Manitou Unveils the New Mezzer Expert Fork

 ... You okay there buddy?

 @Nygaard: cheers hun

 This is exaxt what I needed, strange. Thank you dude

 If you're frightened of dying and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away.. But, if you've made your peace, then the devils are really arches, freeing you from the earth.

 Max tire size, funny number. Nice!

 You can deny the reverse arch and buy the dorado.

 Do you mount the front fender reversed?

 @tacklingdummy: Only if you take French lines on the left other wise go Right young man.

 Assume the reader will read an 'and' at each comma, so the sentence should flow.

 @jrocksdh: Actually its a run on sentence, but thanks.

 its starting to all make sense now...my life really hasn't been the same since my shermans.

 Reverse life to you too, bub

 I have a reverse arch and sometimes people say it and me are backwards even though I facing forwards maybe it’s on backwards

 Excellent comment, browner!

 @Neale78: Jacob's Ladder!

 @Neale78: Quote from the 1990 film Jacob's Ladder? I think in that scene the chiropractor was quoting someone else. Would love to know where it came from. Love that one!

 Reverse arch my arse... wait til life throws a Lefty at you!

 @kurt2: Yeah man.

modernmythology.net/a-long-road-out-of-hell-the-bardo-jacob-s-ladder-creativity-and-death-76a4503c2377

 @RayDolor: Yep!

 @browner man sometimes you look at the reverse arch, and remember times gone by, smh, thank you

 @tacklingdummy: no need

 A reverse BAM arch would be truely mind blowing.

 @acdownhill: walk down memory lane...Sherman Sliders TPC on a Norco Torrent. Great fork from what I recall. Another one to the “wish I kept it” list, right behind the Balfa BB7 frame.

 @tacklingdummy: Yes. And When riding with the reverse arch always remember to do the opposite of what you would normally do.

 The reverse arch gives your bike magnificent look of a Walmart bike with fork installed backwards.

 I would like to know this too. I always end up with RS or Fox, as I am a little scared to try something like this, but could be a good alternative!

 Unbelievably good. I have 2x pairs of them. No tokens just air pressures. A little more fiddly to set up but you can really fine tune them. Stiff, light and designed to be serviced at home

 Service and spare parts are the sole reason I don't ever envision myself buying one. If you go to the Singletrackworld forum there are a good number of complaints there about lack of spare parts.

In an oligopoly market such as mtb forks, the main barriers for adoption of newcomer products are often fears of long term ownership sustainability. I use my Lyriks with abandon as I know I can buy new parts easily, quickly and relatively cheaply. Can you say the same about Manitou?

 Yes, it is that good. Had mine on my Delirium at 180 but have since went to a Dorado pro on it. Kept the Mezzer lowered it to 150 and put it on my Endorphin to replace my Cane Creek Helm coil. The Mezzer is lighter them both my Cane Creek Helm coil and air. Have also used Lyric DVO Diamond and 36 in the past but Manitou Mezzer is the best out of all them. The Helm is a great fork but the Mezzer is a bit better. Especially with h small bumps and is also more plush.. takes a little time to get used to setting it up but no more then a Helm air.

 Great fork, better performing and easier to service than any Fox or RS I've had. I have had no problem getting parts in the US for Manitou stuff.

 @dchill: how does it compare to the dorado in terms of suspension action? I love my dorado, plushest air sprung fork I’ve used and the hydraulic bottom out works great.

 Wonderful fork performance. Been waiting 7months for a warranty on my creaky csu. Creakiest bike I’ve ever ridden, yet I’d still recommend it. I’m assuming the issues are Covid related, so I’m generally more patient this year.

 @dchill: can you do the major service yourself or just the minor/50 hour service like the helm?

 @big-red: You can totally do service yourself on a Mezzer using an 8mm socket, 24mm socket, 2mm hex and 8mm hex plus some oil.

The only thing you gotta watch is clockwise vs counterclockwise on the footnuts but that is clearly spelled out in the service manual.

I would say very easy to work on like a Rockshox/Fox/DVO/Formula fork and overall a really good fork.

