Anyone riding the Manitou Mezzer Pro?

Hattori-Hanzo said:
Still a good price when compared to fox, rockshox 👍

I'm around 70kg, at 170mm travel in currently running around 45 main and 75irt

Rebound 6 clicks from open
HSC 2 clicks from open
LCS 2 clicks from open

That's what I finished the day on and they where feeling pretty good, though I still need to play around with them some more.

They easily feel as stiff as the fox 38 and a lot smoother over small bumps/chatter. Just need to sort the top end compression.
Click to expand...
think I was at 60.8 main and 91 IRT, Sag is at 27% though
 
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Hattori-Hanzo said:
Nice one 👍 what was the total cost in the end?
I'm toying with picking up another set at some point?

I initially set up to the manitou guide, which was okay, then changed to the ccs86 suggestions which feels great over charter but I'm bottoming out on heavy compressions.

Think I need to up the main and irt a little, but I like how it's feeling over the rough at the moment, so maybe just increase the irt and HSC?

Need a bit more time with them but coming from fox 38 they feel pretty damn good 👍
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Go up on the irt a bit, try double the main / negative pressure and play with it from there👍


Just make sure you have the forks @ full droop / travel before disconnecting the pump - some pumps can drain pressure when unscrewed but some like topeak have a valve / adapter head that prevents draining and this is great with Manitou’s main / negative valving

IMG_4982.jpeg

Rich.
 
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Zed. said:
Go up on the irt a bit, try double the main / negative pressure and play with it from there👍


Just make sure you have the forks @ full droop / travel before disconnecting the pump - some pumps can drain pressure when unscrewed but some like topeak have a valve / adapter head that prevents draining and this is great with Manitou’s main / negative valving

View attachment 142660

Rich.
Click to expand...
using a rockshox digital pump, thought I read that you don't lose pressure when disconnecting, it's just the pressure on the pump side that's released?
 
IMG_5046.jpeg

I’ve stripped the compression damper from the secondhand ’pro’ fork to play with the shimstack, on dismantling the shims appear to be in a different order compared with ‘standard’ :-0

Has this damper been played with previously or just badly assembled?
I’ve ridden this damper and it felt good - similar to a new standard damper (that I’d bought to fit in the ‘expert’ forks but not used) I fitted to continue riding the forks :-?

Dismantling was easy and only needed some thought, a few tools & a driptray to collect the oil 8-)

Rich.
 
I need to do a full service on mine at some point.
Is this the chamber that needs bleeding?

I have a Shimano bleed kit, hopefully the fittings are the same.

I'll probably have a look at this over winter.

I've been really impressed with the fork so far.
Been playing with pressures and settled on 43 for the main and 87 for the IRT.
This seems to give a similar feel to my fox 38 but with nicer small bump compliance.
 
Hattori-Hanzo said:
I need to do a full service on mine at some point.
Is this the chamber that needs bleeding?

I have a Shimano bleed kit, hopefully the fittings are the same.
Click to expand...

Basic lowers service is simple, from what I’ve seen so far the damper service is not hard either (invest in a shaft-clamp block thingy (cheap 3d printed thing on eBay seems to work for me!) and a few basic tools)

And, Yes, thats the infamous ‘bladder’ that seems too flimsy but obviously works well enough 🫣

As to bleeding, I’ve bought 2 eBay special Chinese bleed kits as they have multiple threaded adapters as well as serringes so hopefully covering all eventualities 🫠

Hattori-Hanzo said:
.
Been playing with pressures and settled on 43 for the main and 87 for the IRT.
This seems to give a similar feel to my fox 38 but with nicer small bump compliance.
Click to expand...

You’re obviously lighter than me🤣

Don’t be afraid to ride with a shock pump and experiment with pressures 👍

Also, if it helps, my previous post should point towards me going back to the Mezzer from the Ohlins rfx38🫢

Rich.
 
So, Mezzers going back on the rail, the Ohlins don’t feel as nice (they definitely work but have an unknown ’tune’ and need a service - booked in for end of month)

The Ohlins rxf38’s seem to have a very narrow pressure setting window for a comfortable ride and also seem to rely on damping for support, not like the Manitou design 🧐

I’m getting an RS Zeb ultimate somethingorother with 180mm travel as part of a deal next week so can compare against them soon🤔


Ok, I admit I’ve spent a frightening amount of money lately so time to get on the overtime grind….

