Fork Help!

[freewheeler]

I am hoping somebody can help me figure out what is going in with my manitou minute 3 fork. It is a 5" travel fork that I had rebuilt about a year ago. It was working great until about 2-3 months ago when it started not using all of the travel. By last week I had only about 3" of usable travel despite changes to the air pressure settings etc.

So, I let all of the air out and tried to take it through the full stroke but hit resistance at the same 3" spot. I was able to get it to go further only by depressing the schrader valve and pushing on the fork at the same time, thus squirting foamy oil out of the air valve. This allowed the fork to move through the full travel.

My question is this- Why did the fork work ok after rebuild but not recently? Where did this "extra" oil come from? Will I do any harm running it this way- It seems to work fine now.

[northshore]

Try this thread.

** Need HELP with my FOX RLT100 Not getting full 4" Travel. **

[2wheel_lee]

I'm guessing you have either a 2004 or 2005 Minute. I've had both of these (actually I had a 2004 Minute 2 and later upgraded the SPV cartridge to the 2005 model). My vague memory tells me that there was some kind of issue with the grease that Manitou used on these forks that would harden over time and then get stuck in the SPV valving. I remember a buddy had a similar situation as what you describe with his Minute 2, and that was the explanation he received from a Manitou tech.

If you have a lot of time to read, you may find some good information in this rather exhausting thread.
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=64268

Your best bet is probably to take the fork over to Garage Works. http://www.garageworkssuspension.com/#

[Lor]

My 2 cents! I have had a minute 2 and 3 I think. One was air and the other coil. They both worked when I got them, used from friends, the air fork just worked ok, the coil worked ok. I'm glad I bought them used as any manitou I've had has just worked ok, not great. I think for how much you pay, for a new one, you should get better performance. I think overall Manitou has some work to do. My air minute had adjustments break, my air coil broke the travel adjust mechanism, go figure. 2 forks and something broke on each. Thanks for allowing me to vent.

[Red Hot Sloth]

Originally Posted by Lor

My 2 cents! I have had a minute 2 and 3 I think. One was air and the other coil. They both worked when I got them, used from friends, the air fork just worked ok, the coil worked ok. I'm glad I bought them used as any manitou I've had has just worked ok, not great. I think for how much you pay, for a new one, you should get better performance. I think overall Manitou has some work to do. My air minute had adjustments break, my air coil broke the travel adjust mechanism, go figure. 2 forks and something broke on each. Thanks for allowing me to vent.

Well, you know what they say..."It's a Manitou"...
nothing more, nothing less.

[soul rider]

it's a manitblows!
the same lack of travel happend on a king pin stance i bought at Jenson's "scratch and dent" sale (no hard feelings to Jenson, they rule)...a 3' drop first time out the thing locked up. out of spite i bought a 2007 66 rcx2, best out of spite decision I've ever made.
to top it off Manitou won't even service the fork. they said take it to a shop
buy a Marzocchi or Fox or new rock shock