Manitou Minute MRD TPC 100mm lockout?

tpc or absolute dampening

i think iv got it, tpc refers to the dampening cartridge. looks like the tpc does not lock out. forks with the absolute dampening cartridge lock out. so the question is which is better? would like to hear your thoughts. not much for reviews of these two forks. thanx

I don't know the exact fork you're talking about, but manitou has made TPC lockout forks since around 2000 model year.
The lockout mechanism changed several times, my commuter has the earliest type which still has a full shimmed TPC compression damper. The later ones were simply a hole which closed off with a spring.

If put together properly they're good reliable forks. But a surprising number of people can't get oil volumes right.

Dougal said:

I don't know the exact fork you're talking about, but manitou has made TPC lockout forks since around 2000 model year.
The lockout mechanism changed several times, my commuter has the earliest type which still has a full shimmed TPC compression damper. The later ones were simply a hole which closed off with a spring.

If put together properly they're good reliable forks. But a surprising number of people can't get oil volumes right.

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Sorry to hijack here, but Dougal, I have a 08 Minute MRD and am only getting about 1/2 the travel. I've heard of others on the forums with the same experience. Is there an easy fix for this? I've already played with pressures, rebound settings, etc.

So Cal RX said:

Sorry to hijack here, but Dougal, I have a 08 Minute MRD and am only getting about 1/2 the travel. I've heard of others on the forums with the same experience. Is there an easy fix for this? I've already played with pressures, rebound settings, etc.

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First thing is drop the air pressure right down and see if it moves freely.
If it doesn't, post back.

ak greeff, if you go with the mrd absolute, you will find that the absolute acts like a lockout. It can be adjusted from feeling very plush to pretty much locked out with every setting available in between.
As for the TPC, I couldn't tell you if it acts the same way as the absolute or not due to a lack of personal experience with a newer TPC fork.
But I can say that I had an 08 MRD absolute 130, 3.6 lbs, that never got full travel due to the MRD so I sent it back to Manitou and they gave me a 09 Minute super Absolute 140, 3.7 lbs, that works great. I like a ton of plush travel so I only run about 55 psi in the fork, but when I want to climb I turn the absolute to its max setting and the fork really has no noticeable travel and is essentially 'locked out', which is nice on the climbs as you know.
I have to say that I am very pleased with the fork I have now. And the absolute damping is spot on! I couldn't be more pleased with it's adjustability

Dougal said:

First thing is drop the air pressure right down and see if it moves freely.
If it doesn't, post back.

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Yeah, I've dropped the air way down (35-40 psi) and it feels really loose, but still doesn't get close to full travel. (I weigh 155lbs.). I'm currently running it at about 65psi and it feels better over small bumps, but like I said, I'm only getting about 1/2 the travel.

So Cal RX said:

Yeah, I've dropped the air way down (35-40 psi) and it feels really loose, but still doesn't get close to full travel. (I weigh 155lbs.). I'm currently running it at about 65psi and it feels better over small bumps, but like I said, I'm only getting about 1/2 the travel.

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If you release all of the pressure, can you fully stroke the fork?

I am a big fan of TPC. The TPC lockout is a different story as it does not use a shimmed compression circuit. I had a TPC lockout Black Super and modified the compression circuit to remove the lockout and add a proper shim stack. The fork was amazing, It had a stiff platform that broke easily into its travel and felt bottomless. Feels better than my Talas RLC and feels like it has more travel also, even though it only has 120mm of travel.

Vespasianus said:

I am a big fan of TPC. The TPC lockout is a different story as it does not use a shimmed compression circuit. I had a TPC lockout Black Super and modified the compression circuit to remove the lockout and add a proper shim stack. The fork was amazing, It had a stiff platform that broke easily into its travel and felt bottomless. Feels better than my Talas RLC and feels like it has more travel also, even though it only has 120mm of travel.

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The MARS on my commuter has one of the original TPC Lockout assemblies that has shims on one piston and the pressure relief on the other.
But I never use the lockout, so it's wasted on me really.