Dazza

Does anyone know how these forks perform? They are fitted to the Norco Manik im looking at, so im wondering what they are like, as i searched and found an archived post on here saying they `sucked` but with no explanation why.

Thanks.

Maelstrom 

There has been a lot of explanation. Dropoff's are a simplistic system. Very little to no damping (compression or reboud) essentially a spring and some oil to bounce around under you. The ride like crap. But for the money they are fine.

The dc's are like really old jrT's. 9mm QR and crappy damping. You can fix the damping with several mods.

cheewymuffin

Get a jr t. instead.

Dazza

Ok guys thank you for your help, i think i may end up bypassing the Norco Manik in favour for the Cannondale chase II with a Dirt Jumper III fork, do you guys think that this fork would perform better than the Drop off?

Dazza

Just realised the Chase i saw was from last year, and this year they are sporting Manitou forks, which i hate, so i will not be choosing the Chase.

Anyway whatever happens ill buy a bike and post pics

Maelstrom 

Why do you hate manitou. They have made a lot of improvements over the past couple of years. I love my slider so far

cheewymuffin

From what i have heard their products are more reliable then marz....

Maelstrom 

I wouldn't go that far. They are good products. I would never say they were better than marz.

Dazza

I just hate the reverse arch casting they use, I have an Axel Elite on my XtC, and the legs of the forks are so easily compressed toward each other. You can literally with one hand grab the dropouts with your fingers and compress them. Say your cycling along, pretty fast and you make a sharp turn, the tire will actually make contact with the arch and fork leg.

Also the fork has had work done by my LBS, converted to 100mm etc, and still it is as soft as any fork i've ever used. My friend has an old school Marzocchi Bomber and its way stiffer, i have a crappy Chilli works fork on my Barricuda, and i couldnt bottom them out by weighting the bars.

So that concludes my reason for my hatred for Manitou, although the Axel elite definately isn't a top end fork, i paid a lot of money (for a student) for my bike and was dissapointed by it, so hopefully in the future i won't make the same mistake by buying Mani. Unless i ride someone elses bike that is equipped with a Manitou, and i like it, ill never buy a bike with anything manitou on it.

On a side note, someone here said that their XC products really are'nt up to par with their DH or FR products, and that they are trying to improve this section of their line. I just wish that the major bike companies (cough, Giant, cough) would actually take the time to test each component before just slamming on a fork which saves them money.

Maelstrom 

I should have clarified. I am only refering to their shrerman lineup. I know nothing about xc stuff.

hooligan

LOL Pwned.

Maelstrom 

Huh...

hooligan

He PWNED manitou. ****d em around like a rag doll, and then spat on it.

BigHit-Maniac

The new Manipoo stuff is quite nice. I've gotten in some trail time on a few of their forks, including ones with SPV technology on them. I must say, I still like my Zochi's better... but the Manipoo's definitely impressed me.

I've noticed that with EITHER manufacturer.. you really have to touch the $350-$400 range to get anything worth a darn. Most forks under that use crappy dampening, and don't work that well.

Above $400 you get HSCV forks, or Manipoo's TPC + w/ SPV.

This industry is definitely a "you get what you pay for" situation.

Kind of like a stock Chevy Cavalier... do you think that this $10,000 car is going to compete with the performance and build-quality of a $250,000 Ferrari ? Probably not.

Just my 2 cents.

-Matt

Maelstrom 

What the heck is pwnded. Why not owned?...

And to judge a company by one line is just ridiculous. Thats like all those children writing off marzocchi becuase of the 2002 djs and z1's breaking. They were very fragile because at that time they weren't keeping up to the intended use. Manitou makes good forks, the reverse arch is there for a reason etc...but either way...

I am with bighit. Long term marz fan here but manitou is doing several things right with the sherman lineup.

Dazza

So they say, other forks I have had do not have problems with mud clearance, the Manitou does, and flexes like nothing else i have felt.

You can judge me by my opinions on the internet and stereotype me all you want, all I said was that I won't buy anything Manitou again until I am lucky enough to test one of the decent products they sell. Sure the fork I have may be ****e compared to their `top end` forks, and cheap too, but as I said, i have ridden forks around the same price range, and MUCH below that of the Axel Elite by other manufacturers, and not experienced any of the mad flexing of the legs or extreme soft damping.

As im a student with no job (and therefore limited income) I bought a bike from a reputable company, expecting all of the components hanging on the frame to match the standard of the frame itself, maybe Mani could have spend less on the "reverse arch casting" or the convertible travel idea or whatever, and actually spent the $ on important things like damping. Anyhoo I am entitled to my opinions, and so I will choose to pick other companies when choosing a fork.

Everyone has opinions on companies, maybe from a single product. I know that Renault cars have a stigma of being "unreliable", Honda are renound for reliability, Glock are famous for making bombproof sidearms etc etc. I could go on, but im sure you guys can be guilty for generalising with companies, so don't single me out.