[tonygiant]

My Gold Label 80 measures a little closser to +100mm. Not sure if they put the wrong spring in there at the factory, or because it just needs to brake in. I know Im a little nit picky, but I bought it because I wanted an 80mm fork.

Anyone else have the same issue?

Also, on a side note, this fork is really stiff. Looks like it would be a harsh ride on the trails.

 

[skurfer333]

i got that fork on my haro zero. I thought the same thing about it being too stiff on the trails, but I haven't even noticed a problem while riding the trails to the jump sections. i mean I'm not riding extremely rough trails, but i'm going from a dual crown w/ 170mm to this and I have NO issues with how rigid it is. I absolutely love what I'm getting out of this fork.

 

[TheMontashu]

My Gold Label 80 measures a little closser to +100mm. Not sure if they put the wrong spring in there at the factory, or because it just needs to brake in. I know Im a little nit picky, but I bought it because I wanted an 80mm fork.

Anyone else have the same issue?

Also, on a side note, this fork is really stiff. Looks like it would be a harsh ride on the trails.

If you want an 80 mil fork its ganna be hars on trailes. If you want a smooth ride get more travel, It's realy quite simple.

 

[cjcrashesalot]

My Gold Label 80 measures a little closser to +100mm. Not sure if they put the wrong spring in there at the factory, or because it just needs to brake in. I know Im a little nit picky, but I bought it because I wanted an 80mm fork.

Anyone else have the same issue?

Also, on a side note, this fork is really stiff. Looks like it would be a harsh ride on the trails.

I'm pretty sure that because of the reverse arch, the fork needs to have more exposed stanchion than a traditional 80mm fork, so the arch doesn't hit the frame under full compression. My buddy has a sherman jumper 80mm, and it has closer to 100 exposed stanchion. They still only get 80mm of travel though. I would imagine the 100 mm shows closer to 120 mm of stanchion

 

[Bicyclist]

Doesn't that kind of eliminate the point of having short travel? Low travel with the height of a 4" fork. Weaksauce.

 

[dexter]

its still one of the shortest forks available. and its not meant for trail riding, it meant for dj's, park, street etc its not a do all fork by any means

 

[scurban]

I'm pretty sure that because of the reverse arch, the fork needs to have more exposed stanchion than a traditional 80mm fork, so the arch doesn't hit the frame under full compression. My buddy has a sherman jumper 80mm, and it has closer to 100 exposed stanchion. They still only get 80mm of travel though. I would imagine the 100 mm shows closer to 120 mm of stanchion

I've noticed this too. Their 80mm fork diffinately has more than 80mm of exposed stanchion. If you ever bottom it, you will can tell by the dust on the stanchions that the lowers never touch the crown. I'm not a Manitou fan by at all, but what ever they are doing here seems to be working. The Even with the exposed stanchion they still have the shortest Axel/Crown height of any other fork.

Again though I would like to let the record show that I can't stand Manitou, and I will never buy one ever again.

 

[ufdff15]

all manitou forks have 20mm more stachions than the travel of the fork.

 

[Bicyclist]

Wow, it's still one of the shortest forks out? That's cool. And like dexter said, it's not meant to be supple at all.

 

[skurfer333]

its a stiff ride, but theres little flex and its not as heavy as other jump forks. definitely worth the money.

 

[Changleen]

If you're really bothered about travel stick a zip tie (not too tight) on the stansion and measure how far it's moved after a big drop or two.

 

[Changleen]

My next jump fork will prolly be like a Z1 with a travel reduction kit. I don't weigh that much so there's just no need for me to be running like 6 lbs of fork with steel bits. I ran an original Z1 for about 3 years and did some big gaps and drops to flat on that and never had a problem. I think that for most people, the current generation of jump forks are overbuilt. I can appreciate why, but it's kind of annoying for me.

 

[santacruzdher21]

who buys a dirt jump and street fork for riding on cross country and drop trails? seiriously use ur head when u look for a fork and look at what its made for.