 We did a back to back ride review of the Mezzer apro vs Zeb Ultimate. While Zeb is slightly more stiff the Mezzer felt more supple yet still very supportive. Mezzer is amazing

 The Mezzer crowd is the loudest promoters of a product on Pinkbike. They’ll never forgive Kazimer for the lukewarm review of it.

 Its very good. Even if you just set pressures and clicks by the setup guide it will performance really well, and its very supple. The advantage is that if you want to tune it for your riding, the clickers have a good range and the IRT on the PRO make a night and day difference from the rest. Service Kits are available on many online shops, just try searching for yourself to make your opinion. In the US you can get them directly from Hayes, in Europe mostly from Germany, but also UK. Service kits, dials, axles and upgrades like the IRT are the most common to find.

 @gafoto: he must burn for his sins

 @gafoto: I dont know the We Are One crowd can get pretty aggressive

 I currently have a Manitou Mezzer and Machete and used to have a Magnum Comp. I love Manitou Suspension. It just works. On RS I have had to resort to 3rd party options to make the forks feel good (HC97, Luftkappe). Doesn't take too much fiddling to get the fork to feel good to me and the brand is supportive of you working on your fork. Getting parts is not an issue for me but I am in the US, not sure about outside the US.

 Spent a month on the Mezzer pro as a demo fork on my Sentinel. It feels very average if you don't set it up correctly. Once it's set up correctly it is unbelievable.

 It was in an mbuk I’m not sure if you know what that is so it’s magazine and they slated it compared to other high end forks it was something about it being really harsh in the midstroke

 Awesome, thanks for the feedback guys!

 I ran one for over a year, still have it and it's going on my new bike.

Service is the easiest of the nine or so forks I've had in the last 2 1/2 years. It's as easy, if not a little easier than, the RockShox forks. Unlike Fox, you don't need a hammer or any weird special tools (*see caveat below) to remove the lowers. You unbolt the footnuts, press on the rods, and everything comes out easily. No hammering with dowels (DVO), either. It also helps that they use rubber seals on the bottom of the rods, so no need to replace crush washers like you do on other forks.

Maintenance is easy enough that I'd change my bath oil every month. You don't need to do that, I just did it because it takes 20min and keeps it running smoothly.

The airspring is similarly easy to disassemble and remove using a cassette tool. No fishing around with a screwdriver (MRP...) to remove a snap ring or, like some others, remove using snap ring pliers (which admittedly isnt' that big of a deal, the screwdriver required for the Stage was annoying as shit though). The whole thing comes out easily to service/grease and re-assemble, although you shouldn't really have to do it.

I never disassembled the damper, so I can't speak to that process, but there are bleed ports all over it and it should be easy to change out the fluid, if you like.

If you've worked on a RockShox fork, it's easier than theirs, but def easier than Fox.

The caveat with the special tools: You will get mixed answers on this, but there are two "special" tools some use to remove the lowers and airspring. On the spring side, Manitou sells a slotted cassette tool, however this isn't required. If you compress the rod all the way in (which I would do anyway to avoid scratching it), a standard cassette tool will fit on it just fine. For the footnuts to remove the lowers, Manitou similarly sells a thin wall 8mm socket to remove the nut, however I don't believe this is required for the Mezzer either (I believe I've used both).

Ride feel is great. It can be as linear or progressive as you want. I ran the IRT and main pressures fairly close to one another, which provided a very linear feel. As I commented below, it's really close in linearity to my Ohlins coil fork when setup this way. I did find the recommended settings were a bit high on the IRT side, but you have plenty of room to play with there, depending on how you want the fork to feel. Overall, it tracks really well, it's a stiff chassis, and it's very responsive.

 Hopefully parts will be easy but I'm having a hard enough time getting a hold of the dealer here to buy the fork in the first place.

 @mtmc99: Yeah, but the WAO people don't give the professional bike reviewer shit for not being able to set up his wheels correctly.

