</a>Reviewed by Brian Mullin aka Gram and MTBR.com Pastajet
https://www.gramslightbikes.com/

NOTE: The latest version is known as the Manitou Minute Super 140

I started riding the Manitou Minute Elite Absolute 140mm fork just before the Interbike show, and have gotten around 8 months of some heavy duty testing on it. It was swapped back and forth on my Ibis Mojo with other comparable forks, so I had a nice test bed for cross referencing of several brands, including the Magura Thor 140, the DT Swiss EXC 150, the Manitou MRD 130 and the Fox Float 140 RLC. What stands out about this fork is its buttery smooth plushness on ugly terrain.

Manitou History
Manitou is a term used to designate the spirits among many Algonquian groups. The Algonquian is one of the most populous and widespread North American Native groups, and they live from the Great Plains to much of eastern North America. This spirit is seen as a (contactable) person as well as a concept, one aspect of the interconnection and balance of nature/life, much like qi, prana, and vitalism . Everything has its own Manitou-every plant, every stone, and even a machine, such as a fork!



Manitou the company has a very storied history, that started out in Colorado Springs area in the hands of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame Inductee Doug Bradbury. I assume Doug named the company after the town of Manitou Springs, which is close to many of the trails that he rode. Doug built the first Manitou fork in 1990, and John Tomac rode fork number three to a World Championship victory that same year. Doug went on to build aluminum frames and eventually licensed the Manitou products to Answer Products, where he continued working in research and development for them until 1997. In early 1998, he and Tomac partnered up to produce Tomac bikes, but the company under American Bicycle Group floundered until Joel Smith (son of motorcycle legend Malcolm Smith) resurrected the Tomac brand. In an interesting set of circumstances, Joel was a former director of North American sales and brand management at Answer Products, while Doug is still involved in bike design at Tomac. In late 2006 the Hayes Bicycle Group, a division of HB Performance Systems Inc., acquired the assets of Answer Products Inc., which manufactured Answer and Manitou brand bicycle suspension forks, shocks, bars and stems.

Manitou Minute Elite Absolute Fork
The Minute Elite Absolute, is one of Manitou's premier All Mountain or Trail forks. The Elite is loaded with features such as one piece magnesium caste with a unique Reverse Arch, a proprietary thru axle and an adjustable platform damper.

It is available in 100mm, 120mm, or 140mm sizes with either a standard axle or their 20mm thru axle. It has 32mm aluminum stanchions, 1 1/8" butted aluminum steerer tube, post mount brake tabs, and is tuned using rebound, air and platform adjustments.



I tested the 140mm version with the 20mm axle on my Ibis Mojo, using various equipment and tires. The rear shocks were the DT Swiss XR Carbon, the Fox RP23 and the Fox RPL (my current fave).

Next » Features

Features



Platform Damper
The platform damper, named the 'Absolute' sits on top of the right fork leg. The dial allows you to toggle between fully open to fully locked platforms. The Absolute has 7 settings (originally were 5 in pre fix-it kit mode) from supple to firmer settings. I found myself only using the 1-4 settings, 1-2 for technical terrain and 3-4 for fire roads.



Reverse Arch
The arch on the Elite is called the RA (Reverse Arch), and is a casting that is featured on all Manitou forks. The RA provides the greatest torsional stiffness possible for a given weight, and allows for an arch that is shorter and stiffer than traditional designs. The DT Swiss forks also share the same sort of design philosophy of the reverse arch.



20mm Thru-Axle
Manitou's proprietary 20mm thru axle is called the 'Hex-Lock', and is a lightweight and bombproof alternative to the Maxle. The Hex-Lock inserts into the fork legs, and gets held down by a large end bolt and 4 pinch bolts.

A short video of the features of the Manitou Minute Elite Absolute, also includes putting the wheel on using the Hex-Lock 20mm thru axle:


Next » Ride Impressions

Ride Impressions
The Elite is plush, with great liner travel, and shines on the big nasty terrain, and it goes much deeper into its travel than its competition. The Elite has a bit of stiction and starts out a bit stiff on small bumps. For medium bumps, it works just fine, but where it really shines is the very linear feel from just above small bump to monster stuff, and it goes deep, and it remains very plush that entire way.The Elite has a bit of fork dive (its fatal flaw), has vague steering and sometimes has issues on loose and rocky climbs. On my second ride, the Elite started to make a clunking noise. The mechanical issue did not affect the functionality of the fork, but it sure was annoying. I got a fix-it kit from Manitou, and it not only resolved the issue, but it seems to have an extra notch of plushness, and it gained 2 more clicks on the Absolute platform setting. I changed the fork oil from 5 weight to 7.5, and it helped but did not solve the fork dive issue. I have ridden the fork for around 5 months since the fix-it kit, and has had no other issues since then.



