HQ in state with more favorable laws. Company "does business" in said state...like all the corporations that have set up international HQs to avoid having to pay US taxes, just on a smaller scale. It's the American Way. Better than giving money to the Chinese, right?
What Fork To Get?
- Thread starter ianjenn
- Start date
No, but there are often tax incentives offered by states/local gov and the regulations in that state may be more favorable, such they may work more to their advantage.
I meant deduction because it is an operating expense. I'm not certain who owns the building but I believe they rent it.
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I own one and love it. Super easy to deal with in terms of service, also there are a multitude of ways to screw up the setup, however I had no issues with that, but I'm a set it up once and never change type of guy. Only open the LSC once getting tired. Also has Hidraulic bottom out which is an awesome feature combined with a ramp up air chamber, while all the rest of the forks have stupid tokens. The Zeb and the 38 could be real competitor to the Mezzer, but the Manitou fork is way lighter, does not creak (yet) but some hate the look of it. Not as if one would be looking at the fuckin fork while riding it...
The irt setup is great, have it on my mattoc. Yes it takes a little more time to setup, but definitely worth it imo. It essentially makes it a dual rate air spring.
I remember when CC launched the helm there was an interview where they had tested a pretty much identical setup, but ultimately decided it was too complicated.
What also takes some time getting used to (at least for me) is the axle system of the Manitou fork, bit differnet than the rest, has it's own quirks, but seem to work fine.
The axle on the Mezzer is a lot more normal. The QR on the Mattoc is kinda quirky, but works fine.
Manitou Introduces Limited Sterling Silver Edition of the Mezzer Pro Fork - Pinkbike
The Mezzer gets a new colourway limited to 250 pieces.
Wait, they first polish it just to put a silver color on it??? Why not just clearcoat?Manitou Introduces Limited Sterling Silver Edition of the Mezzer Pro Fork - Pinkbike
The Mezzer gets a new colourway limited to 250 pieces.www.pinkbike.com
Shimstacks on Manitou forks are easily tunable if needed. The forks are easy to work on as long as you get the specific tools (mainly a thin walled 8mm socket) and as long as you remember that the threads are on the lowers and not on the shafts...
Only minor downside, from my armchair engineering point of view, is that the size if the negative chamber increases as the travel decreases which theoretically makes the initial stroke less sensitive as travel increases. This might be offset by the fact that you need less pressure when travel increases and by the tuning possibilities offered by the 2nd positive chamber. Maybe somebody will bother doing the maths some day...?
Rebound tuning on 10 clicks might give too big steps for some picky riders but, on the other hand, it is easy to adjust the shimstack.
Anyhow the fork offers a lot of tunability right out of the box, good (claimed) stiffness, it uses tech (air spring and damper -wise) that has been proven (fairly) reliable. As long ad the bushing are aligned, it will be a great fork.
Disclaimer: I haven't tried a Mezzer (but wouldn't mind doing it!) The above is based on my own experience with a Mastodon fork with misaligned bushings, some tuning done on a friends Mattoc and feedback from a few other Manitou riders. FWIW
Only minor downside, from my armchair engineering point of view, is that the size if the negative chamber increases as the travel decreases which theoretically makes the initial stroke less sensitive as travel increases. This might be offset by the fact that you need less pressure when travel increases and by the tuning possibilities offered by the 2nd positive chamber. Maybe somebody will bother doing the maths some day...?
Rebound tuning on 10 clicks might give too big steps for some picky riders but, on the other hand, it is easy to adjust the shimstack.
Anyhow the fork offers a lot of tunability right out of the box, good (claimed) stiffness, it uses tech (air spring and damper -wise) that has been proven (fairly) reliable. As long ad the bushing are aligned, it will be a great fork.
Disclaimer: I haven't tried a Mezzer (but wouldn't mind doing it!) The above is based on my own experience with a Mastodon fork with misaligned bushings, some tuning done on a friends Mattoc and feedback from a few other Manitou riders. FWIW
Clear coat over raw metal doesn't stick so good, you really need a primer coat for durability.
Tons of car guys clear coat their polished aluminum rims. Seems to work for them.
Not sure if the lowers are aluminum or magnesium though.
You can do it. I have a clear coated steel frame. It just isn't nearly as durable as a proper multi-coat paint system. And I think lowers tend to be magnesium alloys so protecting them is super important.
For a bike part?
Since when has durability been a concern for the bike industry?
