happy trails- | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
James
a
from Sweden
Date Reviewed: July 10, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Bornsjon, Stockholm | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | Warranty claim | | Strengths: | Light, Stiff, Good adjustability | | Weaknesses: | The arch has loosened from the right leg! i.e bad quality. | | Similar Products Used: | Rock Shox | | Bike Setup: | Klein Adroit, XTR, Avid 7.0 + levers. Hope/517 fr. XTR/517 rear. Race Face etc. | | 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.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Gregor
a Cross Country Rider
from Idaho, USA
Date Reviewed: June 25, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | yeah right | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$330.00 | | Purchased At: | pricepoint | | Strengths: | light, hard, loves big hits | | Weaknesses: | flexy, broken | | Similar Products Used: | Judy XC, Girvin, Sid SL | | Bike Setup: | too custom to describe | | 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.) | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Diego Reykdal
a Cross Country Rider
from Singapore
Date Reviewed: June 21, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Purchased At: | Singapore | | Strengths: | SUPER rigid. | | Weaknesses: | SUPER rigid. | | Bike Setup: | Kelin Adroit Pro w/ XTR, Bontrager post & bar, Avid brakes, Sun rims & IRC Mythos XC | | Bottom Line: | Not bad at all. Manitou makes forks that can be used on motor bikes and as light downhill forks on XC bikes. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
XC Frwak
a Cross Country Rider
from UK
Date Reviewed: May 21, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | wyre forest | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | Already on a fisher sugar 3 yr 2000 | | Strengths: | Nice and bouncy | | Weaknesses: | bit ard at the lower end but i am only 14 | | Similar Products Used: | pace rc36/rc36evo2's | | Bike Setup: | gary fisher sugar 3 frame xt everything rolf 8 spokes everything else titanium thats possible | | 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 | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andreas Klauser
a Cross Country Rider
from Munich
Date Reviewed: March 14, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$650.00 | | Purchased At: | extreme bikes munich | | Strengths: | Good Performance, simple maintainance, low weight. | | Weaknesses: | Not as stiff as it might be | | Similar Products Used: | RS Judy DH 96, RS SID, RS Judy SL 2000, Marzocchi Z2 BAM 98, Marzocchi Atom 80 2000, RS Judy 100 | | Bike Setup: | Trek 9900 OCLV Pro Issue | | 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. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
mike fusaro
a Racer
from seattle
Date Reviewed: October 26, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | tanum creek | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$280.00 | | Purchased At: | came off another bicycle | | 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. | | Similar Products Used: | Every fork on the market. | | Bike Setup: | scwinn homegrown factory with full XTR, crossmax wheels,chris king head set, easton EA-70 stem with carbon handle bar and seatpost. | | 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. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dan M
a Cross Country Rider
from Bristol
Date Reviewed: October 18, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Middlesex Loop | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Purchased At: | Edge | | 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. | | Similar Products Used: | Rock shocks | | Bike Setup: | The fork was originally on a M4 hardtail, now it lives on a FSR xc. | | 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. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
C E
a Cross Country Rider
from Norwell, MA USA
Date Reviewed: September 26, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Wampy | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$500.00 | | Purchased At: | PricePoint.com | | Strengths: | light | | Weaknesses: | poorly made | | Similar Products Used: | Manitou SRX, SX | | 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! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeroen van den Brand
a Cross Country Rider
from Boxtel
Date Reviewed: August 28, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Mud | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Price Paid: |
$1.00 | | Purchased At: | 1 | | Strengths: | Looks | | Weaknesses: | In general about Manitou: The stiffness really sucks!!! I prefer Rock Shox or Manitou or else a rigid one!!! They're way too flexy. The pre '00 Carbon modells suchs the most in stiffnes. The brakepost/carbon booster junction loosens up on many forks!! | | Similar Products Used: | Virtualy everything availble in holland | | Bike Setup: | Balance, VooDoo, with either rock shox or rigid! | | Bottom Line: | I work in a bikeshop and we sell Specialized and so on. These bikes are all equipt with Manitou's. All those forks have weak legs. The sealing of all Manitou's is not so good. Do not ride Manitou without shock boots or else install White Bros. Dust wipers. They work even better! The Post Mount discbrake mount sucks also. The bolts of many types of discbrake hubs almost hit the inside of the fork legs. They're too close to one another!!! The new SX Carbon has an altered brakepost mount, but still the brakes and legs react too flexy. If you are a light XC racer Manitou would be nice. But if you weigh a bit more than e.g. Martinez and you want a durable long lasting fork, I prefer something else but Manitou. I know that people out there really like Manitou's, and they should know for them selves. But my experience with Manitou is not so good. If serviced some of these forks and sold a lot of them, but many forks came back way too early with problems. P.S. Many OEM forks have bad decalls. They're ugly sticked to the fork with folds or so in it, shame cause the forks aren't the cheapest around....