 

[Bicyclist]

My next jump fork will prolly be like a Z1 with a travel reduction kit. I don't weigh that much so there's just no need for me to be running like 6 lbs of fork with steel bits. I ran an original Z1 for about 3 years and did some big gaps and drops to flat on that and never had a problem. I think that for most people, the current generation of jump forks are overbuilt. I can appreciate why, but it's kind of annoying for me.

Yeah, I agree. That's why I run a Marzocchi MX Comp. Cheap, light, strong enough for my scrawny ass, and 3" of travel w/ dual air assists so you don't have to worry about changing springs (although you can if you want).

 

[Muuqi]

Just my two bits, I bought a Gold Label after running two Pikes, both with no problems, and had the dropouts snap after one week of riding. I'm definatly not a heavy rider and I'm pretty darn smooth, if I do say so myself, so yeah. Just my experience. I've also broken 3 Marzocchi DJ's too sooo yeah.

 

[dexter]

you broke a gold label's drop outs? that makes three dropout ever broken on the sherman/gold label line that i know of (and i talk with the manitou guys a lot) but the looks of your profile pic mady thats why you broke them, nothing is unbreakable no matter what they say. id take a gold label over any other fork out there except for an all air version of the gold label. marz- are to heavy and overbuilt, or have to complex of dampening and are a waste of money. fox=too tall and either really flexxy and have creaking/cracking/twisting/bushing problems ie vanilla and float or are too tall ie 36. pikes creak after long term use and are also very tall but still feel great and are probably the second best in my mind compared to manitou. ill leave rst and the rest out of this arugement

 

[Muuqi]

Lol actually that's a Pike I've got in that pic. Anyhoo, I was surprised when I realized I broke it, since I've had nothing but good luck with Manitou, and I had only ridden it like 3 times in that week. But they were super chill and it'll be on it's way back tomorrow. Awesome customer service. Unlike Marzocchi, who only warrentied the first one, and told me that I should not be dirt jumping on my Dirt Jumper 1. Funny eh?

 

[scurban]

Hmmmm here's my experience with Manitou.

After spending two full seasons of dj/street/park riding on my 03 DJ III, I decided to buy a new fork. At the time my choices were the 05 DJ..(8lbs) or a Sherman. My experience with Marzocchi was great, the few times I needed something (ie bolt, thin walled socket etc.) their customer service was great. However I just didn't want to switch to an 8lb fork. I decided to go with the 04 Sherman (although the 05's were out, I got a good deal on the 04 AND I didn't want a 150mm fork on my hardtail). I put it on my bike and was initially stoked. It was light (for a FR fork) and felt nice and smooth. Then I went dirt jumping. I cased a jump (not a bad case though) and the crown broke! This was my 1st day riding the fork! I sent it in to Manitou for warranty work. 3 weeks later... after numerous calls from me, they finally called me and said "we've never seen a crown break like that. We'll give you a new 05." I told them I didn't want a 150mm fork, so the dude begain telling me about the Nixion. He explained that it would be perfect for DJ, Park, and street use, and that I could adjust it down to 115mm. It sounded good, so I went with it..... The Nixion is not a good street/park fork. I sold it, and got one of Manitou's new cheap versions of the Sherman the Stance Static. The first thing I needed to do was send it in and have some bumpers put in, becuase apparently the crown would hit my tire if I ever bottomed it. 2 more weeks of not riding. Then the seals failed to hold air 2 more weeks of not riding. Finally the steer tube pulled out of the crown.....Oh, and everytime I had to send my fork in for Warranty work, I had to take it to a shop, and have them inspect it, me rather then just doing it myself. This is some sort of lame warranty policy that Manitou has. It's a Big pain in the Ass.

I will never ride a manitou again. Their customer service sucks, and their products are cheap.
I would much rather ride a heavy Marzocchi fork then wait for manitou to warranty something.
Not to mention if I ever need anything, Marzocchi is much better to deal with.

Bottom line..... If you have the choice buy anything other than Manitou!

