Manitou Circus - New Dirt Jump fork!

 Do you want strong or light?

 This fork also comes with a small red airbag attached to the steerer tube to reduce force of impact in a crash.

 ^

 lol

 Cool, cheap and light. Is it strong though??? You can only have 3.

 i know what im getting for my next bike!

 about time manitou comes out with a newer dirt jump fork. i bet this one is no different than the gold labels. sorry

 mooseduck13 - you can't crash with this fork it has ABS+ installed... perhaps soon they will get some ze German engineer from das Volksvagen that will install traction control too...

 Mnitou has not come out with anything new in a log time, all they do is changing stickers. These forks have the lowers from the Minute forks, the crown from some other one (can not be bothered to find out from which).
Sorry Manitou, you have to try harder and introduce a new, stronger chassis and decent 20mm QR system.
Waste of your money guys, get the Argyles or Marzo DJ - they rule!

 I guess it is still the price that is attractive. Pretty strange to pay more than 300$ for a new DJ fork, I mean how complicated can it be? Still 350 for this manitou is more reasonable than the latest FOX absurd for 850...

 well these are dirt street forks what you shown, its not to hard to break whatever fork while trying 360s 180s etc. I never believe pics of broken stuff, people usualy post stuff they think is cr*p but they rarely post pics of good forks being broken.

I had a Nixon and it took pretty much big beating on DH hardtailing, jumping stuff for Dh fullies, bottoming down the fork quite a lot. Well after a year it lost like 1cm of travel but still, can't complain on durability. It is the manitou's low speed compression that sux (maybe because it does not exist) so you could not bottom it from 1m to flat but U could have done it in the berm or under braking on steeps.

My friend who is one of the best polish DH hardtailers had a manitou stance for a very long time and he did not break it, and trust me he rips big time beating many many fullies on races. Off course they can't even stand next to Argyle or MZ Djumper but... the price is good, and still they are better than RSTs Suntours and other cheap stuff.

And one thing you can't take from them is post mount and their hex lock, i wish i had it on my Lyrik instead of this ridiculous Maxle.

 C'mon, Maxle is fantastic! 4 tiny hex bolts to take the wheel off is bad man, very bad

 True, the Fox forks are expensive. But, you get what you pay for, and in my experience, Fox is worth every penny. Manitou has used pretty questionable designs and components in the past and the 3 Manitou products which I've owned (all of them "top shelf") were pieces of crap that needed replacement within 6 months of purchase - maintenance aside.

 ok so basicaly manitou are a bad idea
whats a good strong fork for dirt/street then?

 1. Maxle is far from being fantastic IMAO, you need to grease it well otherwise you are going to rip out the thread, that means while changing your wheel in dust and dirt you will get yourself all in grease and then in cr*p lying around. Once you rip out the thread what is easy to do, you have to buy a new one for 50£ or so. I prefer clean and a bit more time taking 4 4mm bolts and one 6mm...

2. Fox is uber quality but it is not necessarily needed or even good for the DJ fork. I dont think there is any discipline of cycling where the forks get broken more often. Pretty strange to me to spend 850$ for this kind of a fork.

 yea - get an argyle instead!

 i respectfully disgree with all that dissing. no the design isnt new, but i garentee the internals are different. this kinda like the whole kona thing, they made some bad quality things that broke and then fixed the problem but people still call it crap. and for the whole fox thing, if youve rode the 831 you would never want to ride any dj or argyle ever again, the fork is insane

 i agree ziegele. I personally have never liked manitou's forks and def prefer what fox has to offer. It will be interesting tho to see what this fork does.