Please think about the thinks I wrote, before you buy a Manitou. Questions? E-mail me. CIAO from Holland! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jon Struhs
a Cross Country Rider
from Denver CO US
Date Reviewed: June 23, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | White Ranch-Dakota Ridge | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Light weight, Adjustability from super stiff to plush. | | Weaknesses: | Adjuster knobs are non-durable rubber/plastic. | | Similar Products Used: | Judy XC,SID XC, Manitou X-vert T, RST crap | | Bike Setup: | Cannondale CAAD3, Full XTR, Easton Monkey lite,Serfas saddle | | Bottom Line: | This fork is a great race fork with nice travel. It corners fantastically and I like the narrowly spaced tubes. I would recommend it to any hardtail XC racer who uses their bike for leisure/training also(which is pretty much everyone). This fork absorbs the big hits much better than the Rock Shok forks I've ridden. I would really like to see metal adjustor knobs on a $600.00 fork because as much as I use them, the existing ones are not easily negotiable. I've put close to 1000 hard miles on this fork and the seals are still air-tight. The micro-lube system makes it totally easy to keep the fork lubed and seems to be really low maintenance. The knobs keep the fork from being a 5 | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andrew George KLAUSER
a Cross Country Rider
from Munich
Date Reviewed: May 24, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Light, titanium spring characteristics, needs not much maintainance, good adjustable dampening | | Weaknesses: | plastic caps | | Similar Products Used: | RS SID | | Bike Setup: | Trek 9900 OCLV Pro Issue, partly custom (Moots seat post, SRAM Grip Shift Attack, tune wheels | | Bottom Line: | Replace an 1998 SID with it. For my weight (220lbs)the RS SID proved to be very unharmonic: even at 8 bars pressure bottomed out. constant air leakage also with pressures lower than 6 bars. Manitou Carbon SX was a total change to that: the ideal CC fork. It is certainly not as lively as the SID, but it smoothens the bumps out that really annoy you. Especially the dampening is perfect even for my weight. The stiffness is just so o.k. if you use a steel spanner (Shimano or Salsa) So the Manitou Carbon SX is a very effecitve race fork. The fork proved hithertoo to be very enduring even under the heavy conditions of use. I am very content with the fork | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
paul
a Cross Country Rider
from Greensboro
Date Reviewed: May 17, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Bottom Line: | Carbon arch broke and my lbs sent it back to Answer over a month and half ago. Answer stated that I'll probaly receive a new Mars, I'll beleive it when I see it. Hopefully it will last longer than 500 miles. They also stated that they have had only a few go bad. Yeah right! The bike industry sucks when it comes to customer service. There is no way you should have to wait this long to receive a warranty item back. You guys at Manitou suck, get a clue and look at other business models and learn something from them. It's one thing that your product broke but it's another when you leave your customers hanging for over 6 weeks. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian R
a Racer
from TENNESSEE
Date Reviewed: April 27, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | TSALI | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | Light, good looking, decent price now that it is on sale, good feel on the trail. | | Weaknesses: | I haven't found any yet but have only had the fork for about two weeks. | | Similar Products Used: | Rockshox judy xc, marizocchi z2 bomber (only ridden on a friends bike) | | Bike Setup: | Litespeed Unicoi, xt build, xtr 517 wheelset, other cool stuff. | | Bottom Line: | I have only had this fork for two weeks but have had the chance to take it on several hard rides, so keep that in mind. I got this fork on sale for under $300 from colorado cyclist. I figured its go a one year warranty, so I will just ride it hard and hope if anything breaks it happens in the first year. Anyway, I really like the fork so far. I took it to the post office when I first got it and it weighed exactly 3.0 without the steere tube cut--pretty good I think. I have the fork set pretty firm and so far, it gives the best feel of any fork I have used when set firm. The fork is great for those times when I get going to fast and encounter a bump that I didn't know about or remember. It takes the hits well at higher speeds. I just hope that I don't have any problems with this thing breaking cause I like it a lot now. I will rate it high on value based on the discounted price for which I purchased the fork. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ben Rennert
a Weekend Warrior
from Manitowoc, WI (United States)
Date Reviewed: April 19, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Baird Creek | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Weight and the looks | | Weaknesses: | So far the only one I've found is the travel. (I like a lot of travel) | | Similar Products Used: | RockShox SID and RockShox Indy XC and S (The last two suck) | | Bike Setup: | I have a Klein Karma, a Sram Neos rear derailer, STX-RC crankset, front derailer and wheelset, Time Atacs, Avid Arch Rivil 50's, and of course the SX-Carbon | | Bottom Line: | I bought this fork used for $150, I'll just say I would never pay $650 for this fork, and since I'm only 14 and only cut grass for a living, it would take me about a summer and a half to get that much. But anyways, I've had this fork for 3 months, Mark Purdy, the guy who sold it to me, (who is also really fast and if his job was to train would give Cadel a run for his money!) had it for about a year, so over the year and 3 months nothing has gone wrong, nothing. I'm sort of surprised too, i've numerous 4+ foot drops, have bunny-hopped 100's of fallen trees, and have gone off thousands of curbs. If anyone can get a deal for this fork under $350 buy it. I'll just say this fork isn't worth $650, performance on the other hand...... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Matt
a Cross Country Rider
from Iowa city, Iowa, U.S.A
Date Reviewed: April 15, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | sugarbottom | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | very light fork. | | Weaknesses: | not enough travel, rebound and damping adjustments are not effective, bonded arch makes noise, waiting for it to crack or break, not enough clearance for bontrager race lites. | | Similar Products Used: | mag 21, indy sl, judy xc, judy fsx carbon, manutou sx ti "palmer stroker", rst xmo | | Bike Setup: | Independant Fabrication deluxe,race lites, sram 9.0,xtr,race face | | Bottom Line: | I bought this fork hoping that I would have a light and great performing fork for what I payed for it but I ended up using my rst xmo on my bike because it had more travel,was stiffer,and didn't make any noise. This is a noticable point in the fork when you can feel a small clicking sound and you can feel the point where it goes from the spring to the tpc. It was very stiff when I first got the fork but i thought it would break in but it never got any better. Dust and dirt also affects this fork so keep it clean. Overall it is not worth the money, the sx ti is better. for 2000 the forks are much improved. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Paul
a Cross Country Rider
from Greensboro
Date Reviewed: April 10, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Weaknesses: | After 6 months of riding it finally happened. The carbon arch broke. I weigh about 150 lbs and rode this fork about 500 miles before it gave way. I don't remember specifically what did it but luckely I noticed it before a scheduled race a few days from now. Time to play the warranty game. Let's see if Answer steps up to the plate and takes care of the problem.
| | Bottom Line: | Been pleased with the fork to this point. The way Answer deals with this warranty issue will determine wheather they keep me as a customer or not. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Greg Klipp
a Cross Country Rider
from United States
Date Reviewed: April 4, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Ghost Rock | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Similar Products Used: | Judy XC, SID SL, Bomber Z1 X-FLY, Judy T2 | | Bike Setup: | 99' Specialized SWorks M4 Hardtail, Bomber Z1 X-Fly, Race Face Turbine LP Cranks, Race Face Steel B.B., XTR rear D., XT Front D., Titec Hell bent w/ X-brace, XTR brakes and levers,... | | Bottom Line: | I have had this fork for about 6 months and all I can say is that it only gave me problems from day one. It seemed as if I spent more time trying to repair it then riding with it on my bike.
THIS FORK SUCKS!!
Because it kept braking I finally got a Bomber Z1 X-Fly so that I wouldn't have to deal with the Manitou SX Carbon any more. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jack Ham
a Racer
from Littleton, Colorado
Date Reviewed: March 10, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Colorado Trail | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Low maintance. Rebound, compression, preload adjustments actually do something. lite. stiff for racing. | | Weaknesses: | Flexy (due to its lite weight), tough to get dialed in perfectly. Stiff (I prefer Marzocchi). long break in period, brake arch attachment needs improvement (2000 are supposedly fixed). 99 adjustment knobs are hard to turn. 2000's are nice and can be done while riding. SX ti is a better and cheaper fork. | | Similar Products Used: | atom bomb
judy SL
Sid
Atom 80(sweet fork) | | Bike Setup: | RaceFace, XTR, Chris King, Mavic, Easton, Profile
Titus Racer-X ti | | Bottom Line: | There is better forks for cheaper.