 @shinook: Agree with everything above, but quick note on cassette tool - I have both a Park FR-5 and FR5.2. Neither clear the washer on the airspring, nor have the depth the reach the splines in the stanchion even with the air spring compressed. So either plan on taking a grinder to a cassette tool to make a slot, or budget for the (stupidly expensive, should be included) $65 toolkit from Hayes/Manitou.

 @ohio: get the Unior 1670.5/4 its longer and the hole is wider. The tool is cheap and you shouldn't have trouble finding one.

 Don't have a ton of time on mine, but I have been wildly impressed. With the caveat that I haven't ridden a Zeb or a '21 Fox - my reference in a 2019 Factory 36 Grip2. I had assumed until this point that differences between forks were pretty incremental. This fork was *massive* step up from the Fox and addressed everything I thought I didn't like about it. Much more supple off the top, and tons more midstroke support. I have been running it at 160mm (see annoying note about cassette tool above) on an Enduro, and have yet to bottom it, but also have had less issue with arm pump and traction in slippery conditions than ever before. And generally riding nicely high in the travel. I'm also still at bone-stock pressure and middle of adjustment range on all dials, so there's probably still a lot on the table.

 @ohio: I had great luck with a deeper cassette tool that worked without a notch in order to adjust travel. It was from Amazon and the brand was Oumers but have seen other deep socket type cassette tools that should work as well.

 @shinook: thanks! And thanks to everybody else!

 I had the old lowers that were causing problems, but they warrantied it and replaced the lowers with the updated ones. The process took about 4 weeks including shipping which I think is manageable. Not quite as good as my Pivot bike. It was back in Arizona for less than a day before I had a new frame on the way.

 @Arierep: Yes, I can.
Took the gamble when I bought my rig, the Manitou Mattoc's were the 'odd one out' on the build sheet.
Have knocked up almost 6000km over the 4yrs I've had then, and are still plush as with no signs of wear.
DIY Maintenance, parts source locally (www.shockcraft.co.nz ships international too).
Wouldn't hesitate giving the Mezzer a go if I were building a new rig...

 I have the Mezzer pro with the new updated lowers. The original lowers had some bushing play but Manitou knocked it out of the park with customer service. I called them up looking for new seals do do a rebuild and they sent me a complete set of new lowers without me asking.

For the 2019 Season I was on a Fox Factory 36 Grip2. My brother has a 2019 Lyrik Ultimate. I spent all of 2020 on the Mezzer and I rode my brother's bike a few times at Silverstar and Panorama bike parks. The Mezzer is hands-down the best fork I've ridden. It truly is a masterpiece of engineering now that they've got their manufacturing hiccups sorted out. People forget that RS hasn't changed the lower casting on the Lyrik for several years, neither has Fox with the 36. The Zeb and 38 are all-new but they had QC issues on the first few batches (Fox particularly with poorly clocked steerers).

I can't say the Mezzer is the best fork out there, but it is very, very good and while most shops won't have parts in stock, calling up Manitou (where you can actually talk to a PERSON, crazy right?) will get you what you need within a few days.

 @everyheroneedsavillain: That foot nut issue was a Mattoc problem and they've gone to a more traditional setup with the Mezzer.

Source: guy who stripped out a Mattoc and now owns a Mezzer haha.

 @cueTIP: Yeah, broke off a Mattoc foot nut in my time, no bueno for sure when you feel that sucker give and go...sad panda face

 @gafoto: The PB comment section hates everything. When they universally love something and it gets bad reviews - that is a unique phenomenon that needs explaining.

PB needs to review a complete bike that comes with the Mezzer & Mara Pro.

 @Arierep: you do know manitou has been around just about as long as RS right? They are by no means newcomers lol.

 @mhoshal: yes mate, I know Manitou's history. And if you know it as well then you'll recognise that they are indeed newcomers to the performance oriented enduro fork segment.
Mercedes-benz is also old and we'll established but they were also newcomers to the pickup market with the X Class

 @mtmc99: WE ARE ONE!!!!!!

 Love mine. Actual recommended guide was bangon for the first time since a marzocchi fork in 2006.