But the mezzers are definitely staying 😎

Also, I’ve been busy so not rebuilt the ‘spare’ mc2 damper yet, looking forward to seeing if it’s any different but that’s sorta on the back burner as I’ve got to sort the clutch on our LLandrovah as a priority 😮


Bpw again tomorrow for a pedalfest….

Rich.
 
gOwD1GE.jpg

It's back(y)

this was this morning, after the 1st battery swap (~11.30hrs, used 2x500wh and a 625wh, about 40 miles across Bpw pedalup & down) I removed the Ohlins ttxair rear damper and refitted the Manitou Mara inline rear damper and was much happier:cool:

I'm somewhat upset that I've not gelled with the Ohlins, Mrs Zed has them on her dentist bike and loves them (also has a bundle of strava QOM's in Bpw!) but maybe I'm too heavy for Ohlins🐷

anyway, maybe I'd better finish the 'spare' mc2 damper rebuild.....

Rich.
 
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Zed. said:
So, Mezzers going back on the rail, the Ohlins don’t feel as nice (they definitely work but have an unknown ’tune’ and need a service - booked in for end of month)

The Ohlins rxf38’s seem to have a very narrow pressure setting window for a comfortable ride and also seem to rely on damping for support, not like the Manitou design 🧐

I’m getting an RS Zeb ultimate somethingorother with 180mm travel as part of a deal next week so can compare against them soon🤔


Ok, I admit I’ve spent a frightening amount of money lately so time to get on the overtime grind….

But the mezzers are definitely staying 😎

Also, I’ve been busy so not rebuilt the ‘spare’ mc2 damper yet, looking forward to seeing if it’s any different but that’s sorta on the back burner as I’ve got to sort the clutch on our LLandrovah as a priority 😮


Bpw again tomorrow for a pedalfest….

Rich.
Click to expand...

We want comparison between the Zeb Ultimate! Also, is the Zeb Charger 3 or 3.1?

Cheers
 
whitedlite said:
We want comparison between the Zeb Ultimate! Also, is the Zeb Charger 3 or 3.1?

Cheers
Click to expand...

I will pass on my thoughts🥴

as to what RS damper is fitted, charger3 I think :unsure:

could be purple for all I know as it came on a bike with little info 🧐

first Zeb ride tomorrow (also RS rear coil suspension, mullet etc. into the mix🤡 )

Rich
 
Okay, thoughts on the Zeb ultimate fork….

Ride Bpw Saturday & Sunday with 25 miles Saturday and 20 miles Sunday (blues & reds, jumps & drops / tech)

Still not dialed-in but getting there….

Air pressure 94psi - not using full travel ~160 of 180 available) and springing felt hard but stable…
This is compared to 69 psi main/neg on the Mezzer, next ride I’ll drop the Zen down to 90psi and see how that goes.

Damper is good but needs some fiddling to improve, first day was nice on bigger hits but small chunk it was a bit busy - I actually lost hand contact with the handlebar grips at one point and that was an extremely interesting experience 😮 - I take credit / blame for that as I was fiddling with settings!
More rebound added and it’s improved…

Interestingly, these Zeb forks have ‘buttercups’ - basically rubber insulation between the damper / air spring and the lowers so mechanically softened connections between wheel movement and the suspension 🤔
How much this does affect spring and damper activity I’m wondering 🤔

Initial thoughts are a good fork but not as easy to dial compared with the Mezzer…

I’ve also gone to a RockShox coil damper on the rear and again this is taking a bit of getting used to - spring rate has a painful adjustment dye to needing a different spring but this is coming from an Ohlins ttxair2 (good but hard springing) and Manitou Mara inline damper (softer springing and easier setup as ended up running basically open, same with the Mezzer forks!)

I’m going to continue playing with the Zeb but already missing the Mezzer 🤭

As to the different fork an damper setup, they were standard-fit on my new bike hence my ‘experiment’😎

IMG_5203.jpeg


IMG_5227.jpeg


More fiddling to come next weekend….

Rich.
 
