Magura’s forks have been getting better every year for a while, and the steadily evolving Laurin model has become one of best trail forks out there.
The unique front and rear double brace design makes them stiffer than any other fork that uses a regular quick release wheel. This gives an obvious precision to every move you make on the trail, sharpening steering and giving you a real edge in sketchy off-camber situations.
There’s no trace of braking twist even with 203mm rotors (biggest allowable is 210mm) and despite low slung appearances you can run a fat 2.35in tyre with no mud worries.
Despite the outstanding stiffness, at 1,732g they’re really light – only Pace and Marzocchi offer lighter forks with more travel. Magura have also worked hard to lose the starchy reputation of their older forks – now they’re impressively plush from the first ride. The linear 130mm stroke means a few psi either way makes a massive difference.
Luckily the supplied Magura pump has a cunning cam-release head for easy adjustment – we had it sorted within the first ride and it’s been fine ever since. Control is good too, with no spikes or clunks at either end of travel and reliably consistent control on random steps and rock sections that can choke other forks.
The fork top Albert Select damping lets you tune between total lockout and barely-there low pressure compression platform on the fly, while rebound is consistent and wide ranging.
The Flight Control active 100mm travel step-down feature is useful for keeping the nose down on really steep climbs.
A PopLoc-style lock and release lever would work better than the current ‘hold down to drop or extend’ remote control which requires you to stop – or wheelie for a bit – in order to re-extend the fork.
Despite them running with more oil on the stanchions than most forks reliability has been excellent on all the Maguras we’ve run recently.
Tight clearances on the stiff forward-sloped dropouts make some wheels awkward to slot in, but stainless steel facing plates stop corrosion and paint flaking.
Old school international standard disc mounts, Magura HS33 rim brake mounts and a disc hose guide are built in.
The middling cost is good for the impressive performance and custom colours are available for an extra £28 with a four-week wait.
