Manitou have worked hard to regain their reputation for reliability and their 2010 forks are a lot better controlled, less pressure sensitive and therefore much easier to set up than their previous years’ offerings.
The Minute is now a trustworthy and lightweight trail option. There’s none of the sudden braking or drop-off dive found on previous Manitous, just reasonably supple midstroke damping and initial sensitivity.
The dials have a positive click, and the anodised finish and polished, sloped shouldered MRP crown give the Minute MRD a high-class look. It's light for a 20mm through-axle fork and mud clearance under the rear brace is decent. Overall height is low enough not to disturb handling.
The narrow stance, low weight chassis does tend to twist in rough, rutted, rocky or high load turning situations. Older Manitous that we’ve been using for a couple of years have stayed supple and smooth with minimum maintenance.
Our 130mm-travel (5.1in) version never delivered more than 120mm (4.7in). The major niggle, though, is that you have to undo five Allen key bolts just to get the wheel out, which is a pain compared to screw-through setups.