Stiff rides: White Bros (high maintance), SX ti
Plush rides: Marzocchi
!!!!!!!!Never Buy Rock Shox (unless it your a pro racer
!!!!!!!!and need the weight savings)
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Troy
a Racer
from Portland
Date Reviewed: February 21, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | It's light and stiff, lube ports, I liked the compression action | | Weaknesses: | See bottom line | | Similar Products Used: | RockShox judy sl
| | Bike Setup: | FSR-xc race ready 23 1/2 lbs. | | Bottom Line: | The fork works pretty well for a light weight race fork. Not as plush as a Marzocchi, not as light as a SID, but it's a good fork IF you can keep it on your bike. Over the last year I've only ridden this bike 8 in races with a few training ride to get it dailed in, I figure I got less than 200 hrs on the fork and I just sent it back to Answer again.
It keeps braking in the same spot, around the brake brace. This time I had cracks in the brace as well as seperation between the leg and the brace. Answer is suppost to send me a Mars we'll see how long it last.
If your a hardcore rider or racer trying to WIN mtn bike races I'd hold off getting one of these forks unless you don't ride very hard and weight less than 120 lbs. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Fred Banister
a Cross-Country Rider
from Fairfax VA
Date Reviewed: November 5, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
Micro-Lube
Weight | | Weaknesses: |
Brake Arch | | Bike Setup: |
Came stock on my S-Works FSR-XC | | Bottom Line: | I have about 10 months on this fork. I ride on it 2-3 times a week. I certainly don't think I abuse equipment, but I did find that this fork allowed me to ride through rough sections at a much greater speed with much more control than on other forks I've ridden. Last time out I noticed that the steering was real sloppy, for an hour or so I thought it was just due to the wet leaves that were down, but then I started to notice that the brake pads were hitting the rim whenever I was in a turn. Stopped and held the front tire between knees and turned the bar...and there it was, the brake arch was turning on the fork legs, whatever bonded the arch to the legs had let go. I had checked this site and review page before so I guess I wasn't too surprized to find out it happened to me too. So now I have to contact my LBS and find out how the warrantee thing will work out for me. I will report back later. In the meanwhile, if you have this fork on your ride, pay attention, unless this problem has been fixed on later models and this new MARS fork, expect it to happen to you sooner or later...but until then have a good ride...it is a good fork, I just wish it hadn't broken. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
mike
a Cross-Country Rider
from bloomfield, nj
Date Reviewed: November 3, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
Lightweight
Stiff | | Weaknesses: |
Blew the seals up at Killington
Limited travel
What compression adjustment?
Can't run Bontrager Wheelset | | Similar Products Used: |
Original Manitou
Judy XC w/Englund Air | | Bike Setup: |
Klein Mantra Race FS | | Bottom Line: | I hated this fork when I first put it on my bike. I couldn't get it dialed in to my liking. The front end would drift all over the place and the limited travel never left me uneasy on downhill sections. I sent the fork to BPP Bike and had Englund Air Cartridges custom installed and have been soooo pleased with the ride of my bike since then. Not only did it make the fork lighter, but also increased the travel and added a much more plush ride. 2 stars out of the box, 5 stars with the Englund Air upgrade. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rob
a Racer
from Bent Mountain, VA
Date Reviewed: October 21, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
potts mt. | | Duration Product Used: |
1 Year | | Strengths: |
light, looks cool, always works | | Similar Products Used: |
SID XC | | Bike Setup: |
99 stumphumper pro | | Bottom Line: | my bike came with a SID XC. i like long rides and races. the fork was loosing pressure during long rides and the valves were a pain to work with so i sold it and got the carbon. i did have to send it back to resolve a bushing problem but manitou was cool about turning the fork arount for me quickly. the fork is smooth, the travel is just right for xc use, it is very easy to work on and overall i am extremely pleased with it. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Craig
a Racer
from Denver, CO
Date Reviewed: October 19, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
Light and stiff
Low maintenance
Coil springs | | Weaknesses: |
Expensive, although you can get them discounted now. | | Similar Products Used: |
Rock Shox Mag21
Ritchey Logic | | Bike Setup: |
Klein Attitude | | Bottom Line: | I've raced this fork in the Sport class at the 99 Winterpark series and the 99 24 Hours of Moab with lots of fast training in between. Anyone who's raced the Moab course knows it's super technical. The fork has been great. I've ridden 900 miles on the fork, none of that on pavement, and it's never given me problems. I weigh 170lbs and consider myself a good technical descender. I'm not sure what's going on with the rest of these reviews, but either there's a lot of bad SX Carbons out there and I got lucky, or people are riding like idiots. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Gordon
a Cross-Country Rider
from st. Louis Mo
Date Reviewed: October 7, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
everything | | Weaknesses: |
nothing | | Similar Products Used: |
Sid sl | | Bike Setup: |
Homegrown Factory USA | | Bottom Line: | Best shock I've ever ridden on!!!! Grat feel, godd looks, and low matience. A great buy despite the price!!!! A would Recamend this shock to any hard core, enthusiastic rider. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Gordon
a Cross-Country Rider
from st. Louis Mo
Date Reviewed: October 7, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
everything | | Weaknesses: |
nothing | | Similar Products Used: |
Sid sl | | Bike Setup: |
Homegrown Factory USA | | Bottom Line: | Best shock I've ever ridden on!!!! A great buy despite the price!!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Herb Chlebek
a Cross-Country Rider
from Quesnel, BC, Canada
Date Reviewed: October 6, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
5 Lakes - Jasper Park | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
Light Weight | | Weaknesses: |
Lack of lateral stiffness
Poor Tire clearance
Poor quality control
Damping adjustor falls out on the trail | | Similar Products Used: |
Manitou SX Ti
Rock Shox Judy XC
Rock Shox Judy SL | | Bike Setup: |
Mrazek BOH FX
XTR components | | Bottom Line: | Very poor quality control. The bonding between the brake arch and legs came apart as soon as I took it out of the box. Upon inspection, there was very little epoxy that actually penetrated (it is injected through small holes). After rebonding, it works OK but pushing the fork up and down a little from the side you can see the tire go sideways and almost touch the rubber bellows. Very poor lateral stiffness.
The damping adjuster is at the bottom of the leg and is held in only by friction. I lost it on the first rough trail.
The lube injection system doesn't lube anything. Just take it apart and see where the grease goes.
