Manitou Black or RockShox SID?

Dave Smith said:

I'm looking to replace the fork on my Stumpjumper. The Rockshox SID Team and the Manitou Black
Elite both look pretty good to me.

I am not a Rock Shox fan, but this is one occasion I'd go with one.

Blacks suck, period. I've known several people with them, they all had nothing but problems. At the
2002 East Coast Pedrosfest, the Manitou service crew had an unbelievably long line of [censored]-off
folks needing Blacks rebuilt.

Last year, Rocky Mountain Bikes recognized that Blacks are so crappy, they sent band new Marzocchi
Z1-FR's to owners of Black equipped bikes.

Before you buy the SID, check out some Bombers and the Fox offerings.

Barry

Quoted message said:

Before you buy the SID, check out some Bombers and the Fox offerings.

i second that fox recommendation. hard to justify the expense riding around the parking lot, but out
on the trail, believe me, you know where the money went. wonderful forks.

jb

"Dave Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I'm looking to replace the fork on my Stumpjumper. The Rockshox SID Team and the Manitou Black
Elite both look pretty good to me. The designs are very different and I'm wondering if anyone can
give me some input as to which might be a better choice. I don't race or do much downhilling,
mostly fairly casual cross country singletracking and such.

Thanks very much for any input.

Unlike Barry, I've had nothing but good times on my Black Elite. If you think you need the
adjustability (80-100mm or 100-120mm) and don't need lockout, I'd recommend it. If the problems
Barry mentioned were really that bad, they would have been fixed by now, so you're safe buying a new
Black. For the record, I ride the hell out of my '02 Black Elite, have friends that ride them, and
none of us have problems. I think the fork rules, and barring a Fox, it'd be the next fork I'd buy.

On the other hand, you're nearly doomed on a Rock Shox. If you're over racer weight, like 170, a SID
is too flexy...not to mention the traditionally bad seals/leakage problems.

Fox is the best, hands down. But in my experience (riding rough XC, no maintenance) the Black rules.

Chris

Thanks very much for your suggestions, I'd never considered Fox. There's an '04 Vanilla RL at my LBS
for $360 that might be just the thing. I'll check it out tomorrow.

Dave Smith said:

I'm looking to replace the fork on my Stumpjumper. The Rockshox SID Team and the Manitou Black
Elite both look pretty good to me. The designs are very different and I'm wondering if anyone can
give me some input as to which might be a better choice. I don't race or do much downhilling,
mostly fairly casual cross country singletracking and such.

Thanks very much for any input.