Submitted by
Dustin Ponko
a Downhiller
from PG, CA USA
Date Reviewed: 4/27/2008 8:48:52 PM
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| FavoriteTrail: |
Tunnels |
| Duration Product Used: |
Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: |
$375 |
| Purchased At: |
manitou factory.....I know some people |
| Strengths: |
Its great! I love the plushness of the fork. It can handle a lot of stuff. |
| Weaknesses: |
It makes a wierd noise that gets anoying and Sometimes it needs a some lube to make it more absorbent but its still great. |
| Similar Products Tried: |
Marazochi Mz all mtn Comp |
| Bike Setup: |
Iron Horse warrior frame (pretty much custom built) |
| Bottom Line: |
Great fork for DH. Best Bang for you buck, and its just cool. |
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Submitted by
celio silva
a Weekend Warrior
from portugal
Date Reviewed: 4/25/2008 10:28:27 AM
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| Duration Product Used: |
6 months |
| Price Paid: |
$200 |
| Purchased At: |
ebay |
| Strengths: |
very easy to "do your self" after reading the Manitou manual with VERY VERY attention, simple mecanism inside, good looking fork, very cheap, not to much weight. |
| Weaknesses: |
internal not to strong. need all time maintenance, because the seals arent to much effective, the oil and grease goes away quickly. the ajustments really dont make much difference in performance. dont give much confidence, and the spring is to soft (im 90 kg). the rebound doenst seems to work. and bob even with the SPV+ (unless you put a good load of air pressure),... |
| Similar Products Tried: |
this is my first triple crown |
| Bike Setup: |
ramleigh xt 2500 with manitou 4way swinger (rear 7" travel) |
| Bottom Line: |
i bye this forks used. The first thing i notice, is the manitou dont have a dedicated service manual, so wasnt simple to learn all about it. The Air leaking was a problem right from the day 1. i been solving this with 2 steeps. first, i put some layers of teflon in the internal rod, where the air seal is, so the segment of the rod become more large. this way, the air seal gives more pressure to inner legs. second, You cant expected the air remain in the fork, if you DONT have OIL in it. you have to put a good quantity of oil (like motor 15w40 oil) into to the left fork, so the air can keep inside, whem you feel the air is starting to go way... or like me, put some in advance for 3 or 4 rides. This way i been able to keep the air pressure inside the fork, and be able to used in light freeride.
The internal and external ajustments, doenst do much difference at all. maybe with heavier oil.
The air, its all what really make some difference. Without a good load of pressure air... this forks just dont work for me. |
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Submitted by
Adam
a Downhiller
from The Oklahoma Hills
Date Reviewed: 2/3/2007 10:33:37 AM
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| Duration Product Used: |
Less than 1 month |
| Purchased At: |
LBS (came on bike) |
| Strengths: |
I didnt find any. |
| Weaknesses: |
Fork felt like wet noodle unless you put a lot of air in it, which leaks out in a few minutes. The axle bolt broke off inside the axle. Breakable plastic internals. Trashed in less than 5 rides. |
| Similar Products Tried: |
Judy XL(dc), Manitou SX-R, DJIII, Boxxer, Jr. T, Shiver DC |
| Bike Setup: |
05 BigHit FSR, 66rc (now), Howitzer BB/Hussefelt |
| Bottom Line: |
Absolute crap. I rode on a Manitou for several years on my XC bike and loved it, zero maintenence, plush and light, even hucked it a little. But this fork has forever tuned me against Manitou. It came stock on my BigHit. Against my better judgement I left it on the bike. I did a couple downhill runs on it and felt like my life was in jeopardy. It felt decent on 10+ feet to transition, but through little stuff, I felt like it would rebound me right off the bike. Wouldnt hold air and the internals broke off inside after 2 weeks leaving a completely locked out 7" fork that had a horrible metal on metal clash when attempted to compress. Manitou was quick to send me a new one, an 06 model. I didnt even let it grace the front of my Specialized, and sold it immediately. Dont buy it unless you plan on leaving your wheels on the ground and just want to look cool on your dual crown fork. I would give it negative chilis if I could. |
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Submitted by
bart
a Weekend Warrior
from uk, scotland
Date Reviewed: 1/21/2007 4:55:05 AM
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| FavoriteTrail: |
inverlithen |
| Duration Product Used: |
1 Year |
| Price Paid: |
$99 |
| Purchased At: |
jensen usa |
| Strengths: |
170 of travel, dual crown, air assist, |
| Weaknesses: |
bit sticky, factory spring to hard when riden with more than 40psi, black paint comes off from f. legs |
| Similar Products Tried: |
N/A |
| Bike Setup: |
4-way swinger, KingPin, and other s?"@t... |
| Bottom Line: |
!!!!!!!!NOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This fork needs an upgrade straight out of the box. I redesigned air chamber, and added one extra self tightening washer and 20cl of oil to air assistleg. Changed factory oil to 0.25(?). After that it works like charm. I paid only 99$ for that fork and and i treated as a bearbone-fork. My design worked out and now it can hold 90psi easy. Didn,t lost a pound of air for the last 6 mnths. I can't say much about drop offs as the bigest i make are 4-5 foot. But never bottomed it with 72kg of waight and around 40psi.
