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Upgrading a Manitou Black Elite - suggestions

3K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  Aresab 
#1 ·
Hey guys, I'm thinking about upgrading my Manitou Black fork. I've been riding it pretty hard for the past 3 years; mainly trails, stairs (lots of stairs), wooded mountains (think lake district England) etc.

It's been through a lot, I'm running it with transmission fluid right now and I replaced the original o-rings in the lockout with o-rings from a presta valve extender. Lockout cable is actually an old derailleur cable.

So yeah, upgrade long overdue. So here's what I'm looking for:

100mm
Remote lockout (must be good design, I'm sick of this Manitou BS)
9mm QR
Around 3.5 lbs
1 1/8 steerer tube
Disc Only
Easy to find parts for and service (I serviced my Manitou myself cause none of the shops I went to wanted to touch it)
Preferably under $300, I don't mind buying used.

I eagerly await recommendations. =)
 
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#2 ·
Manitou Minute Expert... great fork for they money, the damper is second to none. The minute pro is a little lighter if you have to have that, i think the expert is around 4.1 lbs and the pro is 3.6 lbs. the prices on used Rock Shox and Fox forx are crazy high for what you get IMO
 
#4 ·
Hmmm, the rest of the bike is not as dingy as how the fork sounds.

It's an older rockhopper alu frame with a mix of XT/Saint parts, fulcrum red metal 3 wheelset. The fork is pretty much the part I've kept the longest without upgrading. So I hardly thinking a Suntour (read: Walmart) fork will cut it.

I'm gonna scout fleabay for a Manitou Minute Pro I think. I've read some good things about the post 2010 models. I wonder how they compare to Rebas?

Here's the bike btw, last post in that thread.
http://forums.mtbr.com/bike-frame-discussion/lets-see-your-raw-aluminium-572818-14.html
 
#6 ·
If you look for used, the Minute 08 & 09 (named Elite & Super back then) can also be upgraded to the Absolute + damper, then they are effectively the same fork as the 10 - 12 pro models. I have an 08, a 10 and 11 (or 12) I believe, great forks the Pro line. I'm sure the Drake/Expert are as well. The damper is very tunable and pretty awesome at repeated hits with shims for both compression and rebound.
 
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