I thought I'd start this thread to give my thoughts and see what others think.
With all the new suspension components being released this year (new Fox forks and dampers, Flight Attendant for XC, new Manitou stuff on the horizon) I began to get a little itchy to try something new. I've been on Fox for a bit now and recently broke my 3rd FIT4 damper (34 StepCast) in recent months. The lockout keeps failing, as well as any external compression adjustment.
I had been kicking around the idea of Flight Attendant (FA from here on) but purchased the new Pivot Mach 4 SL RIGHT before the release of FA. Not willing to wait until June (and really not into more batteries), I weighed my options:
1) New Fox stuff.
2) Ohlins XC fork and shock (the stuff BMC is running - Sarrou, etc).
3) Manitou Mattoc and Mara
The new Fox components didn't really excite me, given recent experiences. My 34 StepCast with Runt air spring has been good for the most part, the Runt allows me to have it supple off the top and still stay high in the travel until I hit something big. The feeling that I'm riding on the air spring - not the compression damping - isn't ideal, though.
The new Manitou stuff is still vaporware, which is a shame because I've wanted to try it for a while now. The currently available Mattoc Pro is ~200g added weight for the bike, and the Mara is out of stock everywhere. Ugh.
That left the Ohlins parts. My only hesitation here was a lack of local experience - I've seen Ohlins stuff on trailbikes and Enduro rigs here, but not XC bikes. Also, not inexpensive, though not FA levels of silliness. I have a racing friend who works for Ohlins on the automotive side, and I reached out to him for his experiences as I know he races XC. He was effusive in his praise, and he doesn't sugarcoat things, so I figured why not?
Also, Manitou and Ohlins have a rep as the best damping on the MTB side with many people, which reinforced my decision.
I went with the carbon crown/steerer version of the fork to keep the weight in line with the Fox 34 StepCast.
Today was the second ride... wow. It took a while to dial in, and I think I need one more volume spacer in the rear shock to make it slightly more progressive, but I'm beyond impressed. The fork is very laterally rigid, much wider stance than the Fox. The adjusters actually do something besides make the fork so harsh that your fillings shake loose. Grip and traction for days, front and rear. The "open" position is actually fine for anything except maybe a sprint start or a long road climb out of the saddle - minimal bobbing but amazing traction and comfort. There is real, noticeable compression damping going on, and it's not harsh! The middle "pedal" setting is even less unwanted motion, and still quite comfortable. I would likely use this mode on a rolling or flattish race course with a lot of accelerations out of turns or up short steep climbs. The lockout is as solid a lockout as I can recall. The front and rear are very well matched in all modes.
One thing that pleasantly surprised me - I need 2-3 PSI more in both tires because I can corner harder with this setup. The extra pressure keeps me from folding a sidewall at those speeds and under those forces, and the suspension is smooth enough to let the tires be tires and not an undamped suspension component.
In any case, early days (so durability is yet to be determined) but I'm really happy so far. This feels like trailbike or enduro suspension travel quality - just less of it, and tuned for XC racing.
I'd still like to ride the new Fox parts, as well as the Manitou once it's released. I'm having zero regrets from not waiting, though.
With all the new suspension components being released this year (new Fox forks and dampers, Flight Attendant for XC, new Manitou stuff on the horizon) I began to get a little itchy to try something new. I've been on Fox for a bit now and recently broke my 3rd FIT4 damper (34 StepCast) in recent months. The lockout keeps failing, as well as any external compression adjustment.
I had been kicking around the idea of Flight Attendant (FA from here on) but purchased the new Pivot Mach 4 SL RIGHT before the release of FA. Not willing to wait until June (and really not into more batteries), I weighed my options:
1) New Fox stuff.
2) Ohlins XC fork and shock (the stuff BMC is running - Sarrou, etc).
3) Manitou Mattoc and Mara
The new Fox components didn't really excite me, given recent experiences. My 34 StepCast with Runt air spring has been good for the most part, the Runt allows me to have it supple off the top and still stay high in the travel until I hit something big. The feeling that I'm riding on the air spring - not the compression damping - isn't ideal, though.
The new Manitou stuff is still vaporware, which is a shame because I've wanted to try it for a while now. The currently available Mattoc Pro is ~200g added weight for the bike, and the Mara is out of stock everywhere. Ugh.
That left the Ohlins parts. My only hesitation here was a lack of local experience - I've seen Ohlins stuff on trailbikes and Enduro rigs here, but not XC bikes. Also, not inexpensive, though not FA levels of silliness. I have a racing friend who works for Ohlins on the automotive side, and I reached out to him for his experiences as I know he races XC. He was effusive in his praise, and he doesn't sugarcoat things, so I figured why not?
Also, Manitou and Ohlins have a rep as the best damping on the MTB side with many people, which reinforced my decision.
I went with the carbon crown/steerer version of the fork to keep the weight in line with the Fox 34 StepCast.
Today was the second ride... wow. It took a while to dial in, and I think I need one more volume spacer in the rear shock to make it slightly more progressive, but I'm beyond impressed. The fork is very laterally rigid, much wider stance than the Fox. The adjusters actually do something besides make the fork so harsh that your fillings shake loose. Grip and traction for days, front and rear. The "open" position is actually fine for anything except maybe a sprint start or a long road climb out of the saddle - minimal bobbing but amazing traction and comfort. There is real, noticeable compression damping going on, and it's not harsh! The middle "pedal" setting is even less unwanted motion, and still quite comfortable. I would likely use this mode on a rolling or flattish race course with a lot of accelerations out of turns or up short steep climbs. The lockout is as solid a lockout as I can recall. The front and rear are very well matched in all modes.
One thing that pleasantly surprised me - I need 2-3 PSI more in both tires because I can corner harder with this setup. The extra pressure keeps me from folding a sidewall at those speeds and under those forces, and the suspension is smooth enough to let the tires be tires and not an undamped suspension component.
In any case, early days (so durability is yet to be determined) but I'm really happy so far. This feels like trailbike or enduro suspension travel quality - just less of it, and tuned for XC racing.
I'd still like to ride the new Fox parts, as well as the Manitou once it's released. I'm having zero regrets from not waiting, though.
