Manitou gets it rough because they had an awkward stage that lasted so long. They hadn't made anything really new or good for quite a few years so at least I don't want to trust them. They just kept trying to polish that turd and finally lost most of their market share. Honestly, to me this just looks like a lightly polished gold label. Have to keep in mind though that rockshox had its share of troubles before the sram buyout, zoke had lots of problems with the 55's back in '08 and their service made me swear off the brand I'd been on since I started, and the seals always blow on fox forks. Perhaps, there is hope, but I won't bet $400 on it. I never had any trouble with the hex-lock axles and the one thing sweet about them is that you can tap the drive side and put on a peg.

I did a local 18-mile xc race on my STP in blue jeans and a t-shirt. I was the last person to finish in the singlespeed class but I beat 3 people who didn't finish.