so i got a new bike. the fork on it is a manitou splice, which is rated as a "trail/enduro" fork by manitou. i am not sure what that means to me as far as the type of terrain they expect riders to take this thing through. does "trail/enduro" include the expectation that some trails might have 3 or 4 foot drops to flat? can you dirt jump the thing? i see 4X riders with forks that seem to be XC to me on their rigs. since 4X courses have jumps, i would assume that implies you could. i am just not sure what fork mfgs expectations are these days. i recognize that there are 7" single crowns for "extreme freeride." i also get the sense that "trail/enduro" implies a more abuseable product than an "XC" fork. where is the middle ground in your mind?
i am mainly concerned with the structural strength of the fork. i like the way my fork feels, but i have some concerns about how much abuse it can handle from a 185lb rider. the factory sent this little QR fork out with an 8" rotor on it, so i would imagine that they expect the fork to be somewhat tough. the stanchions are only 30mm, but they are cromo. the crown also seems a bit smaller than the Marz DJ i once owned. i have started looking at other forks that i might consider upgading to (pike, fox vanilla). they don't appear to be built with much bigger crowns (of course, how much can you figure out about strength by looking).
the frame and parts spec on my new bike are both burly and intended for some abuse. it just does not seem like a company would put a fragile fork on an abuseable rig (i bought the bike complete)
back to my original point - wtf does "trail/enduro" mean to you? i am not looking for advice on a fork to buy (though i am no opposed to hearing what fork you are riding and the type of terrain you are hitting with it). i am more interested in what other monkeys think of when they come across a fork marketed as "trail/enduro." would you huck it? would you jump it? would you only pedal uphill with it?
i am mainly concerned with the structural strength of the fork. i like the way my fork feels, but i have some concerns about how much abuse it can handle from a 185lb rider. the factory sent this little QR fork out with an 8" rotor on it, so i would imagine that they expect the fork to be somewhat tough. the stanchions are only 30mm, but they are cromo. the crown also seems a bit smaller than the Marz DJ i once owned. i have started looking at other forks that i might consider upgading to (pike, fox vanilla). they don't appear to be built with much bigger crowns (of course, how much can you figure out about strength by looking).
the frame and parts spec on my new bike are both burly and intended for some abuse. it just does not seem like a company would put a fragile fork on an abuseable rig (i bought the bike complete)
back to my original point - wtf does "trail/enduro" mean to you? i am not looking for advice on a fork to buy (though i am no opposed to hearing what fork you are riding and the type of terrain you are hitting with it). i am more interested in what other monkeys think of when they come across a fork marketed as "trail/enduro." would you huck it? would you jump it? would you only pedal uphill with it?