Need Help Identifying old school manitou fork

[coffeespecial]

im doing a single speed conversion on an old school Park Pre and i need help rebuilding this fork..but first i need to identify what model it is....any help i would greatly appreciate... this might be a better thread for the workshop


thanks

[wheezy]

Well, it's not the OG Manitou, because it has the Answer logo on there. I THINK that's the second or third year manitou. Measure the travel for me... that will tell us a lot more.

I'm like 80% sure it's the third version of the Manitou fork. Does it have any preload adjusters on the bottom of the legs? I don't think so, can't tell from the pic though.

AND, I believe the one with preload adjusters (which I had on a Ritchey P90 by the way, complete with XT thumb shifters) was all grey and was officially called the Manitou II.

SO, like I said I'm pretty sure it's 2nd or 3rd year manitou. The only way to tell is the amount of travel. 1.5" is 2nd year / 2" is 3rd year.

Rebuilding it...??? WHY ON GODS EARTH WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THAT FOR??????

Dude, it's an ALL Elastomer fork. As in, when it's COLD it doesn't work and when it's HOT it bottoms out instantly. Actually kind of "okay" on a nice 72degree day though.

Good Luck!

[brownlandshark]

That's a manitou three. They went to four then changed the name to Mach five. Then the line grew from there.

[wheezy]

Manitou 3... Are you sure about that??? 3rd Manitou, or Manitou 3??? Very different animals. The Manitou 3 had adjusters on TOP. I don't think it's a Manitou 3 but rather the 3rd Manitou.

Some info for ya
http://www.firstflightbikes.com/suspensi.htm


REMEMBER THIS... I wanted one SO bad for "DH" racing at Mammoth.

[coffeespecial]

THATS THE ONE!!

Originally Posted by wheezy

Manitou 3... Are you sure about that??? 3rd Manitou, or Manitou 3??? Very different animals. The Manitou 3 had adjusters on TOP. I don't think it's a Manitou 3 but rather the 3rd Manitou.

Some info for ya
http://www.firstflightbikes.com/suspensi.htm


REMEMBER THIS... I wanted one SO bad for "DH" racing at Mammoth.

[brett]

That model is called the Manitou 2. I owned one and bought it in late 1992. I actually have some of the elastomers to tune it sitting in my garage somewhere.

[wheezy]

THIS is a Manitou 3 Notice the adjusters on top. The Manitou 2 had them on the bottom. THe fork in question doesn't appear to have ANY which would make it either 2nd year or 3rd year Manitou as I previously stated. UNLESS it's been dismantled and not put back together properly.

[coffeespecial]

Ill Probably Just Turn It Into A Rigid!! I Just Want To Keep The Old School Feel To The Bike Thats All, Without Buying Any Other Fork..its Easy To Spend More Money And Buy New Parts.. But Its A Single Speed Conversion On A Budget.. I Paid 80bux For A Complete Rolling Bike..

would you care to help a brutha out??

Originally Posted by brett

That model is called the Manitou 2. I owned one and bought it in late 1992. I actually have some of the elastomers to tune it sitting in my garage somewhere.

[wheezy]

Post a pic of the bottom. I don't think it's a Manitou 2. The Manitou 2 was VERY different in terms on internals and how the elastomers were assembled.

The 2 was the first year they used the "skewer" and thus added the preload adjuster to the bottom of the leg.

Good Luck

See if you can track one of these down!

[coffeespecial]

heres the bottom...any suggestions on how to rigitize this fork if it cant be rebuilt

[brett]

Originally Posted by coffeespecial

heres the bottom...any suggestions on how to rigitize this fork if it cant be rebuilt

Not sure why you guys don't believe it's a Manitou 2. It even says it right there on the fork.

As for making it more rigid, back then there were a number of braces that would attach to the brake bosses. Whether those really helped or not I can't say. The fork was like a noodle by today's standards. I also recall I changed out the stanchion tubes for stiffer ones, but I don't remember who made them. They even made carbon fiber stanchion replacements for weight weenies.

[autoduel]

Originally Posted by coffeespecial

im doing a single speed conversion on an old school Park Pre and i need help rebuilding this fork..but first i need to identify what model it is....any help i would greatly appreciate... this might be a better thread for the workshop
thanks

Pics! I had an old ti-plated parkpre (tange prestige superlight frame). As for rigidizing, probably not a good idea, just relube it, find some replacement elastomers that fit in one leg(if they're hard), and source a spring for the other leg. I used to run a elastomer stack in one leg and spring in the other in a quadra 21r. The spring makes it more active, while the elastomer helps to provide some rebound damping.

[wheezy]

YEP, it's a 2. Adjusters on the bottom.

[coffeespecial]

pics!!

[coffeespecial]

Originally Posted by brett

That model is called the Manitou 2. I owned one and bought it in late 1992. I actually have some of the elastomers to tune it sitting in my garage somewhere.

hey bra!!

try look

for those elastomers in the garage

[autoduel]

Originally Posted by coffeespecial

pics!!

Awesome! Hope to see you at the keyesville classic vintage stage race next year!

[brett]

Originally Posted by coffeespecial

hey bra!!

try look

for those elastomers in the garage

I found 2 blues and 6 reds. IIRC, they had a short and long size and if so, these are all long. I even have a Gorilla brake arch brace. I can't vouch for it's effectiveness at combating fork flex but it sure weights a lot!

[El Salt]

Its a "2". I've got one (along w/ about 1/2 doz other "oldies") hanging above the work bench. I "upgraded" to it from the original Manitou (the grey one, the one Johnnie T raced).

Boy did I ever want that FS Manitou in the day.

MTB Hall of Fame has one. Got to meet Doug Bradbury there twice over the years. Really, really cool guy.

[coffeespecial]

Originally Posted by El Salt

Its a "2". I've got one (along w/ about 1/2 doz other "oldies") hanging above the work bench. I "upgraded" to it from the original Manitou (the grey one, the one Johnnie T raced).

Boy did I ever want that FS Manitou in the day.

MTB Hall of Fame has one. Got to meet Doug Bradbury there twice over the years. Really, really cool guy.

opinion?? should i rebuild it or just rigitize it??

[singleminded]

Brett is correct...Manitou 2...I had one also