When doing a slow speed maneuver if your weight is too far forward you can get a fork dive and then the fork stiffens (ramps up quickly) and you get thrown forward and stopped dead? The dive problems occurred when you dropped all your weight directly onto the fork on ledges or drop offs, or hitting square rocks, or in very technical trial spots, all of these rough and tumble situations made the fork dive rear it's ugly head. Increasing the absolute damping helps, but it was not enough, keeping the pressure a tad higher helped but at the expense of plushness. You quickly learn to keep your weight back a bit farther, but it would still happen, usually at an inopportune moment.

Next » Ride Impression and Tuning

The Elite climbs decently, but I had to make sure, I bounced and picked up the front end in some spots to be able to keep it climbing. It was not quite the 'stick like glue' of the Magura Thor on climbs.

When I pointed the fork downhill the Elite's plushness was a delight, driving over anything was smooth and easy with not a bit of harshness. What I really like about this fork is the plushness the fork has over large bumps and big terrain. The fork will drive over anything without a twitter. The vague steering makes it difficult to point it exactly where you want it, so in the big stuff you pretty much let the bike go where it wants, you don't have much choice. I wish more forks could have this type of plushness feel when flying down through a rock garden, man is it sweet. This fork likes to haul butt downhill, the faster it is going, the better it performs and the more stable it feels.

On some technical sections, the vague steering was noticeable again, and it did not have the laser like steering of the Magura Thor, but the plushness helped overcome most of that problem. However, was it nice to plow over anything, and I found myself driving over harder lines just for fun.



I really liked the micro platform adjustments, I could make to the fork's behavior by using the Absolute damper. I regularly moved it between open to 1-2 on climbs or technical terrain, and I enjoyed the Absolute's fine details it allowed.

Installing the wheel was pretty easy, just insert the 20mm axle which has two hexagons shaped bumps on each end, mesh it up with the fork legs and then thread on a large M6 button headed bolt, then tighten the four M5 pinch bolts that clamp the axle. It's a quick and fast process. I did notice that the pinch bolts like to loosen up so I added some Locktite to alleviate the issue.

Tuning
I weigh 155 lbs. and used pressure from 70 psi to 85 psi, depending upon the terrain I was riding. The lower setting was perfect for mellow trails and offered the nicest plushness. In more technical and rougher terrain, you had to keep the pressure high, else there would be too many fork dives. I used the Absolute platform quite a bit, using 1-2 for climbs and technical terrain, and 2-4 for fire roads and smooth singletrack.

Minute Elite Absolute Specs (measured)

Axle-to-crown measurement: 515mm

Elite w/o axle (uncut) - 1778.4 grams
Hex-Lock Axle - 71 grams
Elite w/ Hex-Lock Axle (uncut) - 1849.4 grams

Kudo's
I want to pass along big thanks to Denny at Hayes for all the assistance he provided during my testing of the fork.

Next » Conclusions

Bottom Line
The Elite is an incredibly plush fork and really shines on the big ugly terrain, such as rock gardens. It's linear and goes deeply into its travel, and it loves to haul ass through anything, the faster it is going the happier it seems. I thoroughly enjoyed the Absolute platform damper, the adjustability it offered was a very nice feature. The Elite has a bit of fork dive, has some vague steering, and had a mechanical issue that was resolved by a kit. The fork dive issue was slightly alleviated by using a bit more pressure, some rearward body weight, and sometimes an addition of platform from the Absolute damper. However, on occasion it still would exhibit a fork dive, especially on slow speed technical moves, and it would stop you dead in your tracks.

The Elite is a bargain of a fork, it's lightweight, has the great Absolute damper and the most buttery smooth plushness of any fork I have ridden, its glaring flaw is its fork dive.

Strengths
-Plushness
-Lightweight
-Reverse Arch
-Absolute Damper
-Moderately priced

Weaknesses
-Fork Dive
-Reliability?
-Lack of integrated brake guide

Value Rating: 4 Flamin' Chili Peppers


Overall Rating: 4 Flamin' Chili Peppers


Manitou Minute Elite Company Specs

Travel: 100mm, 120mm, 140mm
Damping: Absolute Platform Damper
Adjustments: Rebound, Air, Platform
Lubrication: Semi-Bath
Spring: Mars Air
Casting: One piece Reverse Arch (RA) Magnesium
Stanchions: 32mm Gold Al
Steerer: 1 1/8th Butted Aluminum
Crown: Aluminum
Axle: Std or Hex
Crown to Axle: 478/498/515
Color: White
Wheel Size: 26
Disc Mounts: Post
Disc Size: 210 Max
Seals: Evil Genius
MSRP: $569 (std axle), $629 (Hex Axle)

Manitou url: https://www.manitoumtb.com