The fork sucks for the price tag on it. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
AS
a Racer
from MPLS, MN
Date Reviewed: October 5, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
Light | | Weaknesses: |
Breaks | | Bottom Line: | This form rides well (fairly stiff), and is very light. But, I have yet to see one last longer than a few months. After riding mine for less than a month one of the legs became loose. I sent it back to Manitou, and they replaced all the bushings, but that didn't solve a thing. I have since replaced it with a Marzocchi, and life is good.I give it one star just for the lightness factor. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross-Country Rider
from Cupertino
Date Reviewed: October 1, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Demo Forrest / Skaggs / Gray Whale | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Lightweight, springs vs air and rebound adjustable. | | Weaknesses: |
Narrow forklegs, had to relace my wheel. Price is high but reasonable. | | Similar Products Used: |
Judy XC, Judy XC w/ risse air cartride & speed springs,
99' SID XC | | Bike Setup: |
Santa Cruz Superlight custom part selection under 23lbs . | | Bottom Line: | Ok heres the deal, I bougth fork and while waiting for it to get delivered I read the reviews here and in the magazines. There seemed to be a lot of contridicting reviews, some raved some sloughtered. While waiting I bought a freshly built 99 SID XC and put it on my bike. I was really disappointed with both the compression and rebound of this fork. After three months trying to dial in the SID I put the Manitou on. After riding a racing this for three months I would have to say that this is the best fork I have ever used. I raced morocycles for 5 years and this is the first fork that even comes close to the adjust ability and ride s the way suspension was meant to work. I have to believe that do to some forks breaking within a month or 6 months that Answer has some quality control problem, however if you get lucky and get a good one, it will be the lightes best handlihng most adjustable fork that money can buy! Four flamming turds , if it last a year with out failing it will deserve five! Good night Irene!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Don
a Weekend Warrior
from Phoenix
Date Reviewed: August 27, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
light weight | | Weaknesses: |
Ive only had the fork
for 1month so i havnt
experienced the problems
that have been giving
this fork such a bad
rep.
| | Bike Setup: |
| | Bottom Line: | Ill have to put it to the test and then give a
full review...FYI I did have a problem with a seal
after only one ride.As it turns out the first
generation carbons have had problems.If you are
one of the unfortunate owners of these first
generation forks you need to have the bad part
replaced with a new one.Manitou has redesigned the
lock out mech.and the new design actually
works.Long story short I called Manitou
1-800-423-0273 hit 0 and get the operator for
faster service)they explained the problem and
promptly mailed the new part to my LBD.Props to
Manitou for nutting it up and admitting the
problem,double props for replacing the bum part
for he NEW and IMPROVED in less than a week
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Erik
a Racer
from New Hampshire
Date Reviewed: August 25, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
Light, Microlube, Looks | | Weaknesses: |
Flex! Third time in shop | | Similar Products Used: |
Rock Shox SID | | Bike Setup: |
99' Adroit Pro | | Bottom Line: | The SX Carbon came with my Adroit pro and at first it seemed halfway decent. Then the bottom bolts started loosening and I couldn't keep them tight for long. Even tried Loc-tite. Next the bottom bolt on the left side sheared off and the shock lock-out mechanism broke. Its starting to leak oil now too....
Finally, the shock is now being sent back to Manitou again because the bumpers are out.
I'm very unimpressed with this fork compared to my SID. I haven't had any problems with the SID. And its far easier doing an overhaul on the SID compared to the SX. As far as stiffness....what stiffness? I can grap the brake arch and make the whole thing flex..(yes I've checked for cracks)
Its light for racing but not worth the problems for $650-700. I'm without my bike for the next two weeks but luckily I have my standby Klein mantra pro with my trusty SID. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
JB
a Cross-Country Rider
from Abilene TX
Date Reviewed: August 24, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
Weight
Looks | | Weaknesses: |
Noisy
Poor responsiveness
Specialized rip off version | | Similar Products Used: |
Judys XC and SL | | Bike Setup: |
FSR XC Pro Stumpjumper | | Bottom Line: | This fork is light, but I bet it would be lighter if Specialized wouldn't have gutted the TI spring. Don't fall for the rising rate vs falling rate routine, my Carbon was taken off of an Sworks HARDTAIL and it too has the steel spring. Manitou customer service was NO help. The arch also creaks like hell when braking. If I were to grade it on function alone, I'd give it 1 flamer, but since it is light, I generously give it 2. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dan
a Cross-Country Rider
from Bowling Green, KY
Date Reviewed: August 5, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Mammoth Cave | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
As before | | Weaknesses: |
quality control | | Bottom Line: | This is an update from my July 8 posting--The top out bumper in my fork would not stay in place and rendered the fork useless. To their credit, Answer RAPIDLY issued a RA# to my LBS. I got the fork back with new internals AND--lo and behold-- a ti spring was put in my fork!! Thanks , manitou!! I've only ridden twice since receiving the returned fork, but both rides have been uneventful. This fork really is sweet, but boy are there a lot of horror stories out there. Watch that break--er brake--arch carefully! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Michael
a Cross-Country Rider
from Park City, UT
Date Reviewed: July 29, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Wasatch Crest | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
Light, durable, good through the technical sections, good service from Manitou | | Weaknesses: |
Dialing in the three dials is a pain. I seem to only get it plush for the small bumps or tight for the big hits. Can't get an in-between set up | | Similar Products Used: |
Manitou SX-Ti
Rock Shox SID | | Bike Setup: |
Merlin Echo, full XTR, Crosslink Wheelset | | Bottom Line: | I'm not at all sure why everyone is beating up this fork. I'm a big guy, and Manitou replaced the softer setup with their stiffest one at no cost to me. I ride it cross country, a bit of downhill and way too much uphill. Cross country, I really love it's ability to follow a line on a technical singletrack. On the downhill parts, it doesn't absorb the big hits or the high frequency hits very well, but then again, that's not its purpose in life. On the climbs, it doesn't bob and bounce, so it's much more efficient.The thing has lasted a full six months of riding without any problem. And the microlube (tm) ability is without comparison in the field. I think that there are too many freeriders looking for their six inches of travel. Well, there's a bunch of us that think that a <3lb fork that allows you to climb over a technical singletrack is perfect. I love it! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
J. Powell
a Racer
from Folsom, CA
Date Reviewed: July 22, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
salmon falls | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
it looks good in the box | | Weaknesses: |
but once you get it on the bike it sucks. major breakage. | | Similar Products Used: |
other manitous
sid
z.2 superfly | | Bike Setup: |
litespeed w/xt-xtr | | Bottom Line: | this fork really sucks. it is the most over rated peice of crap iv'e ever ridden. it broke after 6 hours of use. and worst of all the people at manitou are punks about fixing the problem. what ever you do, do not buy this fork. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Joe
a Racer
from Denver, CO
Date Reviewed: July 9, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
none | | Weaknesses: |
breaks like glass | | Similar Products Used: |
most racing forks | | Bottom Line: | Can't understand where these racers are racing. On air? This fork breaks if you look at it funny. All I can say is, If you own one, just wait. You'll be walking back to the starting line soon. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
