Fork Problem

lambo man
lambo man Posts: 105
edited June 2007 in MTB workshop & tech
Hi,
I recently got some Manitou Sherman Flick forks, I'm not too sure on year as they were second hand.
These are my first "proper" forks, after a pair of RST's and Suntour forks, but I'm not getting the full travel from them, I'm not too sure if this should happen, or if the full 130mm is only there for big drops?

any idea on how to fix this?
thanks very much

Comments

  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    find away and throw it in that direction.

    nick
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  • lambo man
    lambo man Posts: 105
    are they not any good then? have i wasted my money?
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    in one word. yes.

    manitou stop making spares 3 years after the fork range has been discontinued, and also due to the fact that manitou now have no UK distributor, and due to the fact that many manitous have poor quality plastic internals. i think you've bought a 'lemon' of a fork, so to say.

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  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    madison are still doing some service work but good luck.

    nick
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    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."

    <font color="brown"> Sheldon Brown</font id="brown"> <font color="blue">Park Tools!</font id="blue"> <font color="black">Spoke Calculator</font id="black">
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    [?] Mail me!
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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    I used to have a manitou X-Vert fork, and it was appauling. the seals were forever leaking, either spraying oil into my face from the top of the stanchions, or worse, dripping oil onto my discs.
    I switched to Marzocchi, and have never had to do any fork maintenance since!




    My trusty steed
    1999 marin wolfridge, Marzocchi Jr Ts, Saint cranks, D321 rims, Hope C2s, raceface bits and bobs, XT running gear. All vintage stuff! (apart from the saints)
  • skyliner
    skyliner Posts: 613
    That's the difference between trickle down technology from the motorcycle market, and bicycle specific manufacturing IMO.
    Marzocchi keep on working, all others need fettling at differing intervals.

    It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice
    It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
  • haroexone
    haroexone Posts: 165
    dosnt tf tuned service manitou stuff?
    kester
  • Cerberus
    Cerberus Posts: 436
    My Shermans are going fine so far. I have a set of 04 Sherman firefly+ with 110/150 travel, super smooth but again the only thing i have to compare them to is a set of RST T5s and some Suntour XC60s, :D. The forks came on the bike I bought though, so didn't really have much choice.

    They're not too bad forks, just ride, when they break you'll just have to replace them, get some marzocchis then.

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  • rutheginger
    rutheginger Posts: 62
    manitou=manipoo! lol

    north shore with my corr blimeye bike lol! http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1332840/
    my new bike, strait out of the box :Dhttp://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1599469/ i love it :D
  • slapbassmunky
    slapbassmunky Posts: 99
    Lambo man, you have not wasted your money at all. I've been running a pair of 03 flick's (among lots of other forks) on numerous h'tails over the past few years and they have been absoutly superb. All that is required are some basic checks and maintanence, which is easy peasy as shermans are about the simplest "proper" forks on the market.

    If you'r not getting full travel then is the spring weight right for you, does it feel right on the bike or is it too hard from the word go? If the spring is OK then unscrew the right top cap under the compression adjuster and check the damping oil height, it should be 80mm from the top of the crown. Too much will restrict travel. If all this checks out then remove the two bolts from the bottom of the fork and pull it apart (not all the way, just so the uppers are past the first bushing) and drain all the oil out. If too much semi-bath oil is put in it will do more harm than good due to a build up of pressure in the lowers at bottom out. It can/does make them feel excessively hard at the end of the stroke. This is why some peoples shermans leak as well! Refill with 16ml (no more!) of fully synth engine oil, make sure you get as much of it as you can between the bushings.

    Hope that helps...

    doomsday device you say? i suppose i could part with one and still be feared...
    doomsday device you say? i suppose i could part with one and still be feared...
  • wwjjtt
    wwjjtt Posts: 204
    do they have a compression adjuster? that might be your problem, or a preload adjuster.... they might be internal or they might have to much oil in them. check a manual or with your lbs.

    never grow up..... just find a bigger playground!

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