Mountain Biking - Removing Manitou Mini-boots on Black Elite!

First post...New here and wanted to say hello to all!! TIA for any thoughts or suggestions given.

I had discussed with a mechanic from the local shop that the "mini boots" on the 03 Manitou Black Elite can potentially be more of a hinderance than a help, trapping dust and dirt inside, etc. I don't particularly care for the way they look either...he recomended just takeing them off. I am wondering if anyone has done this, and are the seals on that fork basicaly the same grade as any other fully exposed seal, i.e RockShox, Marzochi, etc. TIA fellas!

The boots your fork has are there for a reason. The earlier Blacks did not have the Evil Genius seals, the newer '04's do. I would not recommend taking them off, as you'll get more crap in there than you could ever imagine. ;)

I would tend to agree with you about the protection provided by these boots, however the 03 black elite that I have is specified as having the evil genius seals. Since the mini-boots do not cover the entire stanchion, and since it moves with the movement of the suspension, it makes sense that it could trap crud inside the boot. I am all for keeping things as how they were intended, I just wanted to see if anyone has had any experience to substantiate what the mechanic mentioned to me (see first post in this thread).

The boots your fork has are there for a reason. The earlier Blacks did not have the Evil Genius seals, the newer '04's do. I would not recommend taking them off, as you'll get more crap in there than you could ever imagine. ;)

I agree. If the manufacture has boots in place, they are there for a reason. Usually because seals cannot keep dirt, and grime out.

I would tend to agree with you about the protection provided by these boots, however the 03 black elite that I have is specified as having the evil genius seals. Since the mini-boots do not cover the entire stanchion, and since it moves with the movement of the suspension, it makes sense that it could trap crud inside the boot. I am all for keeping things as how they were intended, I just wanted to see if anyone has had any experience to substantiate what the mechanic mentioned to me (see first post in this thread).

Ive had full length fork boots on my Manitou X vert Super but decided to remove them. I found that there wasn't a change in performance but I am a bit weary about it. Seals arn't that strong/reliable on it.

Well obliviously you have made your mind up, and your mechanic and you seem to know more about the fork seals than I do.



But I think that Answer put those boots on there like that for a reason. By the boot not covering the complete stanchion it acts as a wiper, to remove most of the dust and debris before it enters the seals.



But hey, you asked, I answered, you replied, and it’s your fork and seals.

Thanks for the recomendations to leave the boots in place. I was simply looking for anyone who might of heard anything about the effectiveness of these mini-boots. But hey, look at it this way...now you know that the 03 Black's have the Evil Genius Seal technology; we have all learned something. I imagine that I will leave the boots right where they are!