[317000]

I have a friend with an air-sprung 2006 Manitou Super Intrinsic Nixon who's looking to possibly lower it from the stock 145mm to 100mm to allow for better DJ and urban use.

I know a lot of Marzocchi's and Fox's can be lowered, but I'm not at all familiar with Manitou's stuff, let alone their air-sprung models.

I know it's a long shot, but can it be done? and, if so, how?

Thanks--

 

[horseonthefly]

I've lowered a Manitou sherman flick before, travel adjust stopped working so I slammed it down to about 60mm. If I remember right all I had to do on them was to make a spacer to go between the top out spring and the cap on the bottom of the upper leg (spring side). I used a piece of pipe. Then you just need to find a way to keep the top out spring tight against the spacers (basically a way to hold it all together, I used a zip tie). Otherwise there will be a lot of rattling and clanking. Kinda ghetto but it held together for the 4-5 months I had the bike after I did it.

I just noticed that your fork is an air fork. That will work on a coil but I am unfamiliar with how the air forks go together though something similar may work. I would just take it apart and have a look. Rebuild instructions are available on manitou's website.

 

[bigdonut]

Looking to do the same thing to a 2006 Manitou Nixon Super which is at 6", would like to go to 3" or 4". Any luck?

 

[davep]

Looking to do the same thing to a 2006 Manitou Nixon Super which is at 6", would like to go to 3" or 4". Any luck?

More information would be helpful for a proper answer (that fork is no longer made (no info available) and with the down fall of manitou in the last few years, many are not familiar or care about the various Manitou models).....

That being said, the basic idea is to add length to the negative spring and take away the same amount of length to the positive (main) spring. All maintou forks that I have ever seen allow access to both springs (whether air or coil) so this is certainly possible.

If the fork is air:
-with an air negative spring, just add more air to the top out and remove it form the positive spring
-with a coil top out/negaitve spring, you need to shim or add to the neg spring. a chunk of PVC works well, or both RS and fox make spacers for this kind of thing that might fit.

For a coul fork:
you need to add to the neg coil spring as above, but you must also shorten the main spring by the same amount. HTis can be done by replacing the spring with a shorter model spring or (sometimes, with a bit more work) cutting the original spring. Be careful/aware when cutting a spring that you will change the rate (make it stiffer) and also will not have the flat end that it once had...

 

[bigdonut]

More information would be helpful for a proper answer (that fork is no longer made (no info available) and with the down fall of manitou in the last few years, many are not familiar or care about the various Manitou models).....

That being said, the basic idea is to add length to the negative spring and take away the same amount of length to the positive (main) spring. All maintou forks that I have ever seen allow access to both springs (whether air or coil) so this is certainly possible.

If the fork is air:
-with an air negative spring, just add more air to the top out and remove it form the positive spring
-with a coil top out/negaitve spring, you need to shim or add to the neg spring. a chunk of PVC works well, or both RS and fox make spacers for this kind of thing that might fit.

For a coul fork:
you need to add to the neg coil spring as above, but you must also shorten the main spring by the same amount. HTis can be done by replacing the spring with a shorter model spring or (sometimes, with a bit more work) cutting the original spring. Be careful/aware when cutting a spring that you will change the rate (make it stiffer) and also will not have the flat end that it once had...

Thanks for the info! It's an air fork, but I'm not sure which type it is. I'll see if I can grab the service manual and take a look inside. I've lowered a coil sprung fork and that wasn't too hard to do, I just don't want to mess up my Nixon as I like it a lot.

 

[bigdonut]

Update 4 anyone that cares: Took off the lowers and unscrewed the end cap from the bottom of the left leg. Cut an old spring to 3" that fit snug into the bottom of the cap and put a washer between the spring and the top out bumper. Put everything back together and it is working great with 3" inches of travel now. Hopefully this won't mess anything up long term but I think it's worth it. My TOP feels fvcking great at this height!