[SandmanLJS]

Like the subject says, im trying to get some opinions on this fork. I like to have builds done WAY ahead of time. The frame details are still not finilized. But Im looking for a 80mm fork that dosnt bob, or at the least has very little bob.Gotta be disc ready too. I prefer a rigid fork, but this bike is going to be my 24 hour race bike, so Id like something to take the edge off.

Right now, im planing on the Fox f80x, but the manitou is more then $100 cheaper, so I figgure its worth a look. I posted something in shock time, but its going on a single speed bike, so I figgure Id aske the guys and girls that are up out of the saddle mashing up hills.

Thanks!

 

[BicyclePhD]

I just got it
not enough time to give a full review but the snap svp works well
i like my forks stiff. It rides like a rigid untill you need it and it is very light
The green is a great color too
I had the fox f100 rl on my geared bike till i dumped that bike that was a great fork too but between the two i would take the R7

 

[SandmanLJS]

I just got it
not enough time to give a full review but the snap svp works well
i like my forks stiff. It rides like a rigid untill you need it and it is very light
The green is a great color too
I had the fox f100 rl on my geared bike till i dumped that bike that was a great fork too but between the two i would take the R7

Thanks for giving me a stright answer. i would deffentally set it up on the stiff side of things. Im really leaning towards the manitou, esp now with some positive and direct feedback.

I do really like that green, enough to wonder if it would likke right with an orange frame. Or what color would it look better with. But its a ways because like I said I plan things out very much ahead of time.

thanks.

 

[Mattman]

IMHO stay clear

If you have the option, I'd avoid a Manitou. I'd rank them number five of the top five fork makers. In the shop where I work, we see a lot of them in for repair which is strange because they are a small percentage of what we sell. This is just my personal bias reflected here but a Manitou of any flavor would be way down my list.

 

[SandmanLJS]

If you have the option, I'd avoid a Manitou. I'd rank them number five of the top five fork makers. In the shop where I work, we see a lot of them in for repair which is strange because they are a small percentage of what we sell. This is just my personal bias reflected here but a Manitou of any flavor would be way down my list.

Thanks for the input. I have to ask though. What type of repairs are you seeing? LIke blown seals, or simple stuff like oil changes? Thanks.

 

[Mattman]

More thoughts

Thanks for the input. I have to ask though. What type of repairs are you seeing? LIke blown seals, or simple stuff like oil changes? Thanks.

Yes a few are just oil changes but also things like blown seals and broken knobs etc. The number of them that we see in for repairs just seems disproportionate to the percentage of bikes in my area with those forks. I don't know a single person who has one except when it was OEM. People in my area who go out and buy a fork seem to select others. My own experience with Manitou as a rider is limited to one cheap fork on a spare bike I keep at my inlaws house in Colorado. I marvel at how crappy it is when ever I ride that bike but, it is a cheap OEM fork. I'm sure some of the nicer forks ride great but I have to wonder about reliability vs others.

 

[SandmanLJS]

Yes a few are just oil changes but also things like blown seals and broken knobs etc. The number of them that we see in for repairs just seems disproportionate to the percentage of bikes in my area with those forks. I don't know a single person who has one except when it was OEM. People in my area who go out and buy a fork seem to select others. My own experience with Manitou as a rider is limited to one cheap fork on a spare bike I keep at my inlaws house in Colorado. I marvel at how crappy it is when ever I ride that bike but, it is a cheap OEM fork. I'm sure some of the nicer forks ride great but I have to wonder about reliability vs others.

I dont like the word disporportinate. That scares me a bit. I would hope their flagship XC fork would be better, but im having second thoughts and leaning towards the fox again.

The bike at the shop almost all have low end manitou they seem kinda usless, bob when your out of the saddle and nothing when you go over a bump. But the people that buy bikes from us dont ride enough, so I havent seen many come back in.

Thanks for you imput.

 

[Miker J]

Now that you mention it...

...seems like everyone I knew who rode a Manitou fork had problems with it. 3 out of 3 rider I knew had issues with their forks. I'm not sure what the deal is. I hate to admit it because the R7 really seemed to fit the bill for a not-too-expensive, 80mm, light weight, xc fork. Fox is just so expensive. If they could pare the Reba down it looks like it would be a great choice but as it stands it seems a bit heavy. Also, I'm not sure if that fork even comes in an 80mm (85mm I think).

 

[shoodes]

If you have the option, I'd avoid a Manitou. I'd rank them number five of the top five fork makers. In the shop where I work, we see a lot of them in for repair which is strange because they are a small percentage of what we sell. This is just my personal bias reflected here but a Manitou of any flavor would be way down my list.

On the contrary, the shop I work at has seen the most problems with fox forks, especially the "x" models. Rockshox is close runner up, with manitou in a distant third. From a customer service standpoint, answer/manitou is top notch. Fox on the other hand, can't even be reached half the time and when you do get through, you are dumped into a voice mail system that is always full and always hangs up on you, nice. Answer/manitou is always willing to send replacement product before needing the defective product back, allowing customers a minimal amount of down time. We a customer's fox f100 had a faulty inerta valve staright out of the box, they were not willing to send a new fork or the part to fix it, and the fork had to be sent in and go through the normal service channels, which as many people know is a 3+ week wait. I couldn't believe it. Imo both compaines make a good product and both will always have some form of normal problems, but my money would be with manitou, fox has just disappointed both myself and customers too many times.