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Thread reserrection time 🤭

I've been off the bike for the last 3 weeks (& will be for another 4 weeks🥴) due to a broken heel so have had time to think a bit.....

the Zeb Ultimate is a good fork.........


but i like the Mezzer a bit more🤭

maybe I needed a bit more Zeb time? suppose I've hit ~200 park miles over all types of terain and still not convinced so looking at fitting the Mezzer on the Torque:ON BUT theres a problem! the Mezzer's steerer tube is too short to fit the bike with a few spacers so I'm looking for a new set of uppers🥸

to compound matters, I've had the Ohlins bach from tuning & service by J-teck but they're 170mm travel against the Torque's 180mm and I think they also have a short steerer......

Bugger.

Rich.
 
harrysmalls said:
Is the main air chamber the same between Expert and Pro? Just remove the IVA and screw in the IRT? Damper is a direct swap?
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the basic chassis is identical between Expert & Pro, the only actual differences are for wheelsize (swap lowers to jump from one to other) and I blieve the csu / stantions hold the difference for offset :unsure:

as to internals interchangability, the iva & irt are a 'one-out / one-in' replacement and as are the dampers (although different designs with the 'expert' being 'open bath' compared to the 'pro' having a sealed cartridge...)

one difference I've read about (BUT not personally compared) is the airspring main piston-shafts being steel for the expert and alloy for the pro🤷‍♂️
guess that would be slightly lighter (y)

Rich.
 
I've taken both apart, except for the air shaft on the Pro model. I can't push the shaft all the way in to get the cassette tool on the internal cap. For some reason the shaft hard stops about 1/2" from the end of the stroke. The Expert shaft went down all the way flush. This one doesn't. I don't understand what stops it. If I force it, it barely slides 1mm and binds up. Then it's quite hard to dislodge it and pull back out.
 
Swapped the internals between Expert and Pro. Everything is perfect. Pro air shaft is definitely nicer and lighter. And the Expert's open bath damper is more work to maintain than the Pro cartridge.
 
So, I’ve bought another Mezzer🫢

I wanted to try one in m Canyon but the steerer-tubes are not long enough on the mezzer’s I have so tripped over a new pair at a price I couldn’t say no to & did another irresponsible financial decision thing😜

So will be selling one of my ‘pre-loved’ mezzer’s and keeping one as spare😎

Rich.
 
img_6469-jpeg.150933

img_6468-jpeg.150932

so, collected 'new' Mezzer expert forks from delivery depot (they tried to deliver friday when Me & Al were @ Bpw) and they are as new if not new :cool:

I'll swap out the guts for 'Pro' damper & airside then have an uncut full-length pair for when I eventually need to fit them on the Canyon (battery issues not withstanding🤷‍♂️ )

will then be advertising a pair of Mezzer's with new guts in used lowers & stantions if anyone's interested?

RJPbbj8.jpg

I've also taken delivery of a Manitou Mara 'Pro' rear damper to play with, going to replace the Rockshox coil on the Canyon and see how these are compared to my experiences with the basic Mara on the Trek:unsure:

Rich.
 
Zed. said:
img_6469-jpeg.150933

img_6468-jpeg.150932

so, collected 'new' Mezzer expert forks from delivery depot (they tried to deliver friday when Me & Al were @ Bpw) and they are as new if not new :cool:

I'll swap out the guts for 'Pro' damper & airside then have an uncut full-length pair for when I eventually need to fit them on the Canyon (battery issues not withstanding🤷‍♂️ )

will then be advertising a pair of Mezzer's with new guts in used lowers & stantions if anyone's interested?

RJPbbj8.jpg

I've also taken delivery of a Manitou Mara 'Pro' rear damper to play with, going to replace the Rockshox coil on the Canyon and see how these are compared to my experiences with the basic Mara on the Trek:unsure:

Rich.
Click to expand...
yes i am interested in your mezzer pro!
 
So, I’m back riding post injury and due to the battery issue with my canyon (& many others 😵‍💫) I’m back on the rail, unfortunately I’m too big for the rail as bought a medium size and due to my injury I’m staying on easier smoother ’blue’ trails @ Bpw🫣

IMG_6837.jpeg

This is after refitting the Mezzer forks, I’d ridden the morning on the Ohlins rfx38’s (170mm travel) and wanted a ‘back-to-back’ comparison between forks so swapped to Mezzer’s dinner time in the carpark 😜

IMG_6836.jpeg

Gratuitous photo opportunity time! 180mm Mezzer and Mara rear damper (230x65mm) on the rail.