 

[Changleen]

I wish Marz would do a new version of the 03 DJ range, they were about right in the weight vs. beefiness stakes I think.

Question: Has anyone ever bent or broken the STANTIONS on a Marzocchi? Not the crown but the actual stantions?

Edit: Not including some sort of direct impact to them.

 

[skurfer333]

a guy posted on here awhile back who snapped one stanchion and bent the other on a monster T. he posted pictures and everything. granted, he claimed to have nose-cased a 50' gap with a 15' step down, but still. thats f#$%in nuts

 

[scurban]

I've never seen a bent stanchion on a Marzocchi DJ.

 

[Bicyclist]

you broke a gold label's drop outs? that makes three dropout ever broken on the sherman/gold label line that i know of (and i talk with the manitou guys a lot) but the looks of your profile pic mady thats why you broke them, nothing is unbreakable no matter what they say. id take a gold label over any other fork out there except for an all air version of the gold label. marz- are to heavy and overbuilt, or have to complex of dampening and are a waste of money. fox=too tall and either really flexxy and have creaking/cracking/twisting/bushing problems ie vanilla and float or are too tall ie 36. pikes creak after long term use and are also very tall but still feel great and are probably the second best in my mind compared to manitou. ill leave rst and the rest out of this arugement

You say Marzocchi forks are either overbuilt or they're too complex. Two words for you: MX Comp

They run a dual air assist setup with dual coil springs and an internal reboud adjuster. Difficult stuff.

They also weigh about 4.5# uncut. I have been riding one for a while with no problems. One of my buddies that broke a 888 AND a DJ1 rode one for about 5 months and had no issues.

They're low, have 3" of travel, are QR which IMO is fine for DJing, and are plenty beefy.

This said, I agree with your statements on Fox and some on Rock Shox. The Pike does feel good but the crown creaking isn't a big deal. Rock Shox has incredible customer service from what I've seen. My buddy bent his lowers on a Boxxer and they sent him a new fork because they didn't have lowers in stock for no charge, and he didn't even have to send in the lowers.

 

[ufdff15]

I have a lowered Marzocchi Z1-sport. It's light and simple. I have absolutly no complaints with this fork. It feels so much better than my Sherman Jumper.

 

[Bicyclist]

I have a lowered Marzocchi Z1-sport. It's light and simple. I have absolutly no complaints with this fork. It feels so much better than my Sherman Jumper.

How much travel does that have? 65mm? That looks sick BTW.

 

[ufdff15]

yes 65mm, it weighs 4.5lbs and has a 445mm a-c

 

[Bicyclist]

Sounds sweet! I like the looks of that a lot.

 

[dexter]

but also it cost a ton more than a gold lable didnt it? these tpes of forks people are not supposed to feel good. i dont get this mentaity. stiff, light, and stiff suspension, no fancy shmancy compression high and low, rebound, bottom out, preload, air etc etc. it just needs to work. the nixon is not a street fork but makes a wicked freeride/trail/4x fork. i run a platinum on my splinter mxs and that bike sees bigger 360's and tailwhips off drops and over bigger gaps than my street bike does. and it has been flawless. the stance line we all knew had its problems and should have probably never left the drawing board (and many manitou techs agree). you should have gotten a sherman jumper from the get go and have been done with it. one that matter i have an 03 firefly that has been on various bikes and now is a back upfork and has not had one single problem except for the tpc cartridge blowing up when i reduced its travel to around 40mm and cased a big dj 50/50 status.

also the mx comps seem like a good option but i have seen a few of them bent at the steerers and crowns and a few broken arches. not saying they all do this by any means. i am totally biased towards manitou but even if it was my own money and effort i would still rock them. now if fox had a 36 with vanilla r internals, inbetween the two forks stanchion size and low a2c it would be a hot contender

 

[ufdff15]

my fork retails for $450 tuned/lowered. By feels good i didn't mean it travel wise, I meant it feels good weight/geo. The compression doesn't change anything at all and the rebound is turned to the fastest rebound. It has air preload which i have set at 20psi, I'm 210lbs and the fork barely moves unless you need it.

