Manitou 4 Fork help??
- Thread starter SEANSTEPHENS
- Start date
Mr Crudley
Old School Hero
lrh":1bu2j8pb said:
Have you had the chance to road test these yet?
Which set of springs feels best and how much do you weigh? I've sourced compression springs locally and am going down similar path to bring a pair of Manitou 1's back to life. I've seen the RS Type II springs on Ebay too, but no idea which would be the best way to go.
Excessive pogo'ing be damned, that will bring back fond memories of my once upon a time RS Quadra 5's that I spent wayyy tooo much $$$ on BITD. Springs are the easier solution to keep these cool old forks going, simple as that.
syncrosfan
Senior Retro Guru
Re:
What about the Englund Total air kits? I've recently purchased two sets of those for my Manitou FS project. Didn't put them in yet but they might doing a decent job.
For sure better than elastomers, and you can tune them to your weight via air pressure(lighter too). Price wise they're about 100$ but in the long run they might be worth it by not having to deal with degrading elastomers (that would cost you around 50$ a set). They're quite rare though, but if one pops up for sale, might be worth looking into.
What about the Englund Total air kits? I've recently purchased two sets of those for my Manitou FS project. Didn't put them in yet but they might doing a decent job.
For sure better than elastomers, and you can tune them to your weight via air pressure(lighter too). Price wise they're about 100$ but in the long run they might be worth it by not having to deal with degrading elastomers (that would cost you around 50$ a set). They're quite rare though, but if one pops up for sale, might be worth looking into.
Mr Crudley
Old School Hero
Re: Re:
I'd love to give these a go.syncrosfan":3e0xyb0h said:
They were always hard to come by here too, but had a good reputation. That would be the schizz. How do they hold up over the years? You have to give them a try.
syncrosfan
Senior Retro Guru
I took them apart and the construction is quite simple. They're air dampened and you can adjust the dampening character with provided valve inserts (they work the same way as the Cane Creek AD series air rear shocks, no wonder since it was Arlo Englund who designed those too, and those rear shocks are legendary for being bullet-proof). Bottom line: they're simple and easy to service (change some O-rings lube them up and go, no leaky damper cartridge). Fair enough compared to any of them fancy forks of today they're not that good, but for the short-travel old school Manitous they would be more than adequate. I got the set for my front forks from a fellow Retrobike member not too long ago. The rear one requires some custom parts that I have to get machined to make it work (I got a NOS set for a SID fork off e-bay). Anyway keep your eyes open maybe put a wanted ad on here something might pop up.
lrh
Senior Retro Guru
Sadly not but I'll try the softer springs first as I'm only 75kg. I'm used to rigid bikes and holding the handlebar loosely so these forks will mostly be for absorbing trail chatter, taking the edge of big hits... and looksMr Crudley":25eq8j2r said:
Both are softer than late 90s RST/Manitou elastomer forks that barely move under my weight but still need my whole body weight to bottom-out. As long as they don't bob when pedalling seated I'll be happy.
I see you've spotted the other spring thread where I posted the dimensions of my springs for comparison. I wonder how that guy is getting on, he's gone for much softer springs!
Mr Crudley
Old School Hero
syncrosfan":13nlyuo3 said:
Thanks for the heads up syncrosfan. Anything you can have a go at maintaining without needed 'x' special tool and is a simple but clever design is a good thing. Squeezing air, gas or fluids through a small hole shouldn't be *that* hard :? should it?
I'll have to keep an eye opened. I might get lucky, otherwise a few springs and an cleanup will probably do it.
syncrosfan
Senior Retro Guru
Yupp, no special tool needed. Just hand-force to unthread the top cap. The only thing I don't like about those is the fact the all of the exposed top parts are plastic, they don't look as nice as the original aluminum Manitou preload adjusters. That's why I'm in the process of making new top-caps that are aluminum and look just like the original manitou preload adjusters (also anodized in the turquoise and black), just underneath is actually the schrader valve.
Mr Crudley
Old School Hero
I'm 82kg and have been messing around on a rigid bike now for bit longer than I thought I would again. Taking the edge off bumps will be all they need to do and no plans to go DH'ing at Les Gets. They do look great though.lrh":37g0wh47 said:Sadly not but I'll try the softer springs first as I'm only 75kg. I'm used to rigid bikes and holding the handlebar loosely so these forks will mostly be for absorbing trail chatter, taking the edge of big hits... and looks
+1, as long is it isn't too excessive.
Although if I plonk them on the SS which demands you to crank out of the saddle then it will be pogo city.
Overall, I prefer them to be on the firmer side.
Yes, I'm RTFM now :?
Century springs might be worth a try. They have compression springs and urethane springs
http://www.centuryspring.com/products.php
This one is 1.5" but will the ID & OD suit?
http://www.centuryspring.com/Store/item ... umber=B4-1
and I can get them here for small change.
http://www.bunnings.com.au/our-range/bu ... on-springs
I need to get the measurements clear in my head, or just turn up a try a few till something fits. I have a spare Manitou 4 elastomer stack somewhere here too. I can take that along and look for a few possible contenders if you guys are interested.
Anyhow, early days yet. The plan was hatched and a good plan it was :?
Mr Crudley
Old School Hero
That will be a nice touch. Well done in advance.syncrosfan":ii8wjxih said:
If you get too good at it then you can start making you own alloy cranksets and anodised bike jewellery like seatpost clamps and cable hangers etc.........