DanK
a Cross-Country Rider
from Incline Village
Date Reviewed: July 8, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
light
laterally stiff/steers well | | Weaknesses: |
no compression adjustments.creaking arch | | Similar Products Used: |
z2
atom bomb
judy's
other manitou's
amp forks | | Bike Setup: |
99 element TO | | Bottom Line: | A good 'race fork' but the compression adjustments are lacking and the arch now creaks! When I use the front brake hard it creaks like my grandma's knees. It's nothing else like the headset, etc etc, it's the arch area. The fork is a great climber and it steers very well. But as an all-around trail fork (which it does not pretend to be) it is not that good. Oh, the plastic knobs on top come loose alot too. IT's going back to Performance ASAP. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dan
a Cross-Country Rider
from Bowling Green, KY
Date Reviewed: July 8, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
mammoth cave | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
light, trick look | | Weaknesses: |
Ti spring? Not in my fork, probably not in yours, either. Awful quality control | | Similar Products Used: |
SX-R, Judy | | Bike Setup: |
S-works FSR | | Bottom Line: | Listen to this BS--Specialized rep actually tried to get me to beleive that the reason they didn't put a Ti spring in these forks is because the Ti spring is a rising rate and the steel turd they put in has a linear rate, and that what the rear shock is set up to work with. He didn't mention the $36 wholesale price difference that Specialized pocketed. But the real problem is the quality control. The top out bumper in my fork won't stay put. When it pops up, it renders the fork totally rigid. The part isn't even factory spec. With hope I'll get it replaced under warranty, but I'm not holding my breath. Also, my LBS received a carbon that did not work right out of the box. They sent it back and Manitou wouldn't warranty it because the fork was used--that's right, this new $650 fork was shipped WITH USED PARTS INSIDE!! Manitou eventually replaced it. Be careful with this fork and company!! BTW-it works great when it works. 3 stars for crappy qc but good function | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Leif Percifield
a Racer
from Atlanta. Ga
Date Reviewed: July 5, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Horse Park | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Really Light, Not air, Pretty stiff | | Weaknesses: |
Compression Damping not effective | | Similar Products Used: |
Zokes Z1 bomber, Mag 21, Sid, Sx-Ti | | Bike Setup: |
Stumpjumper | | Bottom Line: | This is a great fork to race on. If you're a hard core rider I would stay away from it. Just use a Bomber. Its really light and the best part is that it uses springs not air. I did crack the brake arch but Manitou has been good to me about it. It may be because I work in a bike shop but they haven't done me wrong. The bottom line: race the fork, break the fork, get another frok from Manitou, then race the fork again. If you have had any problems with one your self, drop me an email and I'll see what I can do to help. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Justin E Gardner
a Racer
from Macon, Ga
Date Reviewed: July 3, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Bull Mtn | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
Light race fork | | Weaknesses: |
A little flex | | Similar Products Used: |
rockshox, girvin | | Bike Setup: |
Adroit Pro | | Bottom Line: | This is a light race fork people. If you want some do all be all fork stop worrying about weight and quit buying race forks and then constantly complaining about them. Or better yet ride your bike on the road all the time. Try and find a good shop (I know it is somtimes hard), and when you do listen to what they tell you. And I find it very funny that the same people break everything they buy?? Good fork for racing. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bill A.
a Racer
from Fairfax VA
Date Reviewed: July 1, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
gambril blue trail | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
It's light and fairly stiff. | | Weaknesses: |
It broke! | | Similar Products Used: |
Mag 21
Judy XC
Marzochi Atom Bomb
Marzochi Z1 | | Bike Setup: |
Indy Fab Deluxe | | Bottom Line: | I would stay away from this fork. I's an expensive peice of crap. Mine broke after three months of use. I was at a race yesterday, and while preriding the course I noticed that on downhills, I could see the carbon fiber arch moving around on the uppers. I could actually take the whole arch off. I couldn't beleave it. I am not a heavy rider(150), and this fork has been on my race bike so I've babied this thing and have done a ton of mantnence on it to keep it running smoothly. So right now I'm hoping that I can get it warrentied and back by next week, but that's probably unlikely.
I wouldn't give this thing any chilies if possible...
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
BipedZed
a Racer
from Denver,CO
Date Reviewed: July 1, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Light, stiff, low maintenance | | Weaknesses: |
Compression adjustment effects are minimal. | | Similar Products Used: |
Rigid Fork
Rock Shox Mag-21 | | Bike Setup: |
Klein hardtail | | Bottom Line: | Not quite sure why this fork is getting such low reviews. I've ridden and raced on this fork extensively for 3 months without a single problem. I started mtn biking on rigid forks so I appreciate the stiffness of these forks. They track well and allow you to pick lines with confidence. I stayed away from Rock Shox because from my past experience, they sacrifice control for weight, and always seem to need tweaking before every ride. As a former bike shop mechanic, I maintain my bike after every ride, but other than occasionally lubing the Manitou through the grease ports, it's maintenance free. Highly recommended. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bill A.
a Racer
from 234
Date Reviewed: July 1, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
234 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Bottom Line: | The review below should have a one star rating, not five. BIG MISTAKE on my part. There's no way this worthless piece of garbage is worth five stars. I'll give it one here to try and even it out. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bomber Bob
a Cross-Country Rider
from Clark, NJ
Date Reviewed: June 25, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Chimney Rock, Bound Brook, NJ | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
Light, Looks Great, Nice Action while it lasted (1 day). | | Weaknesses: |
Broke on 2nd Ride
Not worth the $$$. | | Similar Products Used: |
Judy XC | | Bike Setup: |
Tricked out Specialized M4 Hardtail | | Bottom Line: | This thing is not built for the real world. I wasn't even doing anything exteme and the lower leg separated from the upper. Called Manitou and they said to send it back and they will repair it and bring it back to original factory specs. They damn thing wasn't even 1 day old. Well listen up you fruitcakes at Manitou, if I broke it at factory specs, what do you think the probability is for it to break again at factory specs? Uhh, maybe your engineers don't understand If a=b and b=c then a=c.What really pissed me off was that the Manitou rep I spoke to claimed that less than 1% of these shocks fail. Well bud, it broke during a ride at Mountain Bike Weekend in Jim Thorpe PA last weekend causing the V-brake cotter pin to cut my brand new Bontrager Jones tire and 2 tubes. That's about $50 right there. Luckily I didn't crash as a result. When I got back to camp, a rider noticed the broken shock and said he broke 2 already, one broken shock leg and 1 broken carbon booster. He had the one with the broken booster at the camp and I saw it for myself. Another rider there said he knew of 2 other guys that broke theirs too. Hey Manitou, as far as I see it, that's a 100% failure rate!!! Not only that, it costs my bike shop $30 to return it and you guys didn't offer to pick up the tab. Now I know why they call it a MoneyToo. And dig this MoneyToo, if you give my bikeshop a hard time returning the shock, I'm coming back this sight and awarding you with 1 more flaming turd. I quess you pissed off the wrong customer. Why don't you just admit it: This thing is not ready for prime time!!.Don't bother repairing it, I'm going with White Bros.