AND HEY!!! SEALS ARE OK, it's just lack of extra washer in a.assist leg makes this fork junk. 30min of work and you gonna praise it. dont bother to send it back to manitou DIY. If u need a pic+guide how to fix it: fucpl(at)wp.pl |
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Submitted by
Tim Pointon
a Downhiller
from Cornwall
Date Reviewed: 12/28/2006 10:53:22 AM
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| FavoriteTrail: |
tim@moresoftware.biz |
| Duration Product Used: |
3 months |
| Strengths: |
nice metal air valve dust cap was about the best bit on these. |
| Weaknesses: |
Everything about them. Sloppy feel , bottomed out with any more than 3ft drop. Top seals blew as i braked at the end of my drive of the first outing. And continued to blow seal after seal despite being fixed by my local norco dealer severval times. |
| Similar Products Tried: |
Junior T |
| Bike Setup: |
05 norco savage |
| Bottom Line: |
Possibly the worst engineering i have ever had the misfortune to own. After 3 months of tossing about between my lbs , norco and manitou , the norco rep got so fed up with me they swapped them for a set of 04 junior Ts off a demo bike. these have lasted 2 yrs and are still going strong. My advice would be to stay well clear , unless they are free and you are looking for somthing to prop the garage door open with ! |
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Submitted by
Mike
a Weekend Warrior
from Kodak,TN
Date Reviewed: 10/23/2006 5:31:57 AM
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| FavoriteTrail: |
Mt.Snow DH |
| Duration Product Used: |
Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: |
$150 |
| Purchased At: |
internet trade |
| Strengths: |
Dual Crown |
| Weaknesses: |
Probably the FORK SEALS. |
| Similar Products Tried: |
Monster-T(is that even similiar), SHIVER,BOXXER,66RC,Z.1FR. |
| Bike Setup: |
01 Specialized FSR Enduro PRO 4.6" travel.Beefy wheels,Hayes hydro brakes,etc... |
| Bottom Line: |
Traded a Sherman for this because i needed a huge steerer tube & just needed a fork for the Enduro & this one worked. Actually it looks good & with 50# of air in it feels plush without bottoming easy.I weigh 188.
The knob on the bottom turns alot,but works.Doesn't have any clicks or anything on that knob. Need to replace the seals & then it should be fine for Enduro & XC riding.I wouldn't even think of pounding this fork on a real DH course. |
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Submitted by
Brian
a Downhiller
from Monterey, Ca. USA
Date Reviewed: 9/11/2006 9:15:31 AM
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| FavoriteTrail: |
Braile Trail-Santa Cruz, Ca. |
| Duration Product Used: |
1 Year |
| Price Paid: |
$180 |
| Purchased At: |
Jenson USA |
| Strengths: |
Fork is cheap, easy to service. Has the option of a 20mm thru axle. Can be used to attach the front wheel to the rest of the bicycle. |
| Weaknesses: |
Horrible small bump compliance, air assist must be removed within 2 seconds of use, rebound adjuster is only there to look cool, lowers are mis-drilled so the stanchions don't line up and stick, poor turing radius even for a dual crown fork and it also looks ugly. |
| Similar Products Tried: |
Marzocchi jr. t |
| Bike Setup: |
Currently on an older Giant AC with extended rockers (7 in. travel). |
| Bottom Line: |
Originally got this fork to give my GT idrive a bit more travel up front for cheap. read the bad reviews about blowing seals, but contacted manitou and got the air assist removal kit for ~$20 and bought the fork anyway. This fork was so cheap I couldn't pass it up. After installing the kit, I got one decent ride on the fork before destroying my frame. Fork worked well enough during this ride. I moved on to a new Faith, and built up a Giant AC frame for my girlfriend and used the fork. She got maybe two more rides out of it before it truely started sucking. Now the fork sticks badly even after servicing it, the rebound adjuster is a joke and even with the original weak air assist spring she is about to get through only around 3 in. of travel on some fairly gnarly trails. Got an 888 being shipped to me as we speak, and I'm moving my jr. t over to my girlfriend's bike.
