Magura Thors – feedback… any real opinions

I’m considering a SH pair of these but with nowhere to demo them what do you guys think. Its between these or the Pike Dual airs on CRC.

I’m concerned that reports of brake drive etc. Is it a real concern or should i just give them a chance.

Cheers, Gnnr

I read a Wotan review on Pinkbike that talked about changing the stock oil to overcome the brake dive.

Brake dive should be able to be tuned out

Been running a set from October last year, they’re very very finicky to set up, you need to get the pressure just right and balance the neg and positive chambers. You can also run them with very minimum compression damping (the Fat Albert) to firm them up a bit. They don’t need an oil change, just a bit of understanding about how to get the best from them.

Once you get them right, they’re a pretty good set of forks.

Got a pair of, Laurin FCRs, Wotans & Menjas, they are all as said above finicky to set up, a few PSI above or below is the difference between lots of dive and a solid fork, but once you have it right they are dammed good. Stiff as anything and predictable damping and a lowers re-lube every so often keeps them super supple.

I have two sets of Thors; I like them. However both sets came with top-out clunks. Magura sorted this out for free but I was a little disappointed to discover that my new set (bought last month) had the same issue that my original set (bought last August) had, given that a fix was obviously available.

not a fan.

Why not Shoefiti? I’m begining to think that the Pike may be better.

I like fettling but the Thors are beginning to sound plain awkward.
Its a shame as I would really like the Travel adjust to be bar operated rather than a u-turn system. Unfortunately I can’t get tests on both forks so reviews are having to play a bigger part of the decision than I would like… hmm?

I was riding today with a friend who has a set of relatively new Thors and is at her wit’s end with them – air leaks and other issues, fiddly to set up, top-out clunk and while we talking about them, the handlebar travel adjust lever snapped clean off, nice. She really hates them and wants her money back.

I rode some Thors on a Hemlock for a week or so. They had an awful top-out clunk and set up was a finnicky trade-off between eliminating brake dive and eliminating movement. They just seem incredibly linear and tended to dive through their travel instantly on the brakes.

I normally ride a Pushed Pike Dual Air U-Turn and while the Thors are very light, the Pike just seems a much more solid, easier to set up fork and with the Push Industries internals works even better. I don’t know if I’ve just been unfortunate with my Thor experiences, but based on them, I’d buy a Pike and, if you get a good deal, spend the money you save getting TFT to Push them.

1) The manual originally supplied with the forks did not have the Thors included, and therefore was not clear how you were to set up the air pressure properly. I bought mine in August and only found out a month ago how to set them up correctly. Now that they are, the brake dive issue noted above is no longer a problem.

2) The move through their travel in a very linear fashion. This make them very plush, but also causes the fork to dive readily when heading downhill as the fork swallows the hits. This can be rectified using the Albert Select lockout with the threshold wound out.

3) Most of the oil has now made its way past the seals from a fair bit of use, and requires the forks to be stored upside down to allow the (very good) small bump sensitivity to remain. Otherwise they are very sticky on small stuff.

4) I also had a top out problem, but has now been sorted by correctly setting them up as 1) and not having the rebound too fast. I will probably get them returned though as its a common problem (see ChrisL’s post) and might as well get it fixed before the warranty expires.

5) The travel adjust lever on mine didn’t get a chance to snap, but the cable got shitted up and would leave the knob turned slightly, exascerbating (sp?) the diving problem. I therefore ditched it and don’t ever use the travel adjust!

6) My Maxle360 requires to be cammed over THEN tighted up, which isn’t the ideal quick release solution its supposed to be.

7) If you have a front rotor smaller than 180mm, you’ll need a new rotor…

So, overall, they’re a nice fork when working correctly, but to be honest you’d be better with Pikes, or Revelations, for the price.