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
David Unrau
a Racer
from Ottawa, Canada
Date Reviewed: June 18, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
the dark side, kanata lakes | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
light, stiff, easy to maintain, easy to tune | | Weaknesses: |
tight tyre clearance | | Similar Products Used: |
Judy XC, Marz. Z2 & Z3, Mag 21s if you go back far enough.... | | Bike Setup: |
Specialized S-works and Kona Explosif with xtr hubs, ESP 9.0sl, race face cranks stem, h-set, bars etc. | | Bottom Line: | Exactly what I want in a fork. It is stiff, light and has been very reliable (~1300km of trails so far, and lots of mud). The low speed compression adjustment (external) is useless, but this is not critical. The high speed compression and rebound, tunable through the shim stacks, are perfect out of the box. With the Ti spring, you get far better response than with any air set up I've thrashed (I haven't tried the Englunds though...). You don't pay the weight penalty of a Marz. (and for those of you who haven't realised, plush = blows throught its travel and lets you down in the fast & rough corners...). This has been a superb fork for riding fast and hard. The low tyre clearance is not an issue for this forks intended purpose. If you are trying to fit a tyre larger than a 2.1, you should not have bought a XC racing fork. I really like the internally carbon reinforced steerer - how's that for attention to details? | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
sev
a Cross-Country Rider
from cheshire, ct
Date Reviewed: June 3, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
stiff, light, good preload &rebouund adjustments, not air, smoth compression, easy maintence | | Weaknesses: |
compression adjustments are crap | | Similar Products Used: |
sid, judy | | Bike Setup: |
airboren ti, full xtr, race lite wheels | | Bottom Line: | great fork, light, smooth travel, stiff | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Greg
a Racer
from Rochester, MI
Date Reviewed: June 3, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Your on a need to know basis | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
its light and looks cool | | Weaknesses: |
Manitou is a terrible company to deal with | | Similar Products Used: |
judy and sid | | Bike Setup: |
Kestrel cs-x full xtr | | Bottom Line: | This fork has worked 2 days out of the 3 months I have owned it. In the preseason I sheared the bolt of the left side just hitting bumps on a dirt road. It was poser triz and this 650 dollar piece broke. I work at a shop and called our rep repeatedly, he sent the wrong part and charged me for it. I have called 5 times in the past 2 weeks and this guy (Mike) still hasn't responded. If a shop asst. manager cant get help you wont either save yourself while you can and buy a sid sl (good fork, good company). The single flame is for Mike the flaming rep at manitou. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ed Senne
a Cross-Country Rider
from S.D. Ca.
Date Reviewed: June 2, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
all | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Light | | Weaknesses: |
Tire clearance | | Similar Products Used: |
Many | | Bike Setup: |
S-Works fsr xc | | Bottom Line: | When I first picked up the fork I said wow light. Then I put it on and it was the crappiest fork I had ever used. Turns out the bushings were not sized correctly causing massive stiction. I sent the fork back and they reworked it. Cost me $7 shipping which chapped my butt. When it came back it was worlds better except it topped out. Another call to Answer got me some new top out bumpers which I installed. Now the fork works great. Stiff and fairly plush. The adjustments all seem to have good affect. (before nothing affected how it worked). I would give it 5 chilis now but I'm only giving 3 because of the hassles. My suggestion to the people who's forks work crappy, send it back to Answer and have them set it up the way it should have been from the start. Get THEM to pay for the shippng though. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Russ Langley
a Cross-Country Rider
from Charlotte, NC
Date Reviewed: May 31, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Seems to be a great fork . It does what they say. | | Weaknesses: |
The knob, which adjusts rebound located on the bottom of the fork has fallen out twice to date. There must be a better design! | | Similar Products Used: |
Various Rockshox | | Bike Setup: |
Specialized FSR XC S-Works | | Bottom Line: | I don't know the details, however Manitou or Specialized replaced the Ti spring in the fork which then went to Specialized for my bike. They advertise Ti springs and then allow Specialized to change their design. I don't understand how a company could allow this change on their product if they really have pride in their own product. The adjustment knob falling out is Bull-S. Amybody could come up with a better design than this!
Other than these problems which don't really effect preformance, it seems to be a great fork. Due to their ethical and design problems I can't justify a 5 star rating . | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Squirrel
a Racer
from Cincinnati, OH
Date Reviewed: May 21, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
light as hell
titanium spring | | Weaknesses: |
tire clearance(expected) | | Similar Products Used: |
Girvin Vector, Judy XC, Marzo Z2. | | Bike Setup: |
Klein Pulse II | | Bottom Line: | Very nice fork but remember this: THIS HERE AIN'T NO BOMBER, so it won't be nearly as plush. This is a racing fork and as we all know by now, racing dictates function over comfort. Did anyone else notice the carbon weave on the inside of the lower steerer? I don't know what it's there for, but I'm certainly one up on my buds.
5 stars for a desent SID air alternative. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Charlie
a Racer
from S.F., Ca.