If you're thinking about buying this fork because you're on a budget and wouldn't mind trying to fix it, don't. You'll only be trying to polish a turd, and at the end of the day it'll still be a turd and your hands will be smelly. Save up the extra cash for a better fork, you'll save money in the long run.
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Submitted by
Kyle
a Weekend Warrior
from Concord, Michigan, U.S.A
Date Reviewed: 8/16/2006 7:08:15 AM
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| FavoriteTrail: |
KR trials |
| Duration Product Used: |
1 Year |
| Price Paid: |
$300 |
| Strengths: |
Great smooth suspension, lots of travel, great from freeride |
| Weaknesses: |
Not ment for extreme freeride |
| Similar Products Tried: |
... |
| Bike Setup: |
You would probably want to use this fork on a dual suspention frame that can handle the amounf of travel |
| Bottom Line: |
Its a awsome fork for an amazing bike. I would suggest this fork to anyone looking for some good fun and not willing to spend a fortune |
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Submitted by
Todd
a Downhiller
from West Linn, OR
Date Reviewed: 8/15/2006 10:12:54 PM
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| FavoriteTrail: |
anything |
| Duration Product Used: |
Less than 1 month |
| Purchased At: |
direct |
| Strengths: |
holds the wheel in place. very plush. looks a little better than the 2005 did on my bike. didnt blow the seals in the first five minuts and its actually alright for a little DH and most Fr type stuff. |
| Weaknesses: |
well manitou sent me this 2006 kingpin back instead of my 2005 king, this one has no air assist and is fluid flow dampening :( I miss the TPc+ |
| Similar Products Tried: |
05 kingpin, boxxer race, 66rc, dropoff triple/comp (130mm), stance static/flow. |
| Bike Setup: |
2005 Ibex zone, stock but with a 2006 kingpin |
| Bottom Line: |
alright. so I blew the seals on my 2005 kingpin twice. I originally sent the fork into manitou, it returned, I rode it for probably an hour, blew the seals again. so a couple of days ago I returned to my LBS and they got in contact with manitou. manitou shipped out a new fork priority mail and with a pre paid shipping label for my old fork. fork got back today so I got in installed on my bike. i'm a little impressed. the springs are really soft, probably going to upgrade those.
the fork is going up to whistler on my bike. I'm hopeing it wont break or anything. i'll write another review of it when I get back. seems to be an alright fork, doesnt get sticky like the older king. this fork is just duel coil. not air assist so :/ but it did come with rebound adjust and Qr20mm. see I bought the kingpin in december of 2005 for $99.99 at jensonusa so this isnt a bad fork at all for what I paid. but i'll rate it at its 400 dollar pricetag. |
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Submitted by
Austin Sedz
from Canada
Date Reviewed: 7/2/2006 10:56:50 AM
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| FavoriteTrail: |
freeriding. i dont follow trails. |
| Duration Product Used: |
Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: |
$150 |
| Purchased At: |
pinkbike |
| Strengths: |
cheep. pretty. plush. |
| Weaknesses: |
there is none other then the crowns not being integrated. YOU PEOPLE ARE ALL IGNERANT TO THE FACT THAT THESE ARE NOT DOWNHILL FORKS THEY ARE FOR FREERIDE AND THE PEOPLE WHO RACE AND DO DOWNHILL ON THEM, BLAME IT ON THE FORK WHEN REALLY IT'S THEIR FAULT THEY DIN BUT A 200mm DOWNHILL FORK LIKE THE TRAVIS TRIPLE. |
| Similar Products Tried: |
Marzocchi dropoff. Manitou sherman flick. Marzocchi 66vf. Marzocchi dirtjam. Fox 40. Fox 36 talus and vans. sherman slider. Manitou Dorado 180mm. etc. |
| Bike Setup: |
Giant stp. new fork. new stuff.... |
| Bottom Line: |
this fork is for FREERIDE!!!!!! not DH. LISTEN TO PRODUCT RECOMENDATIONS. THAT IS WHY YOU DONT DO TRIALS ON A FRICKIN 888. IT IS A GOOD FORK FOR IT'S PRICE SO BUY IT IF U WANT A CHEEP FREERIDE FORK. NOT DOWNHILL |
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