a question of fork (stance flows)

xherbivorex · January 2005

anyone know if manitou stance flows are actually worth getting? are they as good as doddy reckons in the mag? i'd be sticking them on my '04 kona shred, which i don't jump loads but mess with moderate FR type crap. this fork would work with my frame, wouldnt it?

whyamihere · January 2005

I personally wouldn't touch them with a very, very long stick. The damping sucks, the seals suck (relatively) and they're overweight.

<center>I demand that you censor the word 'potato'.</center>

GiantRider69 · January 2005

that is a strong NO then.

chris will touch most things with his 'stick' at least once.

<center>the wise man say 'if you have the bars you have control'</center>
<center>'you'd better bloody blow him like a legend Tom' quote from whyamihere</center>
<center>'GiantRider, youare nicely tight today' quote from sam</center>

whyamihere · January 2005

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by GiantRider69
chris will touch most things with his 'stick' at least once.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Let the innuendo train roll on.

<center>I demand that you censor the word 'potato'.</center>

NeillyB · January 2005

touch me

go on

im' waiting

<hr noshade size="1"><hr noshade size="1"><center><h6>My Pokemon brings all those nerds to the yard, and they're like, do you wanna trade cards, damn right, lets trade some cards, I'll trade you, but not my Charizard</h6></center><center><h6>LISTEN AND ENJOY</h6></center><hr noshade size="1">

whyamihere · January 2005

Bend over...

<center>I demand that you censor the word 'potato'.</center>

NeillyB · January 2005

I need detailss dammit!!

<hr noshade size="1"><hr noshade size="1"><center><h6>My Pokemon brings all those nerds to the yard, and they're like, do you wanna trade cards, damn right, lets trade some cards, I'll trade you, but not my Charizard</h6></center><center><h6>LISTEN AND ENJOY</h6></center><hr noshade size="1">

whyamihere · January 2005

You'll have more than details if you'll just bend over...

<center>I demand that you censor the word 'potato'.</center>

NeillyB · January 2005

I CAN FEEL IT

OK I need the toilet now excuse me pleasr

<hr noshade size="1"><hr noshade size="1"><center><h6>My Pokemon brings all those nerds to the yard, and they're like, do you wanna trade cards, damn right, lets trade some cards, I'll trade you, but not my Charizard</h6></center><center><h6>LISTEN AND ENJOY</h6></center><hr noshade size="1">

xherbivorex · January 2005

hmmm.

interesting.

so what instead? what are all mountains like? crap or what?

whyamihere · January 2005

What's your budget and riding style?

<center>I demand that you censor the word 'potato'.</center>

NeillyB · January 2005

œ400, anal

<hr noshade size="1"><hr noshade size="1"><center><h6>My Pokemon brings all those nerds to the yard, and they're like, do you wanna trade cards, damn right, lets trade some cards, I'll trade you, but not my Charizard</h6></center><center><h6>LISTEN AND ENJOY</h6></center><hr noshade size="1">

whyamihere · January 2005

You can hire GiantRider69 for a night for that.

<center>I demand that you censor the word 'potato'.</center>

GiantRider69 · January 2005

yeah splash and dash forks. im much bouncier.

<center>the wise man say 'if you have the bars you have control'</center>
<center>'you'd better bloody blow him like a legend Tom' quote from whyamihere</center>
<center>'GiantRider, youare nicely tight today' quote from sam</center>

NeillyB · January 2005

you're mine now!!

<hr noshade size="1"><hr noshade size="1"><center><h6>My Pokemon brings all those nerds to the yard, and they're like, do you wanna trade cards, damn right, lets trade some cards, I'll trade you, but not my Charizard</h6></center><center><h6>LISTEN AND ENJOY</h6></center><hr noshade size="1">

GiantRider69 · January 2005

ill be rite there.

<center>the wise man say 'if you have the bars you have control'</center>
<center>'you'd better bloody blow him like a legend Tom' quote from whyamihere</center>
<center>'GiantRider, youare nicely tight today' quote from sam</center>

dorny · January 2005

they're damn good forks for the money, bit stiff in extremely cold weather but soon get moving after a quik thrash up n down the street, stiff as ya like on 120mm, smooth as. other than the cold troubles theyre just fine.

