Manitou Circus Expert 100mm Fork Adjustments

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Manitou Circus Expert 100mm Fork Adjustments
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flag MrMan03
Posted: May 1, 2021 at 10:05 Quote
So I bought an Airborne Skyhawk 26” DJ about half a year ago, and so far I’m loving it. I’m not an insane rider by any means, but I’ve put the bike through 25ft+ jumps and it’s held up great. The bike comes with a Manitou Circus Expert 100mm fork, which is partially why I bought it because I heard it is a very popular midrange fork. My question is how do I really go in depth with setting up and adjusting this or any other air fork. To give you a reference I BMX, and I bought a dirt jumper to have fun on the trails with, and the geo is similar. I literally know nothing about forks. I know this is an air fork, i pump it up to the point where if I sit on it it sags maybe 1/4 of the way, and I know one of the top knobs if turned all the way “lock” out the fork and make it feel rigid. I have no clue if my limited adjustments are right, but I hardly ever bottom out the fork. There’s another know at the bottom which I’ve read is for rebound, which I guess makes the fork release compression faster (maybe?). I would like to know what adjustments I should make and how to utilize the bottom rebound knob and the top lock knob thing to really maximize the use of the fork. I’m 17 and a bigger guy (6’1 220lb), so I’m sure that would make a difference in how I should adjust. Really this is all super complicated to me, and what I love about BMX / DJ is that is all very simple except for with the DJ there’s complicated brakes and forks. In case you couldn’t tell I’m not that picky about how everything is adjusted for riding, I’d just like to gain more knowledge cause I feel like an idiot not knowing how to work with parts I ride. Thanks for any help you guys could provide to me
flag DJ-24
Posted: May 1, 2021 at 11:31 Quote
The fork should have the recommended air pressure for your weight printed on the lowers. I had that same fork and found it way too stiff at those settings, so I would start there and work your way up or down to your preference. The rebound should be fairly quick without pogoing, so start with it open and reduce a little at a time till it feels right. The compression works in conjunction with your air setting so for eg. if your air feels right but the fork goes through all the travel, add a click of compression etc. That should give you a good starting point. Fork setup can take a while to get perfect so just keep tweeking.
flag MrMan03
Posted: May 1, 2021 at 11:46 Quote
DJ-24 wrote:
The fork should have the recommended air pressure for your weight printed on the lowers. I had that same fork and found it way too stiff at those settings, so I would start there and work your way up or down to your preference. The rebound should be fairly quick without pogoing, so start with it open and reduce a little at a time till it feels right. The compression works in conjunction with your air setting so for eg. if your air feels right but the fork goes through all the travel, add a click of compression etc. That should give you a good starting point. Fork setup can take a while to get perfect so just keep tweeking.
Okay cool thanks that seems like good advice. Does pogoing just mean shooting out too fast?
flag forty0
Posted: May 1, 2021 at 16:13 Quote
the circus expert is a coil spring fork with air assist

it comes stock with an extra firm coil spring installed
then the air assist spring can be used to make it behave more progressively by adding psi

the abs compression damper is designed for big hits and can be almost locked out
its not really designed for mtb trail use like rocks and roots and will feel fairly harsh and not supple or plush

the rebound damper adjusts the return rate after compression events and is a standard simple design

for reference heres my general circus setup
flow trail: low psi, low comp, fast reb
dj: max psi, 1 click off max comp, slow reb
pumptrack: max psi, 2 clicks off max comp, med reb


imo the only time you should bottom out a dj fork is during a "omg im gonna die!!!" moment, the rest of the time i dont use more than an inch or so of travel

i adjust the air assist first, which adds progressiveness to the springrate, the more large hits and/or more support while pumping it will see the higher the psi i want

then i adjust the compression, more compression for smoother tracks and larger jumps, less compression if less manicured jumps or also on pumptracks to give a little forgiveness in my timing for pumping

last i adjust rebound, on jumps i want slow and controlled return, on pumptrack i want faster but still controlled, on trail i want fastest to keep up with stutter bumps but still not topping out overly fast

i encourage you to learn some of the basics of suspension theory and terminology, its kind of intimidating at first but really its quite simple and easy to understand once you start breaking it down a bit, there are lots of good resources online, dont get bogged down in details just learning the basics of air vs coil springs, and how dampers work with springs to dissipate energy, once you know that stuff its easy to translate it to any fork or shock and twist knobs without being intimidated
flag Dougal-SC
Posted: May 1, 2021 at 18:09 Quote
Air pressure on those is just for some extra support. 50psi max.

