Manitou Six Failures

"JSNTG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have just started posting here and your group seems informed and generally polite.

You haven't been redressed by JD yet ;-)

Quoted message said:

Looking hard at Marzocchi. Will see what the guys at the LBS carry and

what

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I can demo. Amazing how expensive these puppies are. Even the best ones

look

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like they have less than a bean in material costs. If as Bill suggests,

they

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all break, where are all the beans going? R&D? Middle man? Palermo?

Profit, marketing, R & D, middle man - all that and more. I'll bet production cost on a high-end
fork is under $25, with retail at $450+ (Just my guess..) I have no idea how many forks are made
each year, or what level of technology is required for production. CNC is very likely. 50,000 lb
hydraulic presses? Robotic assembly? I don't know.

Quoted message said:

And is there a Timex equivalent - will last forever but is not going to

win

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any performance awards?

A Marzocchi Bomber is probably what you want. They're heavy (4.5 lbs), bombproof and relatively
inexpensive (for a coil-sprung, oil-damped fork). Any fork can break when you "go big," but it
rarely happens with Marzocchi forks. They're damned beefy; but I've seen photos of the newer
M-shaped brake arches snapped in half. The older arches were probably better. Hard to say.

If your shop will trade you up to a Bomber for free or cheap, go for it. Your pucker factor will
drop, and you'll get a plush fork that is North Shore approved for extreme duty. Make sure they
install the correct spring for your weight range. My 2003 Marzocchi Bomber MXR has a spring that's
too light, and it bobs all over the place; but it is ultra plush through the entire travel range.
You will notice the difference.

(I've heard rumors about cigars and cognac being sent by a certain Canadian as part of initiation
into "The Bomberhood;" but I still haven't seen anything in the mail since I got my Bomber-equipped
Klein Attitude last spring. ;-)

-=Barry=-

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"JSNTG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message = "]news:[email hidden]... I purchased a
Gary Fisher Marlin recently which came with the Manitou = Six front shock. Bike had great reviews
with the exception of the shock. = Apparently, there is tendency for the cast aluminum arch to
break on the = right side.

Reports of a dozen or so breaks here:
=
mtbreview.comproduct 121936.shtmlOpen ↗ This shock has a history of
problems: answerproducts.comsafetynotice.htmOpen ↗
cpsc.gov02236.htmlOpen ↗

I'm wondering, should I be concerned? I'm a big guy and plan on riding = trails where there are
2'-3' drops. After reading about all these = breaks, I now have confidence issues just
commuting.=20

I'm going to back to the LBS where the bike was purchased and relay my = concerns. I'm hoping they
will sympathize and offer to change out the = shock for one of equal or greater worth. I don't
mind ponying up for the = difference if it turns out to be an upgrade. Which begs the question: =
What's a good entry level shock I can use with confidence?=20

The Marzocchi MX Comp ETA has gotten stellar reviews=20
=
mountainbikereview.comproduct 122114.sh=Open ↗ tml and seems to be a
great bang for the bean. But it's hard to find = (possibly due to all those giddy testimonials).
Their Dirt Jumper III = and MX Comp also come highly rated. Do users of these springs concur?

Hugh in Tallahappy

Just Say NO! To Gravity

.=20

(Sorry to all about the HTML / Plain Text thing, don't know how to = alter, so here goes.....)

Hugh, I bought a GT XTR SCS1000, second hand about a year ago. The original = forks had been
removed and replaced with the Manitou Six. Not a great = idea but hey, I got a =A34000 bike for
=A3800. I've ridden lots of = standard XC with no problems and several downhills during the year.
I = note that you're in USAland so this probably won't mean much but theride = I took it on was
down Snowdon, highest mountain in England / Wales. At = the time I'd never done quite such a
technical descent. It took me = probably about a quarter of the ride to work out how to do it
properly, =
i.e. don't brake, especially the front, on drops. During this learning = curve, I came off three
times, putting a great deal off stress on the = forks. Once I worked out what was going on I
just flew the rest of the = way down, great fun. Since then, as I say, I've carried out several
of = these more technical, challenging and punishing trails. The bike and = forks appear to
have taken it in their stride. No doubt, as with all = things there are good and bad. I weigh
around 195lbs, 6'1" (very important, that inch ;-), and to = celebrate, we're hitting Snowdon
to celebrate a years fun ownership in = early October.

Sorry, in summary, I have no problems with this fork, but then, I'm = not an expert and know no
better, but I do really test it by taking most = amateur falls putting most unusual stresses on
the bike/forks!....my = son, however, insists on Marzocchi Bombers but then he does dirt
jumping = too ;-)

HTH,

Dave Gravity - I fought the law and the law won, several times!! (doncha = just love
plagerism ?!!?)

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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META
http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; = charset=3Diso-8859-1"> <META content=3D"MSHTML
6.00.2800.1126" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff background=3D"">
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE=20 style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px;
PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DV>"JSNTG" <<A = href=3D""][email hidden]">[email hidden]</A>>=20 wrote in
message <A=20
=
href=3D""]news:[email hidden]">="]news:[email hidden]=
a.com</A>...</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><FONT size=3D3>I purchased a Gary = Fisher Marlin=20 recently
which came with the Manitou Six front shock. Bike had great = reviews=20 with the
exception of the shock. Apparently, there is tendency for the = cast=20 aluminum arch to
break on the right side.<BR><BR>Reports of a dozen or = so=20 breaks=20
=
here:<BR>mtbreview.comproduct 12193=Open ↗
6.shtml<BR>This=20 shock has a history of=20
=
problems:<BR>answerproducts.comsafetynotice.htmOpen ↗<BR>www=www=Open ↗
.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml02/02236.html<BR><BR>I'm=20 wondering, should I be concerned? I'm a
big guy and plan on riding = trails=20 where there are 2'-3' drops. After reading about all these
breaks, I = now have=20 confidence issues just commuting. <BR><BR>I'm going to back to the LBS =
where=20 the bike was purchased and relay my concerns. I'm hoping they will = sympathize=20 and
offer to change out the shock for one of equal or greater worth. I = don't=20 mind ponying up for
the difference if it turns out to be an upgrade. = Which=20 begs the question: What's a good entry
level shock I can use with = confidence?=20 <BR><BR>The Marzocchi MX Comp ETA has gotten stellar
reviews=20
=
<BR>mountainbikereview.comproduct 12211=Open ↗
7.shtml<BR>and=20 seems to be a great bang for the bean. But it's hard to find (possibly = due to=20
all those giddy testimonials). Their Dirt Jumper III and MX Comp also = come=20 highly rated. Do
users of these springs concur?<BR><BR>Hugh in=20 Tallahappy<BR><BR>Just Say NO! To
Gravity</FONT><BR><BR>.</FONT> = </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>(Sorry to all about the HTML / Plain = Text thing,=20 don't
know how to alter, so here goes.....)</FONT></DIV>
<DVI><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DVII>
<DVIII><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Hugh,</FONT></DIV>
<DIX><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I bought a GT XTR SCS1000, second = hand about a=20 year ago.
The original forks had been removed and replaced with the = Manitou=20 Six. Not a great
idea but hey, I got a =A34000 bike for =A3800. = I've ridden=20 lots of standard XC
with no problems and several downhills during the = year. I=20 note that you're in
USAland so this probably won't mean much but = theride=20 I took it on was down Snowdon,
highest mountain in England / Wales. At = the=20 time I'd never done quite such a
technical descent. It took me = probably about=20 a quarter of the ride to work out how
to do it properly, i.e. don't = brake,=20 especially the front, on drops. During this
learning curve, I came off = three=20 times, putting a great deal off stress on the
forks. Once I worked out = what=20 was going on I just flew the rest of the way down,
great fun. Since = then, as I=20 say, I've carried out several of these more technical,
challenging and =