 Í haven't ridden FOX 831 at all, I can only believe that it is the best DJ fork on the planet, and I do believe it is. It is just the price vs. DJ/street riding specifics causing high probability of breakage that concerns me...

 argyles are garbage. you can't trust anything these days. i bent my steerer and my buddy bent his STANTIONS! last summer. only fork ive had that has lasted has been my manitou travis 180

 totaly agree that sentence says it all: YOU CAN'T TRUST ANYTHING THESE DAYS. It's best to hold on to the stuff you were certain its good,
Marzocchi:
DJ & Shiver 2003, Z1s 66s and 888s from 2005&2006,

Manitou Shermans 2004, first Sherman Jumper (2005 was it?)
Dorados 2003,

Rockshox Psylo 2003, all REBAs, Boxxer 07-09.

couple more only

 I totally agree with AC-92, At first glance, I instatntly thought, That crown is so thin it looks like it'd snap on the first landing! No way in hell would I trust my safety to that thing(MARZOCCHI FOR ME THANKYOU!)

 It says Cost under both, 400$ and 350$.

 wow thats a fail, i looked but i guess i was looking to hard.

 Price also plays a huge roll. If it's the same weight, and about 300 dollars less, I'd see this fork blowing up. It's simple, decent weight and doesn't look underbuilt.

 Edit: Really, is there that many street/dj forks? The high end argyles are quite expensive, the lower ends are pretty heavy and use cheap parts. The dirt jump series has been basically devoted to OEM bikes now and if you want to run a RST, well that's nearly a deathwish. Fox will always be on top but again, you could buy 3 of these new Manitou's for the price of one and have all you need, times three.

 you say its a few hundred grams lighter than the 409 but it is more comparable to the 302 as $349 cad is about £210 which is about the same price as the 302

 James,
Why would you say that even though its lighter then arguably the most used dirt jump fork on the market no one will buy it? Its also cheaper. I just don't see the logic in your comment.

And to correct you their is not actually a ton of dirt jump specific forks around. This is simply the offering from Manitou, a company that did have a good standing in the dirt jump scene with the Gold Label fork in the past.

Sorry dude, but I am going to argue the complete opposite of your statement. Its lighter, cheaper, and still extremely functional. I could see this catching on like wildfire!

 and it's got rockin' graphics. Thank god it doesn't have the stupid 15mm thru-axel like the Fox 831's, 20mm is the way to go.

 Agreed! Manitou is simply taking it back to the roots. Everyone knows 20mm works, why try to change it?
Props to that comment mackdaddy.

 they've basically just gone back to basics with a fork that they know has been proved upgraded it slightly, made it a lot lighter than most forks and beefed them up all with an incredible price tag. So congrats, Manitou i want to wait for a bit more of a review but up to now they look sick

 why slate them before youve even ridden them? the prove is in the pudding as they say.
though light doesnt always equal strong...

 Manitou.......jump fork. Remember those jumpers.....lasted long, then the gold labels......lasted long. I'd wait a couple years to see if the internals don't blow up or the seals don't pop out or the arch doesn't snap first. Seen it happen tooooons of times on their other jump forks.

 and dont forget the clown nose...

 Funny, I'm riding a 2005 jumper. You should try being a bit smoother.

 ^^ lol!

 hardy harrrrrrrrrrr, actually I never broke my jumper, It's the fact that it disappeared

 this fork has basically the same technology as an 831 so its probably pretty sick. i always run fox 36 talas on my bikes, but im seriously thinking about trying this. on my dirt jumper...you just gotta get used to running a manitou i guess

 much better price then the 831

 finally, an air DJ fork thats light and super cheap for budget riders!

 i agree that the old manitou sucks, but i have hope after i tested the '10 dorado. i think the new manitou has a chance of a comeback

 yup. i think that too. manitou has that "all eyes on me in the center of the ring just like a circus" moment right now LOL

 wow that was far from "lol" laaaaaame

 hahaha. i was looking at all the comments to see if anyone wrote it before me lol

 who cam Mccaul? he rides for fox

 aeyjay's stuck in 2003. Cam Mccaul's been off the Manitou team for a while bud. What, do you think Matt Hunter and Darren Berrecloth will be riding these too?

 no, theyll be riding the nixons

 i hear steve peats gonna be riding for Orange this year to?

 woah, woah woah. No need to be d*cks, guys.

 LOL at my comment. There are points where I just don't think....That was one of them. Regardless you guys have to admit that Manitou is putting out some pretty cool shit this year, and I'm sure that Matt McDuff will be running one of these on his Dob.

 i think hes sponsored by fox now?

