Hello Travis, Goodbye Boogeyman

By Mitchell Scott

The Shore occupies a weird space in my cerebrum. Initially, the thought of going back to the place of my youth fires me up. I can’t wait. Fun times a thousand. And then I get to thinking about all the roots and the rocks and the airs to burl and the snotty log rides way up high in the canopy and I begin to have flutters of anxiety that make my palms sweat and the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

Just last week I went through all this emotional roller coastering as I headed down to test a new 10-inch travel bike developed by Trek in conjunction with Manitou. And while I’m not allowed to talk about the bike yet, it’s important to get the word out on new suspension technology from Manitou. A fork so good it took the Shore’s resident Boogeyman and turned him into a friendly (and surprisingly polite) forest gnome.

Manitou’s new Travis fork is the best long-travel fork I’ve ever ridden. As one of the first people to ride it (five laps on the Shore’s infamous Seymour Mountain no less), I can attest to the fork’s performance with wholehearted experience. Not only did I emerge unscathed, I did the whole fun times 1000 thing.

The Travis features some new design improvements from Manitou, all of which seem focused on increasing both supple action and stiffness. The 203mm travel fork uses an all new suspension platform Manitou is calling Intrinsic, a “speed-sensitive, low platform, low resistance” variation of Manitou’s tried and true SPV damping system. The most notable change being that the SPV is pressurized by a spring rather than air, enabling the SPV valve to be open during the initial part of the travel stroke.

To increase stiffness, 34-mm aluminum stanchions run inside ovalized casings—what Manitou is calling “parabolic design mag RA casting.” The arch between castings is more upright, more compact and closer to the seal area as compared to other Manitou forks. Inside a cartridge damper uses open bath lubrication with a distinct design focus on resisting brake dive and bottoming. Both the 1.5 single crown and the double crown version feature a significant 203mm of travel and weigh in at a very manageable 6.5 pounds and 7 pounds respectively.

The ride…
Oh geez. Where do I start? The best comparison I can make is the Travis felt like rocking a brand new truck. Quiet and tight. Suppleness has been achieved in a big way.

On the many thousands of steep rollaways on the Shore, where a big old root is exactly a wheel length away from the bottom of the drop, positioned perfectly to send you ass over tea kettle, the Travis just kept on rolling on like it was no big deal. I can barely remember being pitched forward, nor did I endo once (and believe me, when on the Shore, endos are my favorite move).

On hucks the Travis took everything I could muster the cojones to throw…with barely a sound no less. I rode both the double and the single crown and could hardly tell a difference in stiffness and travel depth. If you were a big fan of the Dorado, what many downhillers and big bike riders have long heralded as the fork of forks, you’ll be over the moon when you get on the Travis. Stay tuned for more on Manitou’s new rear shock and two new freeride oriented bikes from Trek.