The compression damper on top isn't a lockout but it's very firm. So you can increase it more and more if you need more damping for bigger hits or open it up for less.
It is also fully relvalvable inside. There's an ABS+ tuning guide which sets out the changes you can make with a set of shims you can buy.

But it sounds like your setup isn't too far off.
flag MrMan03
Posted: May 1, 2021 at 19:28 Quote
forty0 wrote:
the circus expert is a coil spring fork with air assist

it comes stock with an extra firm coil spring installed
then the air assist spring can be used to make it behave more progressively by adding psi

the abs compression damper is designed for big hits and can be almost locked out
its not really designed for mtb trail use like rocks and roots and will feel fairly harsh and not supple or plush

the rebound damper adjusts the return rate after compression events and is a standard simple design

for reference heres my general circus setup
flow trail: low psi, low comp, fast reb
dj: max psi, 1 click off max comp, slow reb
pumptrack: max psi, 2 clicks off max comp, med reb


imo the only time you should bottom out a dj fork is during a "omg im gonna die!!!" moment, the rest of the time i dont use more than an inch or so of travel

i adjust the air assist first, which adds progressiveness to the springrate, the more large hits and/or more support while pumping it will see the higher the psi i want

then i adjust the compression, more compression for smoother tracks and larger jumps, less compression if less manicured jumps or also on pumptracks to give a little forgiveness in my timing for pumping

last i adjust rebound, on jumps i want slow and controlled return, on pumptrack i want faster but still controlled, on trail i want fastest to keep up with stutter bumps but still not topping out overly fast

i encourage you to learn some of the basics of suspension theory and terminology, its kind of intimidating at first but really its quite simple and easy to understand once you start breaking it down a bit, there are lots of good resources online, dont get bogged down in details just learning the basics of air vs coil springs, and how dampers work with springs to dissipate energy, once you know that stuff its easy to translate it to any fork or shock and twist knobs without being intimidated
Cool thanks. I was actually unaware that is was also spring but that makes sense. I think I’ve been having too soft of a fork, because I like that stiff feel of a BMX fork, but I do want some give. I didn't think having slow rebound is better than fast on jumps, I just thought you want to have it in the fast position so you fork comes out faster, but that’s good to know. Thanks for your advice on when to use different settings, though most of the time I’m just hitting bigger jumps since I can hit pump tracks and smaller jumps with my regular BMX
flag MrMan03
Posted: May 1, 2021 at 19:32 Quote
Dougal-SC wrote:
Air pressure on those is just for some extra support. 50psi max.

The compression damper on top isn't a lockout but it's very firm. So you can increase it more and more if you need more damping for bigger hits or open it up for less.
It is also fully relvalvable inside. There's an ABS+ tuning guide which sets out the changes you can make with a set of shims you can buy.

But it sounds like your setup isn't too far off.
I’ve always had it on the open position, so are you saying I should move it towards the middle and then lower my PSI to get a wider range of compression? (ie: have it compress when I sit on it like it does now, but with the knob being in the middle) That would be cooler to have it be softer whenever I want, because I really just have it pretty stiff on the “softest setting”. I was unaware that the knob actually did anything in the middle, I just thought it made the fork either soft or solid, no in between. I though people just change PSI to change fork stiffness, but that makes sense there is other ways to change it on the trails. Thanks for the clarification on what type of forks it is too, I wasn’t lying when I said I know nothing about it
flag Dougal-SC
Posted: May 2, 2021 at 1:14 Quote
MrMan03 wrote:
Dougal-SC wrote:
Air pressure on those is just for some extra support. 50psi max.

The compression damper on top isn't a lockout but it's very firm. So you can increase it more and more if you need more damping for bigger hits or open it up for less.
It is also fully relvalvable inside. There's an ABS+ tuning guide which sets out the changes you can make with a set of shims you can buy.

But it sounds like your setup isn't too far off.
I’ve always had it on the open position, so are you saying I should move it towards the middle and then lower my PSI to get a wider range of compression? (ie: have it compress when I sit on it like it does now, but with the knob being in the middle) That would be cooler to have it be softer whenever I want, because I really just have it pretty stiff on the “softest setting”. I was unaware that the knob actually did anything in the middle, I just thought it made the fork either soft or solid, no in between. I though people just change PSI to change fork stiffness, but that makes sense there is other ways to change it on the trails. Thanks for the clarification on what type of forks it is too, I wasn’t lying when I said I know nothing about it

The ABS+ tuning guide tells you everything. It's quite technical but has graphs for each shim arrangement and clicker position. Each click matters.
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