I like a bitta both

steel

> http://www.pinkbike.com/modules/photo/? ... age=262072

http://www.pinkbike.com/modules/photo/? ... age=351890 <----alu

Alex · January 2005

Let me quickly point out a few points that Mr Dodd completly overlooked in his 'Review', which like many recent reviews, glossed over everything nicely.

The Stance Flow is a 150mm travel budget fork (available with QR only at this point in time in the uk) and FFD damping.

Its 150mm travel brings with it an axle to crown length that exceeds most hardtails maximums. 130mm really is the most that is sensible unless you own a high end hardtail frame fromt he likes of Cove, banshee, Evil, etc. You may just about get away with these forks on an identity Dr. Jekyll. If you're running a bike that can take a 150mm fork, chances are you want something a little more upmarket than this. Well done Manitou, you've made a fork for a market that only exists amongst the "more travel is better on the front of my saracen" brigade.

The Flow manages to acheive 150mm of travel for less than I payed for my first 130mm fork by cheaping out on all the bits most people like to spend money on. The crown is solid alu, no complicated machining or hollowness here. The stanchions are Cromo steel, like that of the Marzocchi Dirt Jumper, only there's more stanchion to add to that tremendous weight total. Manitou have aslo scrimped on the damping system.

Like the excellent shermans, the flows are semi bath lubricated, the damper is kept seperate from the muck, but the seals and bushings can be underlubricated, meaning you are going to have to give your fork some TLC and make sure that the lubrication oil is topped up. FFD stands for fluid flow damping, It is the most basic system available from manitou and was found on the god-awful Axel before the re-design. Just as a point of reference, they now put TPC damping on thier trekking forks, with FFD only appearing on the OEM forks that Manitou enjoy making so very much. When you have 100mm or less travel, you can live with poor damping a little, with 150mm, you really can't have it topping out on you.
Evil genius seals are still not upto the standards that Fox, Marzocchi and Rockshox have layed down.
The rapid travel wind down to 120mm CANNOT be used for hard riding of any sort or you will destroy your fork. RTWD does not work like Rockshox' U-Turn system
In short, this is a poor attempt to fill a market that doesn't really exist amongst those who know thier stuff. Manitou would have been better off making a 130mm fork with better damping which might have had a hope of knocking marzocchi off the 130mm hard riding fork podium.

Give this one a miss 5/10

<hr noshade size="1"><center>

- I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, -
-but I am not sure you realize that what you heard was not what I meant.-</center>

ID boy · January 2005

Dorny:

as far a i am aware, running your forks on the short travel setting can damage then.
The idea of reducing the travel is to aid getting up hills.

xherbivorex · January 2005

cheers alex, that's the point of me asking here instead of just going by a short mag review. i'll look elsewhere instead now (well, back to my original plan of z1 freerides or all mountains i think)...

i don't want to go above œ350 if possible.

Alex · January 2005

Z1s are good, Rockshox Pikes are looking nice too if you want longer than average forks.

<hr noshade size="1"><center>

- I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, -
-but I am not sure you realize that what you heard was not what I meant.-</center>

dorny · January 2005

wtf, so im supposed to run them at 150mm which will cause extra stress and the forks will flex more, and thats better for them?

I like a bitta both

steel

> http://www.pinkbike.com/modules/photo/? ... age=262072

http://www.pinkbike.com/modules/photo/? ... age=351890 <----alu

Alex · January 2005

They were designed to run at 150mm. If you run them at 120mm for hard riding you will severly damage the internals. the short travel setting is only meant for climbing.

<hr noshade size="1"><center>

- I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, -
-but I am not sure you realize that what you heard was not what I meant.-</center>

shredrider · February 2005

i have manitou stance flows on my 2004 kona shred ironicly, ne way the forks are awsome, dont listen to wat all these tw@'s say bout them, ive just been to afan argoed with my flows and they are so smooth and extremly plush, aslong as you oil the stanchions frequently you will not go wrong with the stances. no suprise they got 9/10 in mbuk, doddy realy knows his stuff, anybody that disagrees can consult doddy themselves...fookin fools!!!