 @Mtmw: agreed. If the Mara can match the mezzers up front instead of this vector hlr I'd be keen.

 @Arierep: no they aren't "enduro" is just a new term for freeride and all mountain bikes. And the Sherman did quit well when it came to free riding.

 @mhoshal: call them whatever you want, but when was the last time Manitou has been relevant in that segment?

 Just because you weren't looking them up over your RS or fox suspension doesn't mean they stopped making forks lol Rockshox and marzocchi also killed off their true freeride forks(totem, 66) years ago too and are doing the same thing as manitou now rereleasing big stantion forks.

 @sethius: I just wish the reservoir on the Mara would fit my bike. I've yet to own a bike that I could fit that shock on, sadly. I get what they were trying to do, but it seems poorly thought out to release a reservoir so large that won't fit most bikes in the category it's aimed at.

 @shinook: the smaller reservoir won’t fit in your bike?

 @onlyDH: I only tried the larger one, but the smaller one is only ~10mm difference IIRC. I measured it out to see based on what I could find, but I didn't have one to try. It was a friend's shock, so I didn't have a chance to send it in and get the small reservoir, measuring was my only option.

I'm on a 2020 Enduro. The issue was at full compression the reservoir impacts the seat tube, since the shock pivots upwards a bit during compression. I measured it being 10mm shorter and it still wouldn't have fit.

 Best fork out there right now by a long shot. Best air spring, best damper. Easy to work on and endlessly tunable. Yes I'm a Manitou agent and test-rider. I also take a lot of money off Rockshox and Fox owners to make their forks work almost as well as an out-of-the-box Mezzer. Almost as well because we can't put HBO or dual stage air springs into RS and Fox without even more money.

 I’m not afraid. I have this fork on test right now and it’s been impressive so far. Much better than the Pro model I reviewed, which had some issues (at least the one I had).

 @mikekazimer: I can almost promise that won't be the case if you tried again. You had a unit with a very known QA issue that they were having (the bushing slop). Seems like Manitou were total idiots on the PR front and didn't do anything about it after you reached out to them, so they deserved that bad review. That said, I can 100% guarantee you if you got your hands on a new one, you would absolutely change your mind. It is an incredible fork, much better than any fork I have been on besides the ERA....and comes in at half the price of the ERA too.

 @mikekazimer: Really stinks that you got one of the early problematic ones for review.

 @mikekazimer: I'm just having a laugh, you have to admit it is pretty funny!!
For the internets sake, I hope this new fork doesn't leave an honest review that melt's peoples snowmen.

 @mikekazimer: any idea when your review/thoughts will drop? cheers buddy!

 @mikekazimer: You're welcome to try my newer Pro to see what the improvements have done. I'm always happy to get up to the 'Ham. You might hate the little wheels on my bike though...

 It doesn't though, if you fit a mudguard it forms a nice corner with the arch where mud and grit sits against the seal and stanchion.

 @JamesE420: i have no experience with it. my comment was pure speculation. i stand corrected

 @flipoffthemonkeys: I have Fox, Rock Shox, Suntour and Manitou, the reverse arch is definitively better at keeping the crud of the stanchions, but that doesn't mean you don't need to wipe it off from time to time. And if you install a Mudhugger that has a goof side coverage the only thing that you have to wipe is dust.

 @JamesE420: no corner where mud and grits sits against the seal on my mezzer. I don't run the stock fender though.

 Looks to be fixed.

 @jrocksdh: my work here is done.

 yes .

 There is a major difference apart from the damper, the air spring lacks the IRT, and that makes a big difference on how the forks behaves through its travel. But you can upgrade from the IVA to the IRT as they share the same chassis, same thing apply to the damper. IMO I would upgrade to IRT before upgrading the damper, don't take me wrong the PRO damper is in every way superior, but my experiences with Manitou dampers makes me believe the VTT-6P is also a good damper, just lacks some adjustability compared to the MC2 on the PRO, on the other hand the IRT is far superior to the IVA.

 An analogy might be the differences between a Marzocchi Z1 and a Fox 36 Grip 2.

