Twenty Nine Inches has received a 2010 Manitou 100mm travel Minute suspension fork with the 20mm Hex Axle for testing/review. This fork has been upgraded from previous models and we are looking forward to getting it on a bike here and logging some miles.
Again, this is the 20mm through axle model and features the Absolute Plus damper. Stay tuned for a more detailed first impressions post coming soon.
Note:This product was purchased to review on Twenty Nine Inches. I am not being paid or bribed for this review. I will give my honest opinion or thoughts through out.
Just got my 2010 Minute, 120mm flavor. First thing I noticed is how my Hadley hub w/ 185mm rotor clears the inside fork leg with room to spare, unlike my Reba Team. I also like the axle/drop-out interface. Although it requires turning a few more fasteners than the maxle, it appears to be a more robust and stiffer system.
The owners manual leaves something to be desired, but hopefully the website will fill in the gaps.
Did I mention it works with burly hubs like Hadley?
So far, I like it!
I’m riding my 2009 Minute 29 with the 2010 Absolute + damper installed, and I’ve got to say, from a performance standpoint, it’s rivaling my Fox in terms of its bump-leveling ability. Mine is a QR model, which is clearly not as stiff as the Hex Lock model, and is not quite as stiff laterally as the Fox QR, but I’ll live with it… It’s still a great fork. I love it more every time I ride it with the new damper and learn a little more about how tune it a bit more effectively.
Could you please list the actual weights of the fork and the axle?
I just picked up a Drake 120 for my Sultan from Jensen, and should be riding it this weekend. The 20mm hex axle dissappoints me a little compared to my older Fox 36. I’m not convinced there’s any advantage mechanically vs. a round axle, you need to use both 4 and 6mm Allen keys, and there’s no lip on the inside of the dropouts to help with alignment when you’re installing the wheel. Fox’s system was better, even before they made it tool-less.
My Drake as the Absolute damper, and after I break in the fork, I’ll have to decide whether it’s worth upgrading to the Absolute Plus. I’ll be interested to read your review.
@EJ: The weight with uncut steer tube, axle intact with all attachment hardware is 4.2lbs.
I have the new absolute plus damper in mine and it is so much better than the old one, it is almost a different fork altogether. I now have platform damping options and the whole compression stroke is smoother than before. It makes it feel like you are going slower when you are actually going faster, which means it is a lot easier to ride fast!
GT-I can’t find the MSRP or weight anywhere. Any thoughts?
How about a Lefty review sometime?
Good work as always.