 

[Strong Ti]

Fox F80X prob

I had a problem with my damper but the New Zealand Fox rep replaced it under warranty without any probs. You can see in the pic the wear and it had some play. Once this was done it was fine. Oh and i also installed a set of Enduro seals

 

[carlos]

the fox "terralogic" forks are the most expensive and most unreliable forks out there. manitou are not far behind but since these r7 have improved a lot, i would give it a try. or you can go with the good and old rockshox reba.

 

[jtompilot]

I rented a bike in Scottsdale that had one. Shock leaked air. Next day took it back to the shop for air, by the time I got to the trail head it was flat again.

 

[SandmanLJS]

hmmmmm. I have a lot to think about. Figgures that both have people that love each for and people that hate each fork. Fox does seem very complex, but I guess it would have to be to do what it does. But im sure the same could be said for the R7 too.

Im still kinda leaning towards the R7, party because of the price, and I have heard lots of horror stories with Foxes customer service.

Thanks guys, anybody else, feel free to chime in.

 

[steelbike]

7 manitou forks

I've had 7 Manitou forks(still have 2) and never had a problem with any ot them. Also had 2 marz. and two rockshox, never a problem with them either. Probably because I'm a light rider and do my own maintenance contributes to that. I haven't owned a Fox but have ridden them and IMO it's a great fork.
That said, 80% of my riding is with a rigid fork.

As far as the new Manitou, or any new suspension fork, IMO I'd wait and see until they get sorted out.

 

[mtbdcd]

I have been thinking about the R7, but the non IS brake would cause me to have to buy a different caliper, that is post mount. Curious as to why Answer does not supply forks with a choice on the caliper mount? Granted the post mount seems better, not very widely used.

 

[SandmanLJS]

I've had 7 Manitou forks(still have 2) and never had a problem with any ot them. Also had 2 marz. and two rockshox, never a problem with them either. Probably because I'm a light rider and do my own maintenance contributes to that. I haven't owned a Fox but have ridden them and IMO it's a great fork.
That said, 80% of my riding is with a rigid fork.

As far as the new Manitou, or any new suspension fork, IMO I'd wait and see until they get sorted out.

I hate buying first generation stuff. But I need to make a decision by about may so I can get it on the bike before any races.

Doing your own maintence helps. I dont think im very hard on things. On my current ride the only thing(knock on wood) ive broken is wearing out hub bearings, and riding all last winter was probably the cause of that. My brake levers broke, but they broke at the clamp and I wasnt even riding when it happened. I guess thats what happens to over torqued magnesium.

 

[Mr.P]

Doing your own maintence helps.

To add to this, Manitous are pretty easy to work on and service yourself. Customer service is stellar. 1 call and they sent an upgraded SPV evlove damper to my house in a few days when the original had trouble (04, 1st geb), no cost, and they even sent me some stickers for an older fork of theirs where the stickers had fallen off.

Missed rides = 0.

I agree with the 1st gen wariness, but at least you know that Manitou's service will step up.

Mr. P

 

[arson]

To add to this, Manitous are pretty easy to work on and service yourself. Customer service is stellar. 1 call and they sent an upgraded SPV evlove damper to my house in a few days when the original had trouble (04, 1st geb), no cost, and they even sent me some stickers for an older fork of theirs where the stickers had fallen off.

Missed rides = 0.

I agree with the 1st gen wariness, but at least you know that Manitou's service will step up.

Mr. P

Why he's reviewing a pre-production version I don't know, but James Huang (aka The Angry Asian) has some impressions over at Cycling News.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2005/reviews/manitou_r-seven_first

 

[velocipus]

Like the subject says, im trying to get some opinions on this fork. I like to have builds done WAY ahead of time. The frame details are still not finilized. But Im looking for a 80mm fork that dosnt bob, or at the least has very little bob.Gotta be disc ready too. I prefer a rigid fork, but this bike is going to be my 24 hour race bike, so Id like something to take the edge off.

Right now, im planing on the Fox f80x, but the manitou is more then $100 cheaper, so I figgure its worth a look. I posted something in shock time, but its going on a single speed bike, so I figgure Id aske the guys and girls that are up out of the saddle mashing up hills.

Thanks!

I've bee riding a pre-production R7 since September. I have had no problems with it. It is set up pretty stiff (I have it on a geared hardtail). It is really flexy, but I've been told that they beefed up the arch a bit. I'm using v-brakes on it... talk about brake modulation... I put a brake stiffener on it which helped immensely, bu ttook it back off because it looked so bad

Since you're going to use disc brakes, this won't be an issue.

 

[SandmanLJS]

I've bee riding a pre-production R7 since September. I have had no problems with it. It is set up pretty stiff (I have it on a geared hardtail). It is really flexy, but I've been told that they beefed up the arch a bit. I'm using v-brakes on it... talk about brake modulation... I put a brake stiffener on it which helped immensely, bu ttook it back off because it looked so bad

Since you're going to use disc brakes, this won't be an issue.

Hmmm, that review in cycling news seemed ok. But your right it makes no sense that he would be on a pre production fork, oh well.

Glad you have had no problems with the fork, im really leaning towards the Manitou right now.
Set up stiff like you have it, is there much bob. Bob drives me nuts(both on a fork and a guy I work with).

Thanks for all the imput guys, I really appreciate it.