Date Reviewed: May 18, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
China Camp/ Boggs | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
of course weight was a factor, but the lock-out feature helped alot. The grease port is an idea whose time should have come a long time ago . | | Weaknesses: |
Too narrow crown, not nearly as stiff as reviewed | | Similar Products Used: |
All of them , I work in a shop - enough said | | Bike Setup: |
I'm running this shock on a Ibis single speed, hence the urge for light weight and the lock-out. I went to the softer spring and mcu and found that it gave me what I was looking for. This seems to be the solution to the not as plush as a Marzo problem. | | Bottom Line: | I would def suggest that if you weigh 160-170 lbs. like I do that you get the softer tune kit for this fork. Manitou was pretty cool about switching it out FOR FREE!!!! A little pressure on them might be needed but they'll do it. Remember you just paid at least $600 on this fork, you should be satisfied.Once set up correctly I was quite pleased with the carbon, Also something to remember , this is a racing fork not a Marzo Z1, It's not going to be the plushest ride in the world. One last thing, someone mentioned that the grease port didn't work, I don't know about yours (there may be dirt clogging it), but mine works just fine. I'v had the lowers off and the grease actually did get to the lower bushings, much to my surprize! Not to mention what a good job the seals have done as far as keeping crap out of the lowers, not perfect but above average. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
David
a Cross-Country Rider
from Baltimore
Date Reviewed: May 18, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Avalon | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
Light | | Weaknesses: |
Harsh,unresponsive controls, stiction, red, price. | | Similar Products Used: |
Marzocchi atom bomb, sid, girvin.. | | Bike Setup: |
S-works fxr. | | Bottom Line: | Although this fork is quite light, that is where the fun ends. I find that it lacks response to small bumps, pings off rocks, lacks any great suspension qualities. This fork was WAY overrated by the mags(as usual). I would give it 0 flames if it were not so light...Very overpriced for it's LACK of performance! ....any light forks out there that actually work? | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
DanK
a Cross-Country Rider
from california
Date Reviewed: May 17, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
light
good preload and rebound adjustments | | Weaknesses: |
compression adjustments do nothing on THIS fork. | | Similar Products Used: |
99z2bam
98 atom bomb
all previous Manitou's | | Bike Setup: |
99 Element TO | | Bottom Line: | The fork is light but I find that the 70mm of travel feels like it's about half that. I know that this fork is not the same 'type' of fork the bombers are, but it's nowhere near as plush or confidence-inspiring. I'm not anti Answer or pro Bomber, but I am very disappointed in this fork. The compression adjustments on my fork really don't effect the performance. The fork does climb much better than the bobbing Bomber though. The action on technical and rough trails was middle of the road. The fork didn't seem to move but I did make it through the sections in one piece.I'm sure this fork would be great on a hardtail or softail, but on my 99 Element for MY riding style it just doesn't suit my tastes. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
mtbchick
a Racer
from Colorado
Date Reviewed: May 15, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
light, plush, adjustability, stiffness | | Weaknesses: |
Tough to get wider tires to fit properly | | Similar Products Used: |
White Bros, Judy SID | | Bike Setup: |
Dean Jester | | Bottom Line: | I LOOOOOOOVE this shock! It is plush and smooth. Heard problems with the arch cracking, but also saw that Manitou has fixed that problem since January. It has better rebound than the White Bros. I demo'ed with an Englund system. For a full bath system, it is tops! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
bikedude
a Racer
from San Rafael
Date Reviewed: May 11, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
? | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
light, stiff | | Weaknesses: |
not a supple as marzocchi or '99 judys | | Similar Products Used: |
sid xc, atom bomb, judy xc | | Bike Setup: |
rocky mountain thin air | | Bottom Line: | This fork is the dream racer's fork because of the light weight, but I think an inch more travel wouldn't hurt. If you take apart the lowers, you'll see that the microlube is merely a hole drilled through the back of the leg. It is about an inch from the top bushing and about five from the lower bushing so it does little to lube them. You would have to fill the whole leg with grease before you actually lube something. Fortunatly, this fork is a piece of cake to tear down. I give it four stars because it does it's job well. Minus one star because the microlube is more hype than function. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chad
a Cross-Country Rider
from Lynchburg, Va
Date Reviewed: May 7, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
very smooth on small stuff and maybe the best big hit fork I've tried | | Weaknesses: |
carbon arch is fragile
bad customer service
preload adjuster fell off on 1st ride | | Similar Products Used: |
Sid
Judy SL
White Brothers SC70 | | Bike Setup: |
Klein Adroit, 1 1/4 steerer | | Bottom Line: | I was happy with this product untill it broke. I am light(135 lbs)and a farily smooth rider. The customer service was terrible. I would sell this fork in a heart beat for a Sid if I didn't have the uncommon 1 1/4 Klein Steerer. Manitou BLOWS!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Steve
a Cross-Country Rider
from Utah
Date Reviewed: April 30, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Moab | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Light | | Weaknesses: |
Fragile looking, narrow | | Similar Products Used: |
Z2's, Sid, Superfly | | Bike Setup: |
Specialized M4 XC, FS | | Bottom Line: | This fork come stock on my M4. It worked well the few times I rode it then, My new Bontrager Race lights came in. The fork was not wide enough to accomadate the hubs!
So I was forced(?) to shell out more cash and purchased a Superfly. Wheels mounted nicely, now this thing really fly's. The whole expierance left me with mixed feelings about this particular fork. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Joe
a Cross-Country Rider
from Miller Place, NY
Date Reviewed: April 28, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Rocky Pt. | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
Adjustability, Lock-out feature, Grease fittings | | Weaknesses: |
Customer Service, Brake Arch Cracked in two locations | | Similar Products Used: |
Cannondale Headshok, Judy SL, Judy XC, SID XC | | Bike Setup: |
1999 DBR XR-8 | | Bottom Line: | The brake arch cracked back in January. Manitou responded pretty quickly and sent me a set of last years lowers (not Carbon, no grease fittings) in about one week.
It is more than 3 months later now and I still don't have my Carbon lowers yet. Manitou says that they don't have any Carbon units manufactured right now. It's funny how SX Carbons are still advertised in all the magazines though.
I was very happy with the forks performance aside from the broken arch. It is rigid, takes medium and large hits very well. The tunability and grease fittings are big pluses.
This $650 fork should not have broken though. It broke when I caught a pedal on a stump and the bike and me hit the ground. No trees or high speeds were involved. I weight 180 lbs.
