The 20mm TA is an enormous process in comparison with the other thru axles on the market today. Like you…I have been on the 20mm TA bandwagon for awhile now…if this was 3 or 4 years ago, that would not have been an issue. But…in comparison with the competition in today's market, it is a huge limiting factor.

I have had great CS out of the Hayes group as well and we finished up reviewing the Stroker Ace brakes that we loved and I am in the process of throwing the Grams through the ringer now. Like I said in the review, I see promising things coming out of Hayes right now so I hope they can continue that path and update the Minute to better compete with the other 140mm forks on the market today.

The 20mm TA is an enormous process in comparison with the other thru axles on the market today. Like you…I have been on the 20mm TA bandwagon for awhile now…if this was 3 or 4 years ago, that would not have been an issue. But…in comparison with the competition in today's market, it is a huge limiting factor.

I have had great CS out of the Hayes group as well and we finished up reviewing the Stroker Ace brakes that we loved and I am in the process of throwing the Grams through the ringer now. Like I said in the review, I see promising things coming out of Hayes right now so I hope they can continue that path and update the Minute to better compete with the other 140mm forks on the market today.

And “enormous process” to get the front wheel on?!!? Are you serious?? Do we so easily forget the Marzocchi QR20 design? Or even their standard 20mm TA (they should have included a rubber mallet with the '05 66!)? I've been on 20mm forks exclusively for more than five years, and Manitou's HexLoc is no more difficult than an other design I've used (Marz, RS and WhiteBros; never owned a Fox). For goodness sake just flip the bike over and hold the wheel – not the bike – to line up the hub in the drops. Slide the axle in, tighten end cap and pinch bolts and you're good to go. I did this for YEARS with my old Sherman, each time I rode, since I had a Fork-Up'ed Yakima roof rack. Slightly inconvenient? Yes. An “enormous process”? Hardly.

I've pounded the crud out of my Minute Super (breaking a Norco 4By frame in the process) and, though not as stiff as, say, a Pike, it weighs in at nearly 2# less. For the weight I find it exceptionally solid. Indeed, surprisingly so. I wouldn't ride around 50/50'ing doubles or chucking it off anything larger than ~5ft, but for the type of terrain generally encountered on most AM trails it's fine (for my ride weight of ~160, at least).

I also find the suspension action smooth and generally well behaved. The only issue of note is that the initial stroke is SO plush that, IMHO, it tends to afflict the fork with an excessive degree of brake dive. The end stroke ramps aggressively to ward off bottoming while descending aggressive terrain, but given the forks plushness it would be nice if a real speed-sensitive low speed compression circuit adjustment were available (the ABS platform is much too coarse to use as a true low speed comp tweak).

And as a side note, I've had nothing but prompt and courteous customer service from the Hayes Group. From a real live person. How refreshing to use the “Contact Us” link on a website and actually get a timely response!

Is the Minute perfect? No. Is it generally up to their competition? IMHO yes. People seem to set RS on a golden pedestal these days, quick to overlook things like constant problems with their DualAir design, and apparently their inability to put out a fork with an external Floodgate adjustment that doesn't weep oil after a short time (I've had THREE RS's do this, so it's NOT an isolated thing). The '09 Boxxer was a bit of a mess, as well. And Marz? You'll have to pry my '05 888 out of my hands, since most of what they've produced since moving mfg'ing out of Italy has been poop. …Though the Italians did seem to think oil was optional some days.

Anyhow, thanks for the great site. Cheers.