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Manitou Markhor 26" issues

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4.8K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  champi  
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#1 ·
Hey everyone! I picked up a new Manitou Markhor 26" suspension fork from The Bikesmiths last year based on the recommendations of this forum. It's been a great fork and I'm pleased with it on my loaner bike. I've read that it's a 80, 100, or 120mm travel fork and have wondered about changing the travel for a while. I ran across a video of a gentlemen making the change (YouTube Video). He's able to make the change without removing the lowers and it looked easy enough, so I gave it a try... It hasn't gone well. I wasn't able to reinstall the compression rod, so I removed the lowers and am rather confused at what I found.

First, there was no spacer installed. I did receive the spare spacer in the box with the fork, so I expected to find another installed. So is this fork already set to 120mm travel??

Second, there are extra parts... I found the Markhor Server and Travel Change manual, and one of the parts appears to be shown, but the other part is not or has been altered from the original. Furthermore, I found an additional video (YouTube Video) that looks more like my fork, but is missing the second part all together.

Finally, the manual seems to indicate that 120mm of travel is not supported for 26" wheels. I suppose this could be the answer to all the differences. Maybe their 26" version is slightly different, but not different enough to show in the manual?

So now I'm unsure of how to reassemble. I unfortunately was not able to tell which part was which before dumping them out of the lowers. Do I need to install the spacer to make sure it's 100mm travel for the 26" wheel? What do you all recommend I do??


My fork, just randomly placed the parts, not sure which way or what order they go in...
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From the manual

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#4 ·
I found another manual that actually has the 26" stuff in it. The previous manual I was referencing did not. I'm getting more confident about the smaller part, but still not sure about the bigger part and missing spacer... Also not sure what the part is in the bottom of the diagram here...

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#5 ·
From the newer manual, I think the green part is probably serving the same function as the bigger part in my fork, so I'm thinking I'll put the smaller part higher and flip it so it matches the diagram, and then flip the bigger part as well and leave it lower. Am I on the right track?

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So roughly...

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The small side of the bigger part, and the large side of the smaller part are the exact same size. Seem like they are meant to be touching. I'm also guessing this is what limits this fork to be a max of 120mm travel for 26" wheels.
 
#10 ·
Btw, did you change the seals and wipers and if so, where did you get them from? I live in Spain and apparently Manitou is not a popular brand here so the LBSs around me do not work with it. And in the online shops I usually buy from I can find the whole rebuild kit, with all the o-rings, and I don't think I will have to go that far.
 
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