 Maybe they're only including forks in its class. 37mm+ stanchion diameter, 180mm travel 29 inch versions.

 @cueTIP: When I do comparisons it's always apples to oranges.

 @cueTIP: Well, I guess thats a fair point about 180mm for 29" wheels.
When it comes to stanchions themselves though - as a user I don't really care what diameter they are, I want the fork to be light enough and at the same time rigid enough and not wobble when I'm on the bars. If it can be achieved by some clever internal design (that's what formula advertises for their Selva at least), then they can be whatever diameter.
But there's some advantage of 37mm ones - more room to house some good damper like e.g. Avalanche one.

 @Legionnaire: I can just imagine riding a 180mm fork with 32mm stanchions...

 @m1dg3t: I don't have to imagine. I had a Super T back in 2000-2002. 170mm 32mm stanchion dual crown. Still flexed like a wet noodle.

 @cueTIP: I was being facetious. I don't need to imagine it either. We should dig up a set of RockShox Judy DHs (or were the DC versions called XLs? I forget) for Legionnaire

 @Legionnaire:

If you do not care the stanchions diametre,then I am sure a 32 mm stanchion 180 travel fork would beat them all out of the water

 @m1dg3t: Oh man, I totally forgot about RS making a downhill version of the Judy. My first RS fork was the Psylo and it was a marked decrease in quality from my previous Z1 despite being hailed as a "super fork".

I actually still have it kicking around. Lookin at it now it is so strange to see a fork with both IS disc mounts instead of post-mount AND rim brake bosses.

At least Hayes/Manitou gave the world post-mount brakes, though Shimano is doing its level best to move everyone to flat mount for some reason.

 Well, you could buy a 36 or 38 and modify it to perform like a Mezzer, or just save that money and get a Mezzer.

 My SID comes with 180 postmount! Come one!

 I'm going to guess that the 180 PM is so that it can be adapted to either 200 or 203 rotors.

 Eh, plenty of people running 180 rotors up front to great effect.

 @ddspaz: That's what I'm doing, but I'm also light and have very strong brakes.

 @NWBasser: Same, 170ish and running 4pot XTRs - haven't found myself wanting for more brake.

 What's wrong with the Diamond?

 @NWBasser: Absolutely nothing wrong with Diamond except that it's non-boost. Begrudgingly, I am moving toward boost-inating my front wheel. I have tried the Fox 36 Grip 2 (overrated) and the Pike (okay), and the Diamond is the superior performing fork. I can dial in small bump compliance AND low speed compression to prevent excessive diving.

I just read the Pinkbike review on the Mezzer Pro. The tester seemed to like the Lyrik.

 @yoondaman: There were some revisions to the Mezzer Pro since that review and the newer forks are much better. I've only had two rides on mine, but am impressed so far. I still need to dial it in more. DVO makes great stuff too and I'd happily take a Diamond or Onyx over a RS or Fox.

 I hope they've gotten better since then.

 You can get mx valves for around 6-12 dollars and at them like x fusion did with the metric and rc1

 Like any threaded port, they are only air tight when torqued down. All you need to do to bleed the air is crack them a quarter turn for a second then tighten them down again.

 @cueTIP: I think you underestimate how clumsy I am.

 @NWBasser: You would have to be mighty clumsy to turn your multi tool 10 full rotations instead of 1/4 of a rotation by accident!

 Temperature And altitude changes for example vám cause these, Fox Is using the same few years so you don't have to stick a zip tie under seals to burp the air out.
However I'd be voting for grease/oil port rather

 @bok-CZ: Yeah they achieve both air release and work as oil ports.

 Very relevant. As the rear shock world goes back to coil as everyone realises how good and supple its start stroke is and how well it supports in the mid stroke... etc. we need the fork to go back to coil, it just feels better than air. I came off an old 26 Lyrik coil to a 27.5 Lyrik and the small bump sensitivity difference, how the coil sits in the right place in the travel is night and day. The air is as capable against the clock, its just not as nice to ride though as coil is.

