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  • New forks for Maverick ML7.2
  • Giallograle
    Full Member

    Can anyone suggest suitable replacement forks for the 32mm Maverick DUC-32s on my ML7.2?

    Axle-to-crown is 520mm and I’d like to keep similar geometry with 4-5″ of travel. I use the bike on rolling hills and singletrack rather than technical descents.

    mboy
    Free Member

    What’s wrong with the DUC’s?

    Incidentally, I always found my old ML7.2 a bit tall at the front on DUC’s, Maverick said it worked ok and warrantied the frame for use with them, but most ML7 owners preferred a slightly shorter fork, around the 490-500mm axle to crown height mark.

    Which is where their own SC32 came in…

    If you’re determined to go for a more conventional fork though, anything from 100mm to 130mm travel should fit the bill, I’d be looking at something with 120mm (and around a 500mm axle to crown height) personally for the best handling and suspension performance balance.

    Giallograle
    Full Member

    Hi mboy

    The DUCs are OK but rebound is a bit slow, which is a problem on rough rocky descents and they’re not particularly plush.

    I have a set of Pikes on my other bike which I find much better. They seem to hold a line better, and keep the wheel on the ground.

    The other problem is that oil from the forks tends to get on the brakes with unfortunate consequences. If I do things properly I’m constantly cleaning the disks and pads and complaining about the braking performance. The brakes are Hope Mono Minis which I find awkward to work on, so mostly I just live with it.

    I’m not unhappy with the geometry now I’ve gotten used to it, laid back but fairly fast. I guess shorter forks would quicken things up a bit but budget is tight so I’ll look in the classifieds, and I don’t really want to keep chopping and changing.

    Has anyone had good or bad experiences with alternatives?

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    mboy
    Free Member

    The DUCs are OK but rebound is a bit slow, which is a problem on rough rocky descents and they’re not particularly plush.

    How heavy are you? Sounds like the fork is set up for someone heavier than you and you need a lighter oil in them. My forks were too slow from the factory, but I replaced with a slightly thinner oil and now they’re perfect for me.

    I have a set of Pikes on my other bike which I find much better. They seem to hold a line better, and keep the wheel on the ground.

    Pikes are HEAVY though… Good performing fork, but it’s 1.5lb heavier than the Maverick. And to be honest, I’ve got my Mavericks setup so well now that stifness aside, they will beat any Pike hands down in performance terms… Took some trial and error to get there though mind.

    The other problem is that oil from the forks tends to get on the brakes with unfortunate consequences.

    Your forks need new seals. Which is not a problem, easily and cheaply replaced. This was a common fault with the older (black) seals on Maverick forks, and once you have some newer (blue) seals fitted, leaking oil onto the brakes becomes a thing of the past!

    Give Craig Simpson a call… His contact details are here… He can either do the service work for you, or sell you the parts to do it yourself.

    Honestly though, you can make the Maverick fork work in pretty much any way you want, they’re almost infinitely tunable, but lots are set up very badly from the start (or by people who don’t know what they’re doing) and hence they get slated. Give him a call, he can sort your forks out, will save you a whole heap of cash over buying new forks and you get to keep the Maverick forks on the Maverick frame! Win/win in my book! 😀

    Giallograle
    Full Member

    Thanks for the suggestions but I’ve already tried that without success.

    I have two pairs of DUC-32s. The pair which came with the ML7.2 still have their original black seals and don’t leak. The second pair which are now on the Maverick were serviced and tuned for my weight – say 72kg all up – by Extra I think. They had new blue seals etc and leak oil. Cost about £70+ I think.

    Both have the same rebound performance and lack of response which was unaffected by Extra’s tuning. My Pikes wipe the floor with either of them, but that’s not what I’m looking for.

    To come back to the question – can anyone suggest suitable alternatives from experience? Or come to think of it I could upgrade my Pikes to Lyriks and put the Pikes on the Maverick…

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

    I run DUC32s on my ML7, but spaced down to 135mm, which is dead easy to do and gives much nicer geometry. I did try fitting some older Revelations, but with the medium frame, the adjuster knobs fouled the downtube. I actually though the steering felt quite wrong with the DUCs at 150mm.

    I’m kind of surprised you can’t get your DUCs tuned to suit you, they’re quite tunable with oil viscosity, adding air etc. I really like mine, sure, they’re not as butch as Pikes, but for a longish travel, lightweight fork, they’re pretty good. A friend of mine used Craig Simpson btw, and was very happy with the results.

    I guess the obvious option is a 2011 Revelation, but spaced down to 130mm, which I’m pretty sure is feasible. Really nice forks and a lot lighter than Pikes with better high speed rebound damping too.

    Fwiw, I would have thought Pikes would be horrid on the Maverick and screw up the balance of the frame.

    hofnar
    Free Member

    When you do part with your DUC drop me a mail might be interested

    Garry_Lager
    Full Member

    Stick a lefty on it – match made in heaven if that’s frame as good as people say it is. Leftys are silly money new, but regularly go through ebay for sensible prices. Think the conversion kit is pretty well developed nowadays as well.

    Giallograle
    Full Member

    Thanks everybody for all the advice. I’ve just fitted a Rock Shox Sektor RL U-Turn 110mm-150mm which I got for Eur 289 from .

    Chosen on the grounds of price-performance and I haven’t been disappointed.

    Since the Sektors run a 20mm Maxle Lite and post mount rather than IS, I also ‘had’ to get a new wheelset – Hope Pro II Evos with ZTR Crests sealed with yellow rimstrip replacing Mavic XM819s with my UST Crossmarks – and Formula K24 brakes. Merlin has a killer deal on a set so I got front and back brakes 🙂

    I’ve done a couple of rides so far and the bike is a whole lot better. The extra weight I gained on the forks (Sektors 2108g – DUC32s ex-crown and stem 1771g = 337g) I lost on the wheels and my own weight – overall it feels lighter.

    The front-end is more stable and planted – the Sektors stick to the ground. I’ve used the U-Turn to play with the geometry and I also tried a couple of stems and settled on 60mm. 100mm was too long – my DUC32 stem was 70mm, and I may try a 50mm with wider bars which I think will be a better fit.

    Axle to crown is reportedly 532mm at 150mm on the Sektors (520mm on the DUC32s) but the bike feels quicker and sharper than with the DUC32s – better in twisty singletrack and fine on descents. I find running them at 130mm is too twitchy, but I need to experiment some more.

    As I’m around 66kg I’m only getting 15mm sag on the standard spring (70-82kg) and they aren’t particularly plush. The soft spring (yellow – 63-72kg) should be a better match and closer to my Pikes.

    Anyway the bike already feels much better. I still have the DUC32s and when I have time I’ll fit a fresh set of seals and service them – maybe I can get them working as well as mboy suggests. Then either put them with the other leftover parts on a hardtail I’m building, or sell them.

    I hope this helps anyone else who is in the same situation.

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)

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