/itwasabadjokeigetit
I know a guy who polished the lowers of a Boxxer. He only rode in dry conditions and touched it up with car wax after every bike wash and it looked fine for the year he was around.
It’s going to be obsolete in 18 months anyway with the advent of the new “standard”
So, polish and clear coat away!
For anyone wanting the increased mid-stroke spring rate of something like the IRT that already has a Fox or RS fork, the Vorsprung Secus really does what it claims in terms of providing a very linear feeling rate through the mid-stroke.
Yeah I did clear loaded with pearl on to a polished fork lower, it stayed on pretty well.
The stuff was called Glisten PC, I followed the instructions and it worked fine, previously I didn't follow the instructions with some of their other paint and it meant lots of sandblasting. It does cure in your mouth and lungs if you don't have the right gear.
EDIT- The Durolux now has a semi decent air spring, you can also demo one at home for not much money.
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How am I just now learning this?Looking at your name on the article I was wondering if any of your Filipino friends have called you Mr. Vegetables?
Surname is Swiss, for the record.
This bugged me.
If it's an air spring, the problem was that it was TOO linear in the mid-stroke to start with, relative to the beginning and end strokes.
I guess it depends on your frame of reference. I think of an air spring curve as departing the most from linear at its center. My point was the Secus makes my Lyrik feel linear from initial stroke through the mid stroke until it starts ramping up ~80% of the way in. It feels pretty damn close to the Smashpot. It's a very perceivable difference from stock.
The most linear (flattest) spot is in the mid-stroke.
I'm considering a Secus for next season...but also just saying screw it and going with a coil conversion. Nearly the same price and both add weight.
That's one way to look at it. Another is drawing a straight line from beginning to end stroke and considering that to be linear. The Secus is a lot lighter than the Smashpot, I've had both. The Smashpot all in was +600 grams over stock without considering the additional oil. I haven't weighed the Secus but it's quite a bit lighter, I don't notice any difference in weight riding over stock, that wasn't the case with the Smashpot. Whether or not that matters is situation dependent.
I've been hesitant to post regarding my experience after the shit show over at MTBR (everyone is either a fanboy trying to justify their purchase, or a hater saying you should have bought a Mezzer). I've been running one since they were released in the US (early October?). 160mm version, on a Smash and Gnarvana. I weigh about 172 lbs fully geared up. I'd say I'm a middle of the pack, middle aged dentist. I don't jump much but do like steeps. I've run a 36 RC2 and a 36 GRIP2 (2019 version), both with and without a Luftkappe. No experience with a Lyrik or Mezzer.
The good: it's very, very good over small bumps. The stiction is incredible compared to a 36 with a Luftkappe and green SKF seals. Going over fast brake bumps feels like the level of muting that you get from running a Cushcore, only even moreso. The midstroke support is quite good. It doesn't creak. I "only" paid the pre-order price of like 1,600 instead of whatever ridiculous list price they have now. Their suggested main chamber (+) pressures seem to be pretty close.
The bad: their ramp chamber (++) pressures are ridiculously high. The fork is SUPER progressive, even running much less than what they suggest, and the compression nearly open. They suggest setting ++ to about 155% of +. I dropped that to 120%, and still didn't bottom out when I literally dislocated my shoulder casing a gap with the front. I can take all the air out of both chambers, and it takes my full body weight to compress it to full travel. I'm guessing that's from the initial travel coil (which is non-adjustable).
My friend who has one also weighs like 15+ lbs less than me (but has it on his fucking ebike) is running higher pressures than me, and uses more travel. It might be down to riding style, but I really have to wonder if something's funky with mine. I had a skills coach I've used a few times take a look at it, and his impression was that the LSR was really slow but the HSR was nice and fast. He opened rebound full open but the HSR was too much for me so I slowed it to 1 click faster than EXT's recommendations. I've asked the EXT dealer in the Bay Area to have the coach take a look at his personal fork and see if he's feeling the same thing (they're friends). I haven't had him crack it open or send it in for service because I don't want to deal with the turn-around time.
Anyways, I've got mixed feelings. On one hand, it's great over small rocks and brake bumps, and good midstroke support. On the other, the ramp up at the last 1/3 just feels super firm. The value proposition seems pretty bad, unless you're talking about it in comparison to something like a 36 + Secus, or Zeb + Smashpot. It could be I'm just a hack rider, it could be I got a dud, or it could be something inherent in their design. There doesn't seem to be a clear alternative that ticks all the boxes, and even if there was, with all the supply chain issues I'm reluctant to grab something else to try instead.