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A review to me means real time spent with a product. Enough time to truly endorse or discredit it. No short term few month spin that gives no idea on longevity or durability. Plus people want to know what maintenance will be like over time. That is why it is time for me to review mt MTB fork. I have put it through many different riding scenarios / styles, many bikes, thousands of miles of singletrack, doubletrack, race courses, street riding and dirt jumping.

The fork is a 1999 Manitou X-Vert. I have a good amount of time on it, almost 10 years to the day.

1-piece Magnesium lowers
Travel: 105mm/4 inches
Weight: 1907g/4.2 lbs
Price: $400.00
WebSite www.answerproducts.com
OPtions: -Damping TPC+
-Spring Coil and MCU
-Lubrication MicroLube

I purchased the fork to replace a sticky Manitou XCR (<--sp? forgot name of fork) that came stock on my 1999 Jamis Dakar Comp. Once installed I was in love.
Stiffer steering which meant I could fly down hills (this was in 1999).

The geometry of the bike changed a tad due to the additional 20mm of travel, only noticeable while climbing. I did not love it, however I was already a good climber and this fork helped me increase my descending skills. The fork lived on this bike for quite a while and never let me down. Only needed three oil changes in 3 years. These were preventive oil changes, may not have really needed it. Only other service I performed was lubing the bushings through service holes in the fork legs.

In 2003 I built a Kona Scab hardtail to match my Stinky. The fork then moved onto that frame. After being heat treated it seemed to get even better! Notice I removed the fork boots. This was because forks were no longer being sold with them and I had to pretend my fork was newer to be allowed on the trails.

(thats right.. singlespeed with vertical dropouts and no tensioner)

The fork had crazy pop and sent me safely over every bon-fire I could find. I would cruise camp sites in search of new and bigger bon fires to jump. Successfully clearing each one I came accross. Thanks to my Manitou X-vert!

Once I sent the Scab to hell in bag of broken tubes I mounted the fork on my new and even better Balck Market MOB. This bike had crazy pop and with the help of the Manitou I was able to keep frame weight under 20 pounds. Which helped with crazy trickery!

I know I make funny faces. I am told this all the time. In fact I have been made fun of for making funny faces. It’s a cruel world kids.

Oh how I loved the MOB. This bike took my street and dirt trickery to the next level. From the promenade to the third floor baby! I was foot jamming and throwing proper tables in no time. In fact, the combination of the frame and fork increased my confidence so much…. I bought a BMX bike….Something I have not owned since childhood.

I’ll save that saga for another day. All I will say is thanks to this tiny red bike I didn’t see a larger wheeled bike for over a year. They sat untouched.

Fastfoward to present day. June almost July of 2009 and I am still using it on my current MTB. It now has thousands of miles on it and I only had to replace the fork seals once at this point. It has never failed or performed poorly. Best part… all the adjustments still work. How would I kow if they didn’t? Wha the hell does TPC do anyway?

Don’t get me wrong. I would love a new fork now. The weights have come down so low I could drop a pound or more off my bike. Plus I have never ridden an air sprung fork for more than mile. I want to see how they do. However, everytime I get enough money, or a reason for someone to buy me a new fork I come up with something else to spend the money on. Like this year. I could score a sweet fork this fathers day. Instead, I decided to build my kid another bike. (more on that later)

Bottom line on this here Manitou X-vert. The energizer bunny of forks. It is super durable and has lasted the longer than any one single bike product I own, (oops not true.. my rollers are older, maybe by twice the time). It has stayed strong when frames crumbled around it and still performs well enough for me to ride and race on. Race.. thats right. I have a race in a few weeks and this will be the fork helping to steer my bike. Thanks Answer Manitou for making a rock solid fork. I bet the new ones are just as good!

Next review. 6+ plus years using Hayes brakes of all sorts.

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An oxymoron?

Posted on June 15th, 2009 under Bikes • Tags: Manitou-Fork-product-review, mountain-bike-review, socks, x-vert. • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback