[Master_Jako]

do manitous forks suck/freeze in cold weather---50F degrees or less?

 

[DJrider04]

I rode my 02'Blackcomp last year in 30degree weather....was fine, just made the oil sounds a bit.

 

[Master_Jako]

I rode my 02'Blackcomp last year in 30degree weather....was fine, just made the oil sounds a bit.

its just wierd cause last winter, my friends fork just froze up until the weather warmed up again...i hear it happens on dorados..thats why they dont race them on snow races in cold weather..IMO

 

[TNC]

Sounds like the old elastomer/MCU Manitous.

do manitous forks suck/freeze in cold weather---50F degrees or less?

I'm not up on the internals of a Dorado, but I highly doubt they have elastomers or MCUs. Unless an appreciable amount of water had somehow gotten into the damping system, it's hard to figure why a Dorado would just seize up strictly because of temperature. Some of the older Manitous that had elastomers and MCUs for springs would get hard as a rock when subjected to really cold temps. I wouldn't think Manitous of the more modern era would be any more susceptible to cold temps than any other modern fork, but as I said, I'm no Dorado expert.

 

[Master_Jako]

I'm not up on the internals of a Dorado, but I highly doubt they have elastomers or MCUs. Unless an appreciable amount of water had somehow gotten into the damping system, it's hard to figure why a Dorado would just seize up strictly because of temperature. Some of the older Manitous that had elastomers and MCUs for springs would get hard as a rock when subjected to really cold temps. I wouldn't think Manitous of the more modern era would be any more susceptible to cold temps than any other modern fork, but as I said, I'm no Dorado expert.

ok, thx

 

[zedro]

i would say if there is a problem its probably because they arent oil bath, but rather lubricated by grease. The grease probably doesnt do a good job of displacing moisture, especially if its not well lubed or dirty, and then will freeze or get sticky. Also the grease may get too viscous at such temps. I would probably look into a different lubricant when using it in really cold temps.

 

[Master_Jako]

i would say if there is a problem its probably because they arent oil bath, but rather lubricated by grease. The grease probably doesnt do a good job of displacing moisture, especially if its not well lubed or dirty, and then will freeze or get sticky. Also the grease may get too viscous at such temps. I would probably look into a different lubricant when using it in really cold temps.

that seems like a good reason why they dont use them in cold temps...

 

[ezweave]

I don't know if you will find this funny (I do), but a friend of mine who was a mechanic said that this guy brought in a Manitou and said it wasn't working right (I am not sure of the model, it was from the late 90s, this was in 2000). So, they try his bike and sure enough the fork doesn't seem to be acting right (I think it was not compressing). They say that they will look at it and put it off to the side. When they finally get to it, they start a break down and find... that he had managed to put lots of grease (I was told a lb, but I don't know if this is possible) into the fork (they have those grease ports on the back). Apparantly the fork had so much grease in it that the valving and other internals were stuck open. I am sure this was an MCU fork as well. (As an aside Zedro does this sound familiar/or realistic?)

I doubt that was your problem, but it is a funny story. I do know that my friends who have had Manitous always claimed they needed to do breakdowns to clean out the forks after almost every ride (I think RS Indys did the same thing and I had an upper end elastomer RST when I first started that I broke down three times in a summer).

Does Manitou still do the grease port thing? I haven't seen it on the Shermans I have tried, but I haven't looked.

 

[zedro]

Apparantly the fork had so much grease in it that the valving and other internals were stuck open. I am sure this was an MCU fork as well. (As an aside Zedro does this sound familiar/or realistic?)

theres i reason i'll only stay with open bath forks; i'll take the extra weight and forget the complication; I dont know much about Manitous. Grease and dirt can do nasty things though