How did they feel? I’m riding easy ‘blue’ trails as I’ve still got a weak ankle.
The Ohlins have been tuned & serviced @ Jtech recently whereas the manitou are bög-stock…
Also, I’ve lost weight and ‘my’ settings for the Mezzer are still getting adjusted whereas the Ohlins had suggested pressures and damper adjustments from Jtech


I’ve had a few rides on the Ohlins over the last few weekends since getting back in the saddle but this afternoon was my first time with Mezzer for ~5 months…

More riding and hopefully I’ll get back into some chunky trails and maybe jumps….

But for now I’ll stick with the manitou air spring being slightly better than that used in the Ohlins but that might be due to volume of all 3 air chambers 🤔


Rich.
 
Thread resurrection time 🤡

IMG_7834.jpeg

I’ve been riding Manitou’s Dorado pro forks (in 180mm travel) on my Norco Range vlt for about a month in Bpw and enjoying the experience - maybe a bit confusing with the restrictions of steering-lock BUT that’s the price you pay for twin crown forks (also, if you’re needing loadsa steering angle then you’re probably in trouble 🤷‍♂️)

IMG_7963.jpeg

Skip to yesterday and we made an adventure into Cwmcarn to sample a few trails, for this the twin crown Dorado’s were replaced with single crown Mezzers, again in 180mm travel….

What’s the difference? Well park and trail centre so that’s one, the Mezzers are nearly a kilo lighter that the Dorado’s and there’s obviously some stiffness to consider! The air spring is similar with the Mezzer’s being slightly scaled-down version of the Dorado’s and the Mezzer pro’s ‘Mc2’ damper being a close relative of the Dorado pro’s damper so all good there😎


IMG_7956.jpeg

To add some extra fun into the mix I’m also riding one of Manitou’s Mara pro rear dampers😎

I’m starting to see more people riding Mezzers in the wild (mostly riding Bpw so that’s near Merthyr - obviously a wild environment 😵‍💫) and plenty of people ask about them 😎

Rich.
 
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More Mezzer stuff 😜

I’ve been digging in my stash as I’m going to rebuild a Mezzer due to the one I’ve (re)fitted to the Norco being well past its service interval (oddly enough so are the Dorado forks in need of their first service and inspection 😮)

Anyway, in the interest of knowledge sharing….

IMG_7974.jpeg

So, I’ve Mezzer Pro forks on the Norco, complete new (uncut) Mezzer expert forks (with the ‘irt’ airspring upgrade fitted as ‘pro’) and a stripped Mezzer expert fork, also a spare ‘Mc2’ damper (pro fork type) that I’ve serviced and placed in the compression shimstack 🤫

IMG_7975.jpeg

Subject of the ‘Mc2’ damper, on the left with the expert ‘Vtt6p’ open bath damper on the right

IMG_7976.jpeg

The Vtt damper is in 2 parts (compression top & rebound lower)

IMG_7977.jpeg

Vtt & Mc2 damper compression adjuster dials.


And, as I mentioned the Mezzer on the Norco, I’ll add a final spamshot with the dorado’s 😎

IMG_7971.jpeg


Rich.
 
More thread resurrection 🤭

My Dorado forks need a service (probably Do that next week) but as I’ve spares thought I’d build a Mezzer for the Norco😜
IMG_8304.jpeg

Photo yesterday after the last uplift (Friday evening, I pedalup) @ Bpw😎

I’ve a new csu and a self-tuned Mc2 damper (details on internet and I’ve added a link earlier in this thread👍) so another strip&rebiold tonight…
IMG_8310.jpeg

Few bits needing assembly 🤭

Will be riding them tomorrow so better get my arse into gear 😜

Rich.
 
Im pulling my dorado apart soon for service as well.
Pro is easy with a sram bleed kit you can get most places, since the syringes fit.
Just don't mix dot and damper oil :)

I have had mezzer for some years now and it has always been better than the zeb, lyrik, 36, 38 that i have tried.

I don't understand they don't have bigger market share since their stuff just feels better. I guess they pay their engineers and the others pay the marketing departement.
 
Great thread! I am also a Mezzer fan and have set mine up on a Relay, with Dougal's "french suspension" approach (lower pressure, closed LSC, 1 HSC). Love it so far.

@Zed. - have you considered /tried the pick and mix tune from Shockcraft? I am tempted but also a bit concerned about the headache of installation. Any thoughts welcome.

Oh and bonus question - what do you make of the Mara Pro shock? I like Manitou / Hayes a lot and would be tempted one day to try one.
 
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