Just looking at some 29er fork options and it seems like Manitou and Marzocchi really do not offer much that compares to the Pike, Fox34/36 and Ohlins etc

With the good press around the Manitou Mattock in particular you’d think there might be scope for a similar 29er fork in the 130-150mm range. Particularly if it were a bit cheaper than the other ‘main’ options

Agreed even at 120mm there’s a lack of choice – at least from my usual very vanilla online shopping choices.

Depending on the outcome of my Reba’s impending warranty trip I may be looking at a new fork so I’ll be watching this as I’m kind of reluctant to have another RS solo air after the many stories of woe with them. (To be fair there are quite a few in my usual riding group that work fine but mine have been horrid)

Any new Marzocchi models will be the budget arm of fox?

My manitou Towers (29er set at 100mm but can be adjusted internally to 120) are very good, stiffness wise not far off my pikes, very tuneable and been very reliable.

I’ve only got the comp version and the damping isn’t as good on fast rocky stuff as the pikes, was gonna look into changing the shim stack

I’m pretty impressed with my X-Fusion Slide 29ers in 120mm flavour. I’ve had Towers previously and they were ok but I couldn’t get along with the Hex-loc bolt through with it and it broke after a few months. Replacement wasn’t cheap either.

ive got some marzocchi`s 44 switch ta, 110-140. tried it for one ride, stanchions were sticky so i sent it back to crc who sent it back to Marz, they now has new lowers.
ive had the mattocs, but i couldnt stand the maxle system aaargh, i think the Marz 44 ta are pretty good, and id be willing to sell mine 🙂

I had Tower Pro 80mm 29’er on my last bike and was very impressed by the fork – substantially better damper than the bigger brands, especially mid stroke.

easy to tune, physically very stiff. highly rated. Only sold it because my new bike needed a longer 100mm fork.

No idea if they’re any good but Manitou do the Machette in 29″ 140mm flavour.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/manitou-machette-forks-15mm-boost-2017/rp-prod149016

Minute Comps here. I didn’t use them much as I am a RS fanboy, but they seemed really plush straight out of the box. (Came on a Vitus Sentier)

Are we not talking Manitou Magnums here 🙂

Machete and Magnum are both Boost – Manitou obviously keen to get in early there.

Have the Tower Pro 29 120 which I think are great, but am probably pushing their limits / need some more skills compensation, and would like to upgrade to something towards 130mm by 34mm.

If Manitou did a 130mm Mattoc Pro 2 in 29er flavor, I’d be keen to give them a go if they were significantly cheaper than Pikes…

Exactly chum3 – if there were a decent 130/140/150mm fork with 34mm stations for less than the Pike/34’s/36’s I am sure it’d sell well.

What like the Yari ?

Yari is still quite expensive and it’s still RockShox. Be good to see alternative competition especially as they are doing decent 27.5 forks.