If you have a fat bike and want to run a suspension fork, you can currently choose either a RockShox Bluto or some sort of strange, inverted thing that may or may not work. The former is better than the latter, but there'll soon be another option: Manitou's upcoming Mastodon.
The Manitou booth didn't have much in the way of information on their new fork - it's not slated to be released until down the road - but it's obvious that it's sporting somewhere around 140mm of travel, and that it's based on the Magnum but in a massively wide chassis. How wide? Well, I can fit my head through the casting, so I bet you'll be able to squeeze in the biggest of fat bike tires. The lowers are likely beefed up where required compared to Manitou's traditional forks, and it wouldn't be a Manitou if it didn't have a reserve arch.
A decal on the lowers specified that it's using the Dorado air spring that's also employed on their high-end Mattoc fork, which means that riders will probably be able to adjust air volume and ramp-up as required. The dial atop the fork crown lets riders tinker with both low-speed and high-speed compression (rebound is at the bottom of the same leg), but you won't find Manitou's effective HBO (hydraulic bottom out) control - it appears to use a simplified damper compared to the Mattoc Pro.
No word on the Mastodon's price, but it's probably a safe bet to assume that it will ring in somewhere near its main competition, although Manitou is known for usually offering a few different price points and options. We'll have more information, including price and weights, soon.
Damn you all! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!
More details imgur.com/a/Hjzlq
Is it soooo hard to find a pinkbike editor who ACTUALLY fat bikes and knows the existing market/products to write about new fat bike products ?
By inverted "thing" i presume he's meaning the WREN forks and the other branded ones that come from that same factory which have been hit and miss for quality control... but there is also the DNM inverted fork which works quite well although its heavier, cannondale produces a lefty for fat bikes, RST has had their Renegade fork which is stiffer than the Bluto for over a year now, and there is another asian fork maker called TopGun with fat bike forks at the lower price points that function acceptably well for their price if you buy the correct models.
It would have been nice had this write up about Manitou's fat offering if they'd included some better technical details like what the steerer tube options will be, what the offset is, what's the stanchion tube diameter, and if it will be only in 150mm dropout spacing or 135mm as well, and what the maximum tire width rating actually is...because the current "biggest", the Vee Rubber Snowshoe 2XL does NOT fit the Rockshox Bluto.
Offset 51mm, stanchions 34mm, Hexlock SL 15x150 as an axle, and XXL
All upright forks need to have shock boots or stantion gaurds to keep the mud from getting thrown directly into seals...
A easy way to save the bushings!
1. Rock Shox Bluto
2. RST Renegade
3. Lauf Carbonara
4. Wren Inverted
5. Cannondale Lefty Olaf
6. And now...Manitou Mastodon
Obviously, and I'm not.
All fox need to do is widen a 34/36 and throw a grip dampner in there.
Rockshox coukd widen a pike.
Both options are better than a bluto
Looking forward to something that might make SRAM up their game and make a Bluto that doesn't have the internals explode as soon as it hits dirt.
That's a funny statement when the Wren inverted fork out performs the Bluto in every metric...
The Bluto was never anything more than a super wide Reba, so now it'll be relegated to entry level fat biking, which is where it belongs.
Thank you Manitou for spending the $$ to bring this fork to life. So, when can I buy two?
Also...MANY fat bike users don't just ride on snow and sand...and if you're riding on rock/roots you need more pressure to prevent pinch flats if using tubes and bead burping if ridden tubeless.
Winter riding suspension fork? The snow smooths out the trail very well. Would be nice to not rock my teeth out doing drops, jumps and riding down stairs tho and then make a 29+ wheel set for it as a sick trail HT.
Rode plus bike in super shitty deep mud - makes no trail feel relatively ok. Rode plus bike in normal terrain - very cool.
Rode normal bike in snow - dumb. Rode normal bike in super shitty deep mud - impossibru,
Verdict: keep fatbikes on snow. Plus bikes covers you for most of sht anyways
I also know that there's no difference between −18° and −25°, both bloody cold to ride.
www.pinkbike.com/photo/14548757