Have a set of Thors and a set of Pushed Pikes – they are quite different forks. As noted above, the Thors are very linear but can blow through travel esp under braking, but this can be tuned out with minimal compression via the Albert select. I have them on a lightweight full-suss (Titus Motolite) for fast XC for which I think they are excellent, esp as the bike benefits from shorter travel on climbs.
The Pushed Bikes are on a long-travel hardtail (Ti 456)which is a real hooligan bike, and here the Pikes are more appropriate, esp as the 456 climbs so well I can run the Pikes permanently at 140mm.
I would happily own both forks again, and whilst the Magura forks are less reliable, the back-up is pretty good.
In summary, just depends on what you want them for as to which is best!

Hmmm, not sounding too good for the Thors. Anyone else riding the Magura’s?

They are a pain to set up initially due to the single valve for both chambers. Once set up they are extremely plush. The recommended air pressures are far too low though, and you end up with ridiculous sag. With another 15-20 PSI over the recommended I’m now really pleased with the way mine are working. They are a bit disconcerting as they eat in to their available travel quickly. I haven’t had the top-out clunk, but I agree the remote lock-out lever is poorly designed. I never use it,I just put AS+ on for the climbs and it’s great.

What makes them particularly attractive for me is how stiff they are in relation to their weight. Overall, a faff to get set up initially, but I’m now really happy with them.

I sorted my Laurins by putting some extra oil in the air chamber. This reduces the air volume and gives a bit of ramp-up at the end of the stroke. 23ml of 15wt oil made a huge difference. I can now run 55psi instead of 65psi and the fork doesn’t dive.

Problem is…I don’t know if you can do this with the Thor’s travel-adjust air chamber(s)….

I had some of the very first ones back in August and did’nt initially get the best out of them. No top out clunks on mine but they were divey.
Did’nt like the travel adjust because it was too fiddly to operate and the fork behaved oddly in 100mm mode so always run at 140mm now and the remote is off the bike.
After a few months off over the winter i did have to send them back under warranty as they leaked a bit too much oil during a day at Cwmcarn (xc loop). Have had all new internals and bushings replaced (very, very quickly) under warranty and they seem like a different fork. I’m probably still bedding them in tbh, but taking care to equalize the air pressure and adding slightly more air than i was previously using the seem really good. Plush yet firm without being divey.
Coming from Fox forks without compression damping i never really liked the Albert damping as i could really feel/hear it working and a bit more air seems to do the biz instead so i don’t really use the damping either!
Overall impression is they feel better and better and i’ve found i’m not even thinking about how they behave on the trails these last few weeks- they just seem to get on with it which is what i’m after.

if you check the magura forums they have tips on setting them up. The main mistake people seem to make with them is using the pressure chart religiously rather than sag, and not activating the travel adjust (and pump the fork) after changing air pressure as you need to do this to balance out the air pressures in the cartridge. If you don’t do this then the fork will spring back too hard and top out with a clunk.

I agree the travel adjust lever is crap, if its the same one as on my Wotans.

On thing I did find with mine was that in typical over engineered Germanic fashion, the air valve cap has an o-ring, presumably to keep out the crap, which is completely pointless, it does however foul the FCR dial, in that it stops the FCR dial from moving freely, and thus keeps the -ve chamber slightly open, leading to an overly divey fork.

Further to all the other comments, the left drop out of mine cracked along the top, which was replaced (grudgingly) under warranty, and I have to do my Maxle up in the same fashion as Kit, I was accused of over tightening the maxle.

Personally, whilst I’m generally happy with them, I wouldn’t buy Magura again.

when looking at the weight, I think the quoted Thor weight is without maxle and travel adjust lever – so they are actuaslly 1900 – 1950 grms ve 2100 for Air Pikes (if weight is a concern for you)

I forgot to mention it, but I got my the Maxle from my first set of Thors replaced as I was experiencing the problem that Kit and nickc reported. The replacement Maxle worked fine. I suspect now that Magura were supplied a dodgy batch of Maxles from Rock Shox – something was wrong with the drilling for the lever’s cam pivot, I reckon.

Coming from a 2007 Fox Float 140R I think that the Thors don’t dive as badly as they did. I like being able to drop the fork’s travel for climbs without having to spend ages winding a dial. It takes some experimentation to find the right air pressure (and the pressure guides on the left leg are not very good) but overall I’m happy with them.

Sounds like i’ve got a dodgy Maxle aswell then