 Ughh didnt think you did many footjams while dirtjumping?? lol

 a DJ fork is perfectly fine for street, there are no real street specific suspension forks

 there called ridgid

 notice how i said "no street specific SUSPENSION forks"

 Manitou's reversed arch is great for footjams. Just try it out.

 you dont have to stick your foot as far in

 As it states yes, it comes with 4 sticker sheets and the clown nose.

 haha

 Ever see Mr Woodcock? Wait, thats a rhetorical question!

 haha me to if i was building a dj bike

 SAME
although typically the price in GBP will be about 400£ anyway...

 start saving you money right now then

 Manitou made the Sherman Jumper which IMO was the best DJ fork I've ever had.

 this is not a sherman jumper, or a gold label. it's a brand new fork with a brand new platform from a company with a terrible track record. i'm pretty much just stating the obvious. negative prop me all you want!

 calm down dude! Manitou doesn't have the best track record with some of their stuff, true. but they have made some really good products in their time as well. No sense judging a book by it's cover. If the reviews of it come back negative, then bash away all you want, but at least give it a fair chance

 no ones upset.... I will just wait and see what happens before spending the money.

 I wonder if there using the same lowers they used on the old forks, i snapped 4 gold lables in 10 months.

 yeah, but you could just go with a marzocchi 4x for that same price, which are a fair amount lighter and way better, (aslo you can do foot jams).

 im sure it is, and if it isnt just cut it off

 Select shops will start stocking forks again if they keep up the good work. Trident in North Vancouver do WTB Formula, FUNN, Banshee and a few other brands. The water sports division is separate.

 Yeah, Trident carries, WTB, Answer Products, FUNN, Gamut Guides,Formula Brakes and Banshee Bikes, as well as Manitou of course.

I'm not going to comment on the 4 times thing, so many things could have gone wrong there on both ends of that transaction.

 Never had good experiences with Trident working with warrenty crap on my old gold labels.

 o cmon

 its ok darren, you ride bmx.

 Aaaand a Wildcard

 All that low end Manitou stuff (Stance, Splice, etc..)was made by RST, all the new Manitou stuff is made in a Manitou owned factory. Quality Control is much better now that Manitou actually controls the quality.

 yeah but remember that awesome sherman you had reece ahaha. I've loved all the manitou forks i've had.

 that's true, when i had that 7 inch sherman flick and i lowered it to 3 inches and it broke. but i thought i was the coolest kid on the block for sure with sherman. they need to bring sherman back haha.

 I actually kinda like that idea...you can customize it how you want or leave it blank.

 pretty much all forks just have a decal kit on them anyways. company logo isnt painted on

 I know, it just seems like if they are going cut corners on something simple like decals, then what else are they cutting corners on? I'm sure these are great forks. I mean Manitou can't afford for these forks to be anything but spectacular, or they'll get hit with another wave of Manitou hate.

 Would you rather they cut corners on the strength of the fork, or on the design and stickers which majority of people end up taking off anyways.

 Sweet ,it'll go with my clownshoe pedals.

 haha nice, that would be pretty sweet. or just wear clownshoes

 one year warranty after purchase.

 Does that include uppers and lowers? What about bent/broken steer tubes and stanchions? Does racing or jumping void the warranty? Sorry, I would totally look it up, but I can't find info anywhere.

 uhmm im not sure i just emailed manitou on their website and i asked what kind of warranty they offered with the fork and they said a one year warranty from the purchase date.

 Okay, I called them. The entire fork is covered, unlike some companies that don't cover uppers. Also reiterated by Manitou's warranty rep. was the phrase, "within reason".

 i emailed manitou wth the same question and they told me it just comes with the fork and isnt actually attached to it.

 ok, thanks.

 WOW PEOPLE!!! Did you really have to contact Manitou to figure out that the clown nose was not permenantly attached to the STEER TUBE of the fork, that would make it impossible to install the fork on a bike.

Again WOW!!!

 Wow! atomlabpimp, you fail miserably