Skid in your pants...not on the trail

Alex · February 2005

You've clearly never ridden a properly damped fork. To be honest, If you had a clue, you'd be dangerous.

<hr noshade size="1"><center>

- I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, -
-but I am not sure you realize that what you heard was not what I meant.-</center>

eelboy · February 2005

there you go then. 2 reviews, one from a half educated guess, the other from someone who actually has the forks and has ridden them for a period of time. Sorry alex but id go with the shredrider and *spit* doddy on this one. You get what you pay for, but for the cheap price id say they sound quite good value for money.

PATRIOT 7+Sherman Breakout+Saint+mrpNEW-Tomac Omen 1 NEW-Tomac Omen 2 E-Mail MeXC Dale

Alex · February 2005

150mm on the front of a kona shred must be intresting to say the least, 130mm is too much for the 04 kona jump bikes, putting flows on it was clearly an inspired desicion.

Eelboy, I have ridden the fork (and more than a carpark bounce too), i'm not going to sound off without doing so.

<hr noshade size="1"><center>

- I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, -
-but I am not sure you realize that what you heard was not what I meant.-</center>

eelboy · February 2005

alex, like me, you can afford and therefore get used to good components ( i assume from your bike pics) and therefore get used to the benefits of high end gear. The point im making is they are a budget fork for a damn good price and although you or i could pick faults in them we're not likely to buy them. The people who are likely to buy them are probably moving up from some even lower end forks that came specced on their budget bikes and would find the stances a massive improvement. The fact that shredrider is so happy with them, kind of proves my point. Look at their performance in the context of what you get for the price, no point to comparing the damping to forks costing twice as much because it obviously wont be as good. You get what you pay for, and sometimes upgrading to what we would call a cheap budget low spec fork is going to make a massive positive difference to someone.

PATRIOT 7+Sherman Breakout+Saint+mrpNEW-Tomac Omen 1 NEW-Tomac Omen 2 E-Mail MeXC Dale

Alex · February 2005

I can accept a low budget fork, but the flow really winds me up. Why have s 150mm fork when the most that budget frames can take is 130 or less. As i said in janurary, the wind down can't be ridden hard as it's incapable of taking the hits. I'd rather have a œ150 fork with short travel that suits my bike than a œ200 fork with overlong travel and piss poor damping to make it more intresting.

<hr noshade size="1"><center>

- I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, -
-but I am not sure you realize that what you heard was not what I meant.-</center>

eelboy · February 2005

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Chasealex

I can accept a low budget fork, but the flow really winds me up. Why have s 150mm fork when the most that budget frames can take is 130 or less. As i said in janurary, the wind down can't be ridden hard as it's incapable of taking the hits. I'd rather have a œ150 fork with short travel that suits my bike than a œ200 fork with overlong travel and piss poor damping to make it more intresting.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Because it will sell. and to most of the people that will buy one it will be fine and do everything they want it to do with no complaints

And yes id rather have a shorter travel fork that suits my bike better but then we know better and can notice the difference but whereas we can afford shermans or 66's the masses cant and dont need to because they dont ride as seriously as we do.

Not a rant, just trying to see it from the other side of the fence.

PATRIOT 7+Sherman Breakout+Saint+mrpNEW-Tomac Omen 1 NEW-Tomac Omen 2 E-Mail MeXC Dale

Alex · February 2005

It just seems that this is a fork aimed at those new to the game, most vulnerable to gimmicks and products designed to exploit them. It's the fact that it's a fork that will not be able to make most of the target audience's bikes better that really agrevates me. It's a piece of equipment that will only be successful if it's massivly mis-sold

<hr noshade size="1"><center>

- I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, -
-but I am not sure you realize that what you heard was not what I meant.-</center>

a question of fork (stance flows)

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