RRP: £549.99
www.hotlines-uk.com
Rider review by Paddy
As I have stated on numerous times before, I am a hardcore Rock Shox man when it comes to suspension so apart from them being free there was not much to get me excited about fitting these forks, however I have had to eat my words as they have been mightily impressive. Manitou have not had the best reputation and I have hated every pair I have tried (admittedly years ago) but things appear to be changing and the newest incarnations are really good.
The 1st difference I noticed was weight, there appeared to be nothing to them when I took them out the box all those months ago, I’m not sure on the exact difference with the Sid fork but felt a good 100g lighter. 1377g is the book weight.
The 30mm stanchions are a good width, 2mm narrower than the competition and norm so you would think be a bit more flexible, true they are a little flexi but not that noticeable, after all it is a race fork. They handled all the off camber sections on numerous races without twist or flex. The rear mounted arch is better in the mud and must stiffen up the forks a bit. They soaked up all the low and high speed root sections I have attempted and gave me a lot more confidence to ride harder and faster at them. My Kinesis KM810 feels so fast and I can account a majority of that down the handling and control that the Manitou R7 offers, I have won a race and done none worse than top 6 in the others this year and was lucky to get a top 20 last year on the same bike before these were fitted, my fitness has not much improved but just feel I can ride harder and faster now.
Set up is straight forward and simple with just one air valve and rebound control, Rock Shox and Fox offerings offer a lot more fine tuning with positive/negative air controls and low/high speed compression adjustments etc, but these are so simple and handle anything you throw at them without getting over complicated. The Milo lockout needs a bit of work and required a bit of modification to get to work properly, the lever position also makes it a bit awkward to use as well.
I have never tried as hard in my life to break a component before but have thrown everything at these, so I could find a reason to moan about them, I have broken a set of Ritchey pedal, done a 4 month old XT chain set, busted spokes, snapped my seat post and they have remained as good as new, in fact it has proved an expensive exercise. I should have learnt my lesson last time when I got a set of Reynolds carbon wheels and went through the same process and the same result.
Any way the last word is as soon as I rode my Kinesis Decade Virsa after riding the Manitou R7 on my carbon race bike, the Rock Shox Sids fitted to it just felt rubbish (which upset me) and didn’t give me the massive smile the Manitou’s do after a race/ride. So job done in my opinion.
£500 price tag – Go for it, seems good value, cheaper than the rest and it’s always nice not to ride what everyone else has. I would recommend them.
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Rider review by Oli
Manitou have had bad press over recent years but finally look to be getting their act together once more which is good to see. I’ve been a fan since their iconic first fork adorned the front of Tomac’s bikes and used their forks for dirt jumping in the late 90’s. Since then as their quality dipped, I switched and never looked back.
That is until Andy Gowan from Hotlines asked if he could supply The KMP with Manitou forks for the season. As it was free of course I said “Yes, please!” but in the back of my mind I had reservations of build quality and performance.
I shouldn’t have worried though. Opening the box and the first impressions were good. They looked very well finished and felt flyweight. Also a lovely match for the white KM810 which helps. Out on the trail and the forks initially felt way too soft even at the recommended pressure of 75psi. Plush but too soft. Jacking them up to 100psi and the forks felt just right and over the last couple of months I have settled on this setting. Rebound is dealt with by a dial at the bottom of the forks and once set up, the R7’s a largely fit and forget.
As a lightweight fork they can be prone to a touch of twangyness which is to be expected but nothing that gives you ‘the fear’. The smooth travel mean they soak up all you can thrown at them and that included several crashes and heavy handed mid-race line choices. Steering is good. Obviously not as good a 36mm stanchion bold through axle fork but as a lightweight race fork, more than capable of picking your way through and over root and rock gardens. I guess they would become unstuck on steep, very technical terrain but this is in the very minority of my riding and certainly something you don’t really see much of on race and event circuits, which is where this fork is aimed.
The type of riders The KMP has are those that put the emphasis on fun as well as speed. As such these forks have been streetriding in Glasgow, thrown around by old school BMXer Paul Husdon, dropping steps and hopping logs in Brighton and treated to some North Downs tough love by “The Breaker” that is Phil Moore. The conclusion is that these forks are awesome. Perfectly aimed at being lightweight and fast but with enough to take a few jumps and drops along the way.
And you know what, they are still as plush as they were when I first broke open the box.
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What they say:
Hollow Crown
Overall fork weight reduction. Advanced fork design application: Optimal systems stiffness to yield
Absolute is a platform-style damper. This means that the fork can be set to remain rigid until a certain impact threshold is exceeded. The benefit is pedalling efficiency. As proponents of rigid forks will attest, suspension has the potential to diminish pedalling efficiency by compressing the fork rather than propelling the bike forward. In the open position, the Absolute damper acts much like TPC, absorbing even slight impacts. By introducing a bit of damping platform, a rider can get the benefit of suspension without the penalty of wasted energy. In the second and third positions, the Absolute damper resists pedal bob and brake dive on smooth terrain, yet still allows the fork to move through its travel over most bumps. In the fourth and fifth positions, the fork remains rigid during most out-of-the-saddle sprints or climbs, at the expense of some harshness over washboard and rooty trails. In the sixth position, the Absolute damper locks out the suspension for everything but a major, abrupt impact, like suddenly running into a rock or log.
Forks equipped with the Absolute damper have a platform adjustment dial on the top of the right leg and a rebound adjustment dial on the bottom of the right leg. The platform adjuster has a total of six positions ranging from completely open (no platform) to completely closed. The dial can be turned from one extreme to the other in about 1/3 of a turn, for easy on-bike adjustment. The effect of the various platform settings is more apparent at speed than when the bike is at rest.
Usage: Lightweight XC Forks
Technologies:
• MILO: Manitou Integrated Remote Lockout
• Absolute+damper: Externally adjustable low-speed damping, Internally tuneable high
speed damping, Compatible with MILO
• TS Air spring: Linearity, plushness
• Hollow crown: Light weight
Features:
• MILO: Manitou Integrated Remote Lockout
• Travel Options: 80 and 100mm
• Weight (lbs): 3.04/80mm, 3.126/100mm + Lever assembly weighs 29.6 grams
• Weight (g): 1377g/80mm, 1418g/100mm + Lever assembly weighs 29.6 grams
• Colour Options: Gloss: White, Black and Carbon
• Axle Options: 9mm Standard
• Brake Options: Disc specific
• Steer tube: Alloy
• Stanchions: 30mm Carbon
• Crown: Deep Bore Hollow Crown
• Wheel size: 26”
MILO: Manitou Integrated Remote Lockout
MILO is an all-new fork lockout lever featuring separate thumb-operated lock and release buttons. Its exceptionally narrow footprint allows riders to place it anywhere on the bar without compromising access to shifters or brake levers. Light actuation and intuitive button placement make it easy to operate in all riding conditions.
Features:
• Lever assembly weighs 29.6 grams.
• 6.5mm wide clamp
• One-piece clamp
• Forged aluminium lever
• Die-cast aluminium body
• Glass-filled nylon release button
• Compatible with all mountain bike shifters, brakes and grips
• Retrofits to any Absolute+damper with no disassembly required
• Mounts in multiple positions
• Low actuation force
• Push lever to lock, push button to unlock
• Uses 5mm shifter housing and cable
• Completely serviceable and rebuildable
• Standard 1.1mm shift cable