Lets go Manitou. I've been very patient and understanding up until this point. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Scott
a Racer
from Irvine, CA
Date Reviewed: April 27, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
This fork super light weight, and it is very stiff for its weight. The good looks are an added bonus. | | Weaknesses: |
The fork legs have very little spacing between them making it difficult to get the tire past the brake pads when installing a tire. Also, the fork tends to blow through its travel quickly no matter what adjustments made. | | Similar Products Used: |
Rock Shox - Judy w/ WB hop-up kit. | | Bike Setup: |
Dean FS with Risse Rear Shock. | | Bottom Line: | This fork adds some comfort and control to your bike, and is great for racing. Its light weight and limited travel, however, don't make it the greatest trail fork. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Fangorn
a Cross-Country Rider
from Middle Earth
Date Reviewed: April 23, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Entwash | | Duration Product Used: |
tested or demo'ed only | | Strengths: |
stiff, light | | Weaknesses: |
elastoooomers, not too smooth | | Similar Products Used: |
mozoco | | Bike Setup: |
monkeys | | Bottom Line: | okay | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Whit
a Cross-Country Rider
from Denver
Date Reviewed: April 20, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Lightweight, stiffness, maintenance | | Weaknesses: |
Price? | | Similar Products Used: |
Tried the WhiteBro. SC70, Judy SL and Sid | | Bike Setup: |
Have run this on a Moots YBB and Specialized FSR XC Sworks | | Bottom Line: | I have no Idea what Jamie and some others are talking about, Jamie has a personal vendetta towards Manitou obviously and should not have reviewed something he didn't use. That said and I must say that this fork does what no other lightweight has to this point. It is stiff and lively no dead fork air feel. You get the ride of the coil with super trick lightweight. Its easy to keep lubed with the microlube setup. An excellent fork for the XC racer who doesn't have a full time mechanic to babysit his SID. If you want a lightweight fork that is easy to maintain and performs the Carbon is it. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Josh
a Cross-Country Rider
from San Luis Obispo
Date Reviewed: March 27, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Stiffer than an Atom Bomb, tracks very well, light as all hell | | Weaknesses: |
Not as smooth as the Marzocchi forks. | | Similar Products Used: |
Atom Bomb | | Bike Setup: |
KHS Alite 4000 | | Bottom Line: | This is a good fork. Personally, I am a bit on the heavy side for it, but is still performs flex free. My roomate and I have gone through 4 of these forks already, due to Manitou's problems with QC, but the customer service has been top notch. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Michael
a Weekend Warrior
from Park City, UT
Date Reviewed: March 27, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Deer Valley | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Light
Stiff with good adjustments (well, I upgraded the spring)
Easy to service, especially with the cool micro grease infuser or whatever they call it
Manitou quality | | Weaknesses: |
Expensive, though I did get it for $530 from Bikeworld.com
No disc brake mounts
Ugly red | | Similar Products Used: |
Manitou SX ti | | Bike Setup: |
Merlin Echo | | Bottom Line: | Expensive, but light. I'm a clydesdale, so I didn't trust the SID because of the air dampening. I might be wrong, but the Manitou appears to be more sturdy. I like it a lot, but I hate the red color. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chan Soon-Xin
a Weekend Warrior
from Penang, Malaysia
Date Reviewed: March 16, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
Light
Very Smooth action | | Weaknesses: |
Broke! | | Similar Products Used: |
Pace RC-36 | | Bike Setup: |
Kona Muni-Mula | | Bottom Line: | Fork light, look good, but travel short and big hit like tree root not absorbed. Definately for rigid bike only. I spend 4 1/2 months salary on this fork and it has already broken. My dealer say that I ride it too hard and bushing has come loose. It sent for repair and I can't ride. Very nice when it worked, but seem like if it broke in 1 month then it break again. Warranty last 1 year. Good value? I review again if more problem, but for price I expect more. 2 chilli for being good and bad at same time. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
MATT
a racer
from MINNESOTA
Date Reviewed: March 13, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I FINALLY GOT TO RIDE THIS FORK
IN ARIZONA,
ALL I SAY IS IF U DON'T LIKE THE FORK
YOU ARE REALLY STUPID AND PROBABLY
KNOW NOTHIN' ABOUT BIKES I PUT THIS ON
MY FISHER PROCALIBER ('99) AND IT REALLY ROCKS!
M
A
N
I
T
O
U
RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mel
a
from cross-country rider
Date Reviewed: March 1, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
Just upgraded from a 97 Judy and it's definitely SUPERIOR. I don't know about these bozos claiming it's crap; this fork is the BEST FORK around. Easy to adjust and dial-in for compression and rebound. There's also the convenient micro-lube system. This fork is plush, light, and rides like a dream. Took mine on my first downhill run and actually ran like 5 plus mph faster. Soaked up stutter bumps like a dream. Took it and made some two foot drops and performed flawlessly. I compared the action to my partner's Roxshocks SID and the action was butter smooth next to the SID. This fork ROCKS!All I could say is, let's NOT allow one isolated service issue cloud up the review of the BEST 99 fork around. Service issues should be addressed by Manitou customer service. Let's not rate this fork based on one bad incident. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
bob
a cross-country rider
from canada
Date Reviewed: February 26, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
i have never tried these but i felt sorry for them because no one had voted on them.!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!! !!!!!! !!!!!! !!!!! !!!!!! !!!! ! ! !!!!! !!!! !!!! ! !!!!!! !! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Alex Forrester
a
from UK
Date Reviewed: February 23, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
This is the worst race fork I have ever ridden. It flexes like a semi-errect pecker, I mean, how the hell did manitou produce a top-of-the line fork with such poor lateral stiffness??? It looks good and is light, but what use is that when it flexes so much? I would recommend spending £100 less and getting SX-Ti's, or preferably some super-fly's.
I am definitely putting the rigid forks back on my racer after this experience, so does anyone want a pair of '99 SX-Carbons for £300 ? (Post free) | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris
a cross-country rider
from UK
Date Reviewed: February 15, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I think these forks are excellent, and totally disagree with what's siad below. They are plush, sealing is very good, lightweight and really easy to service and tune. TPC is the most superior damping system yet, it's just so simple, yet so good. Unlike Rock Shox, you can play around with Rebound and compression with no fuss, and then you can also change oil weight (the compression adjuster does work fine, despite what MBA claim). You don't have to worry about leaky air and oil cratridges (aka RS Sids). The crown and barce is trick, and the micro-lube is fantastic. Spares support and warranty is also good here in the UK. All forks have niggles, some more than others. Judy was meant to be the best ever, yet I've lost count of the amount of blown cartridges I've heards about, and seen. For what its worth also Marzocchi have had their fair share of problems, with forks blowing up due to duff seals, and tollerance problems on the inner legs. I am on my 5th manitous, and still love them. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
rusty
a cross-country rider
from ny
Date Reviewed: February 13, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I agree with Jamie they will have warranty issues, they will take FOREVER for Manitou to fix, and by june you'll be able to buy them for 199.95 from super- go.Having been the mgr. of two different bike shops I have had my share of warranty problems Manitou is the worst,by far,at satisfying warranty claims.yes,Rockshox fail often,but they will wil be happy to take care of the problem when it arises.If you dont want to deal w/any of this crap buy a marzocchi,for years they have made excellent forks (the xc-500 being the one to tarnish their reputation)and they have a great warranty dept.so stop being weight driven and buy parts that work.I don't own an sx carbon but i've ridden and warranteed them allready.I had a sx ti last year that was un-rideable for 2 months while they screwwed up my warranty parts order.Any one who wants more details e-mail me at shacklefordr@yahoo.com
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jamie
a cross-country rider
from Boston
Date Reviewed: February 8, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
Made by Manitou AND has elastomers. Enough said.Ok they are light... But they still suck bigtime....
Problably will have the same warranty problems like before too, not to mention the blowout prices you get at the end of the season with these crappy forks. | | Overall Rating: |
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