punishing trails. The bike and forks appear to have taken it in their = stride.=20 No doubt, as
with all things there are good and bad.</FONT></DIV>
<DX><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I weigh around 195lbs, 6'1" (very = important, that=20 inch
;-), and to celebrate, we're hitting Snowdon to celebrate a years = fun=20 ownership in
early October.</FONT></DIV>
<DXI><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXII><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Sorry, in summary, I have no problems = with this=20 fork, but
then, I'm not an expert and know no better, but I do really = test it=20 by taking most
amateur falls putting most unusual stresses on the=20 bike/forks!....my son, however,
insists on Marzocchi Bombers but then = he does=20 dirt jumping too ;-)</FONT></DIV>
<DXIII><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>HTH,</FONT></DIV>
<DXV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXVI><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Dave</FONT></DIV>
<DXVII><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Gravity - I fought the law and the = law won,=20 several
times!! (doncha just love plagerism ?!!?)</FONT></DIV>
<DXVIII><FONT face=3DArial=20 size=3D2></FONT> </DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>

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"Dave" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Hugh, I bought a GT XTR SCS1000, second hand about a year ago. The original

forks had been >removed and replaced with the Manitou Six..Not a great idea but hey, I got a
£4000 bike for >£800. I've ridden lots of standard XC with no problems and several downhills
during the year. I >note that you're in USAland so this probably won't mean much but theride I
took it on was down

Quoted message said:

Snowdon, highest mountain in England / Wales. At the time I'd never done

quite such a technical >descent. It took me probably about a quarter of the ride to work out how to
do it properly, i.e. >don't brake, especially the front, on drops. During this learning curve, I
came off three times,

Quoted message said:

putting a great deal off stress on the forks. Once I worked out what was

going on I just flew the >rest of the way down, great fun. Since then, as I say, I've carried out
several of these more >technical, challenging and punishing trails. The bike and forks appear to
have taken it in their

Quoted message said:

stride. No doubt, as with all things there are good and bad. I weigh around 195lbs, 6'1" (very
important, that inch ;-), and to

celebrate, we're hitting >Snowdon to celebrate a years fun ownership in early October.

Quoted message said:

Sorry, in summary, I have no problems with this fork, but then, I'm not an

expert and know no >better, but I do really test it by taking most amateur falls putting most
unusual stresses on the >bike/forks!....my son, however, insists on Marzocchi Bombers but then he
does dirt jumping >too ;-)

Quoted message said:

HTH,

Dave Gravity - I fought the law and the law won, several times!! (doncha just

love plagerism ?!!?)

Dave, sorry about the original post format. My bad. Love the Clash version of 'Law' BTW.

I know the hill that you speak of. Lived in London for awhile in the early eighties and did a
footrace up in that area. Beautiful country! Actually spent some time in England mountain biking a
couple years later - '85. There is a trail called 'Old Pilgrims Trail' and it snakes from England
(Scotland maybe) down through Europe. I took it on and off from England to Yugoslavia. Parts of it
were spectacular and filled with Kodak moments. Other parts were a bit treacherous. Having to
hoist my bike + 40 pounds of muddy, over-stuffed panniers over all those fences definitely built
up my traps.

The mountain bike was a novelty then. Everywhere we went (I was with the 1st and last wife at that
time), people marveled at our kits and those, fat tires and really low gears. Somewhere in Belgium
we got caught up in a bicycle race. The finish was on top of a hill as was our destination, a
campground. As we were spinning up the hill in low gear at a snails pace, the race leaders came
running up from behind, sprinting with their sleek racing machines to the finish. Until that is,
they caught up with us. At which point they stopped racing and started quizzing us about our bikes.
This, a hundred meters from the finish line! It was only for a few seconds and I prolly encouraged
them in bad French to keep moving, but it was odd. Later we were mobbed at the top of the hill.
Ended up making some friends and having dinner with some of the local racers.

Glad to hear the Six is working for you. I'm about to go put mine through another test.

Cheers,

Hugh in sunny Florida