Manitou Minute Super 140 20mm TA Fork In For Review

The Manitou Minute Super 140 with the 20mm thru axle is Manitou’s light weight 140mm travel mountain bike suspension fork. With a claimed weight at 1,660 grams (around 3.65 lbs.), the Minute Super 140 is 239 grams lighter (0.52 lbs.) than the comparable Fox Talas 140 RLC 15mm QR TA. That is significant weight savings in the 140mm travel fork market.

More from Manitou on the Minute Super 140

Ripped from ManitouMTB.com

A great fork communicates everything that’s happening between your tire and the trail, without jarring loose any expensive dental work. In the past, though, you had to accept a weight penalty in order to gain rock-solid steering. The Minute is here to change all that with its ultra-stiff 32mm stanchions, air springs, and available Hex Lock thru-axle. Forget about noodly XC forks and heavy trail forks. It’s time for a Minute.

Weight:		Wt. lbs. 3.54 (100), 3.61 (120), 3.65 (140) / Wt. Grams 1610 (100), 1640 (120), 1660 (140)
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
A2C:		478/498/515
Color:		White
Bosses:		Only
Wheel Size:		26
Disc Mounts:		Post
Disc Size:		210 Max
Seals:		Evil Genius
Compatible Rear Shock Models:		Swinger Air X3, Swinger Air X4
MSRP:		$569 (std axle), $629 (Hex Axle)

Initial Thoughts by 198 on the Manitou Minute

The 140mm travel fork market has become the most competitive in the industry due to the rapid rise of the 5.5″ trail bike. Every manufacturer from Fox Racing Shox to RockShox to Manitou has multiple options in this lineup, and as thru axles continue to grow in popularity, we are going to see even more options for TA equipped trail forks.

The Manitou Minute Super 140 is one of the lightest 140mm forks on the market (I believe the DT Swiss lineup is the only one that has it beat.) Finding the compromise between stiffness and weight is one that manufacturers have to choose very carefully, so it will be interesting to see how this lightweight option performs on the trail.

Manitou has been around since the beginning of mountain bike suspension fork production. With the recent buyout by Hayes, we should start to see a revival of the Manitou brand. The introduction of their new Dorado DH fork brought brand recognition right back to Manitou’s doorstep and hopefully we can continue to see further advancements across their lineup. In the meantime, I am going to bolt this clean, white fork up and see what it can do under some abuse…