I'm 290 and have an aversion to air shocks. I like good old metal springs. I've been riding the same Manitou X-Vert Super on my Rocky Mountain Vertex since 2000 with no problems at all. The fork has about 6000 miles on it, and has never been rebuilt. I had a Marzocchi Atom Bomb fork around the same time and I replaced the seals in it twice within 1000 miles. Currently I'm riding a Rock Shox Reba - which is air - on my Mojave 29 because I got it cheap and I don't ride my 29'er off-road; it's my commuter bike. I'm paranoid about the seals the entire time I ride it, though.