 I have had both the Mezzer and RXF36 m.2 coil. The Mezzer is about as close to coil feel as you'll get in an air fork, it can be setup very linear thanks to IRT.

 @shinook: Would be interesting how the feel on the rough stuff when unweighted, how well they track the ground, then how well they support through a heavier G corner, how well controlled the rebound is (The latest Lyrik is just not quite there for our local tracks to feel the most planted and controlled).

Reviews are always great, but some people like fox, some like RS, some like Manitou too.

Wouldnt it be boring if we all liked the same thing

 @shinook: I ditched my Ribbon coil for a Mezzer. The Ribbon damper couldn't handle fast bumps very well at all.

 @NWBasser: I had a Ribbon also and it's one of the worst forks I've owned. The friction was absolutely insane, it was extremely harsh, and it didn't track well at all. It's a terrible fork.

 @betsie: The nice thing is that the Mezzer gives you more control over your setup than other options do. The third air chamber, IRT, gives you a lot of flexibility over how the fork responds. In comparison to tokens, you can make the fork much more linear by keeping the pressures close together or you can make it progressive by keeping them separated. The IRT/main pressure difference also gives you some control over where the progression starts in the stroke.

In comparison to tokens, I found the fork tracked better, provided the IRT pressure was set. If you set your IRT pressure incorrectly, it'd be akin to running too many tokens: harsh, wouldn't track, and rebound deep in the stroke would be too fast.

The Mezzer and RXF36 coil both track very well, I think that's one of the main benefits of coils or a fork setup linearly. We have a lot of rough chunky stuff here and it will track well over that type of stuff, along with any loose rocks. We have a stretch here that's a steep chute with loose babyheads and both forks track effortlessly across it, whereas others I've had wandered a bit more.

Rebound on both is controlled, it won't spike heavily from deep in the stroke unless your IRT pressure is too high, similar to having too many tokens. Again, setup is key. Personally, I run my rebound fairly fast, so on both forks I find the adjuster does better closer to open than closed, I never found either to be out of control even when the setting was a bit on the fast side. Strangely, the RXF feels like you can run the rebound just about anywhere and it feel great, whereas the Mezzer definitely has an upper and lower bounds of what feels awful. I think the RXF could use a rebound tune that is a bit faster especially on the coil. The Mezzer can definitely be set up too fast and too slow.

G-outs are one of coil forks downsides. My RXF will pull into the travel a bit more than air forks will, but I wouldn't use the word 'dive' to describe it. IMO travel usage and 'dive' are two different things. If a fork is diving, it's pulling into the travel too quickly and that's a damper problem. On trails where that's an issue, I'll increase compression on the RXF a bit to support the bike through those types of corners or sections. That said, you will use a bit more travel in those cases, but if your damper is setup properly, it shouldn't throw your body position off. The Mezzer, when setup linearly, will have this effect also, but it's less pronounced because you do have that progression towards the end stroke and the spring will slow it a bit near the end of the stroke.

Personally, I prefer RS to Fox, if that gives you a point of reference for these two forks. I find Fox products overdamped and I can never get them to be responsive enough (GRIP2 aside), especially their shocks.

 When my new machines show up in a couple months I can make coil conversions for the Mezzer, of which I am currently running in mine.

 @betsie: you feel the industry is going back to coil shocks?

 @TheBearDen: It looks like it doesn't it?
Some Youtube influencers reporting how good coil is.
Propain moving from air to coil.
Top WC guys back on coil (some never left)
EWS moved back to coil first.

Bruni, Minnaar, Walker were all on coil out back at Lousa.

 @shinook: Ssshhh! Be quiet, I still need to sell my Ribbon. ;-)

 It would be nice if the two big ones had one or two coil options in their trail/enduro lineups. I wouldn't mind a factory coil Pike on my Nukeproof Scout

 @shinook: Shinook, that's probably the best Mezzer setup description that I've read. Thanks much!

 @shinook: According to this review: enduro-mtb.com/en/best-mountain-bike-suspension-fork-2021-review
The mezzer is rated as a good fork, only thing that seems to be holding it back is the small bump sensitivity, What`s your opinion on this compared to Ohlins/RS/Fox?

