[gedmunds]

Alrighty folks, I am seeking enlightenment from the mountain biking gurus on here. After arsing about on a Gary Fisher for a while, I finally decided to get something decent, and scooped up a Trek 4300 with the disc brakes. Of course, the Insync 323 shock on this is worth it's weight in poo, so I obviously need to upgrade.

I'm a weekend warrior, and generally stick to paths and easy trails (at least for now) and avoid booting down mountains, drops, and jumps - not that serious of a rider at all.

So based on the type of riding I do, I decided I wanted to keep the purchase at around $200 or so. Having sniffed about for a bit, I have found two forks on sale that seem to fit the bill - the Marzocchi MX Comp, and the Manitou Black Elite, which are both on sale at Performance for $229. Now, being the relative newbie, I'm leaning towards the Manitou since it seems on the surface to be such a better deal, but the reviews on both forks seem to favour the Marzocchi slightly....

Recommendations? Anyone? Bueller? Also... would you recommend me getting a better headset for either fork (I mean, is it REALLY necessary?)

Thanks in advance.

 

[Domdil]

I checked it out, not sure if its a 2003 or 2004, the pic shows a 2003, so it could be that.
The difference between the 2003 and 2004 manitou black elite is the 2003 has TPC damping, while the 2004 has fluid flow. The 2004 has been getting some pretty junky reviews. But i rode a TPC dampened black elite and it was awesome. I would call performance, if its a 2003, go for that, if its a 2004, maybe the marzocchi would be the way to go, as for the retail price on the black, if its a 2004 elite, they're messing with you, as the retail on an elite is somewhere in the 340 range I do believe.
As for the headset, you wont feel that much of a difference, so dont upgrade until its worn.

Alrighty folks, I am seeking enlightenment from the mountain biking gurus on here. After arsing about on a Gary Fisher for a while, I finally decided to get something decent, and scooped up a Trek 4300 with the disc brakes. Of course, the Insync 323 shock on this is worth it's weight in poo, so I obviously need to upgrade.

I'm a weekend warrior, and generally stick to paths and easy trails (at least for now) and avoid booting down mountains, drops, and jumps - not that serious of a rider at all.

So based on the type of riding I do, I decided I wanted to keep the purchase at around $200 or so. Having sniffed about for a bit, I have found two forks on sale that seem to fit the bill - the Marzocchi MX Comp, and the Manitou Black Elite, which are both on sale at Performance for $229. Now, being the relative newbie, I'm leaning towards the Manitou since it seems on the surface to be such a better deal, but the reviews on both forks seem to favour the Marzocchi slightly....

Recommendations? Anyone? Bueller? Also... would you recommend me getting a better headset for either fork (I mean, is it REALLY necessary?)

Thanks in advance.

 

[gedmunds]

Thanks a million - after much back and forth with Performance (goddamn, they're unresponsive) it is indeed a 2003 that's on sale, so seems that's the way I'll go. I've found it cheaper elsewhere though, Greenfish has the same 100/120 for $199, and the 80/100 model (I'm just 160lbs, and don't plan on jumping off cliffs on this thing, so would imagine that'd be enough for me?) is even cheaper, $150-$180 on ebay.

I checked it out, not sure if its a 2003 or 2004, the pic shows a 2003, so it could be that.
The difference between the 2003 and 2004 manitou black elite is the 2003 has TPC damping, while the 2004 has fluid flow. The 2004 has been getting some pretty junky reviews. But i rode a TPC dampened black elite and it was awesome. I would call performance, if its a 2003, go for that, if its a 2004, maybe the marzocchi would be the way to go, as for the retail price on the black, if its a 2004 elite, they're messing with you, as the retail on an elite is somewhere in the 340 range I do believe.
As for the headset, you wont feel that much of a difference, so dont upgrade until its worn.