 

[Cash-Money]

my buddy broke his 02DJ1 clean at the stanchions. nose cased a big double and ate ithard. totally his fault, just addressing the stanchion question

 

[scurban]

my buddy broke his 02DJ1 clean at the stanchions. nose cased a big double and ate ithard. totally his fault, just addressing the stanchion question

02 had 30mm alum. Stanchions. This is why Marzocchi came up with the "frequent buyer plan" Basicly anyone with an 02 got a newer 32mm stanchion dj for a very cheap price (around $100)

I've got an 05 Z1 FR that I just bought from Jensonusa.com for $280.00. It's currently at Nemesis Project getting pimped out by Brad Hodges. (lowered, PIMP'd) I gurantee this fork will be far superior to anything in the Manitou line, AND It didn't cost me a fortune.

ufdff15 is right, Lowered z1's are awesome. I'd take one over a sherman jumper anyday.

 

[gemini2k]

Just my two bits, I bought a Gold Label after running two Pikes, both with no problems, and had the dropouts snap after one week of riding. I'm definatly not a heavy rider and I'm pretty darn smooth, if I do say so myself, so yeah. Just my experience. I've also broken 3 Marzocchi DJ's too sooo yeah.

Breaking 4 DJ forks is being smooth? I hope ure being sarcastic

 

[scurban]

Breaking 4 DJ forks is being smooth? I hope ure being sarcastic

It just depends on riding style, he may be smooth but have somthing unique about his style that causes him to break forks. I know a guy who rides super smooth, but for some reason always breaks hub axels. Another buddy of mine is also very smooth, but always taco's his rims, once we were riding down a pretty smooth trail, and somehow he managed to crack his sun single track in half!

Don't make assumptions without personal experience.

Manitou's really do suck. I have no experience with the gold label, but my experience with the 3 different models of Manitou's that I've owned has been pretty bad, and I really don't think much of the company either.

 

[Bicyclist]

Manitou's really do suck.

Take notes on this, class.

 

[gemini2k]

meh depends, i hated my breakout plus and stance, but loved my flick and jumper, go tpc, boo everything else manitou

 

[Landon]

For what it's worth:

I've had good luck with the Sherman Jumper, and now the Gold Series. I feel good about recommending those forks to people. I don't think either fork is stiff enough out of the box, but this is easily fixed with a .75" shim installed underneath the top cap which preloads the spring. No, it can't get Marz. air assist stiff, but it works. My Jumper lasted longer than my lowered Marz DJ which eventually cracked at the crown. I'm sure Marz. solved the problem of the cracking crowns by now.

I wonder what people expect in terms of life expectancy from DJ forks? One year, or Five? What's a reasonable warranty policy?

Just curious about peoples thought on this.

 

[Muuqi]

Breaking 4 DJ forks is being smooth? I hope ure being sarcastic

No sarcasm here. Breaking 4 DJ forks = poor quality forks. Of course I left out the fact that they were all 2003, 2004 and 2005, no 2006s.

 

[gemini2k]

i think it should be at least 2 years, maybe 3 if it has 1.5 ht. otherwise they just need to make these forks stronger

 

[gemini2k]

No sarcasm here. Breaking 4 DJ forks = poor quality forks. Of course I left out the fact that they were all 2003, 2004 and 2005, no 2006s.

maybe i just dont ride frequently enough . i'll take ure word for it. Were the stress cracks? or did they like sheer in half or something?

 

[Muuqi]

Ha the only parts I expect to last 5 years on my jumping bike is the Chris King and Thomson stuff. Aside from that I would expect a fork to last at least one season, but the warrenty should be for at least 3. Or they should offer a crash replacement that is around the same price as EP.

 

[Muuqi]

maybe i just dont ride frequently enough were they stress fractures of more like sheers?

The first one (a DJ3) snapped completely in half. The second one split at the top of the stanchion, the 3rd one got all messed up internally, and the 4th one broke at the thru axle. Ahh the QR20 + was soo terrible.