 @radioninja: I'm on a coil on my Ohlins, so it's not really a fair comparison, but I feel the RXF 36 M.2 coil might have a slight edge in sensitivity, but not by much. TBH I felt they were really close when you set up IRT linearly, meaning the IRT chamber and main chamber pressures are closer together than they otherwise would be. For instance, if they specced 50m/76irt for my weight, I'd run it at 50m/72irt or something similar. The result is a more linear fork that tracks a bit better, but is less progressive.

The benefit of the Mezzer over the RXF coil is adjustability. The RXF is a great fork, but the price of springs makes getting it dialed in really difficult. I feel for the price point, they should include extra springs, because you really need at least 3 to make sure you are setup properly. The Mezzer being air, you can just change air pressures. That has less to do with either fork, though, and more to do with coil vs air, but I would account for getting extra coils in the price of the Ohlins.

I never had a Fox fork I felt tracked exceptionally well over small bumps without feeling harsh, unless I was really pinning it. I always found Fox forks overdamped, but I also haven't tried the new GRIP2, which supposedly backs off the damping a fair bit. OTOH, I had really good luck with all of my RS forks, I felt they tracked well and were responsive in comparison to Fox. If I were to compare the Mezzer's feel to one of the two, they are a bit closer to RS in terms of responsiveness and damping feel.

All that said, I would disagree that the small bump sensitivity is an issue with the Mezzer. When I put mine on the same bike I had a number of other forks on previously, I was able to push into rougher lines I otherwise wouldn't without bouncing around because the bike tracked through them so well. The fork is very setup peculiar though, especially on the spring setup, so you need to spend some time properly dialing it in or you may have a different experience. Personally, I found the recommended settings under sprung on the main and over sprung on the IRT side, the result is a fork that's progressive but spikes a bit more, so I added some pressure to the main over recommended and backed off the IRT a bit, which made it track better.

 @shinook: Thanks.
I have had a mattoc for a year and its a good fork, now im considering getting a new fork. If so i want something a bit bigger. The candidates are mezzer, zeb (and maybe lyric), the 38 is 50-100% more expensive here, so not worth it. The lyrik gets nice reviews and i am a bit tempted. However the good experience with the mattoc has pushed me in the mezzer direction. The zeb is about the same price as the mezzer. Now i have read a few reviews on the zeb and it is no doubt a good fork. However, it sounds like it shines the most for heavy hitters at high speed. If im honest my riding is pretty varied between trail, alpine descents and some park. I love to push my speed, but i dont race.

Im leaning towards the mezzer. Its probably a nice middleground with respect to stiffness, stiff enough for my riding i think. I can adjust the travel without buying parts, which allows me to easily test different setups. The weight is good, lighter than zeb, 38 and even a few grams on the lyrik. This is a plus because the majority of my riding is trail. IRT is a plus because it only needs a shock pump for tuning. It looks good, i dont mind the reverse arch. Every review agrees to the good mid-stroke support and nice endstroke, helped by HBO. And by the sound if it small bump sensitivity is possible to get pretty good with the right tuning.

Its helpful to read the feedback from mezzer owners in the comments, to get some real user feedback besides the different website reviews. I have good experience from owning the mattoc, but lack comparison to the mezzer competition.

 Both

 weirdly the fork's been available on q for a couple months now

 To run your 2000's wheels?

 It is included with the fork, check the website

 You can also install a Mudhugger Shorty.

 @Tacodip420: yeah but it kinda sucks

 You can fit a normal one. just make some more holes for the zip ties.

 https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/front-mountain-bike-mudguard-flash/_/R-p-119932 it has holes for reverse arch which fits my mattoc perfectly, I believe there should be no problem for mezzer...

 The arch at full compression is still lower than the top caps of the damper and the air spring, so if you can rotate your fork without the CSU hitting your down tube you wont have a problem with the reverse arch at full compression.

 What @Mesmomesmo said - that the whole point of the reverse arch, it can sit lower on the back-side and is thus stiffer & lighter...