A pioneering bike

The full-suspension mountain bike is the first choice for most people today. Suspension pioneer Doug Bradbury once laid the foundation for this. The introduction of Bradbury's first suspension fork under the Manitou name in 1990 was considered groundbreaking, and together with Rock Shox, Manitou changed the face of mountain biking forever. A year later, Bradbury went one better and developed the first serious and functional fully. The Manitou FS had front and rear suspension on a suspension fork, albeit still on elastomer. The launch of the Manitou FS followed in 1993 and it rode to international success in downhill racing under riders such as Jürgen Beneke and Travis Brown. They also ensured that the bike was remembered by most mountain bikers from the nineties.

Recarnation of a legend

Although Manitou has developed its suspension technology since then, the Manitou FS remains a central part of the brand's history. Manitou is now reviving this part. However, to celebrate not only the origins of the brand, but also an innovation that changed the face of an entire sport, Manitou has partnered with Gamux, Pinion, Gates, Schwalbe, Hayes, ProTaper and Reynolds to develop a forward-thinking, modern take on the original Manitou FS bike

The frame

Gamux is relatively small, but big on innovation, engineering and passion, making it the perfect choice for Manitou to develop the frame for such a project. The Swiss frame builders run an engineering company that not only develops designs for their own frames, but also for a long list of blue-chip clients in the cycling industry. For the FS II project, the Swiss engineers combined state-of-the-art production and design technologies such as CNC machining and the bonding of the best available raw materials. From CAD design and FEM optimization to manufacturing components from 7075-T651 aluminum on a 5-axis CNC machine and redesigning the fork bottoms, the frame build required a good dose of art and science at the same time.

The build

The frame build required drivetrain integration, and so the Manitou FS II proudly wears its Pinion C1.12 transmission with Gates CDX belt drive. Its integration has heavily influenced the design of the frame, and this now brings some benefits: a lower center of gravity for better handling, protected gears and a significant reduction in unsprung mass.

In order to ensure that even the smallest details of the bike are in line with the most advanced overall design, the equipment is the stuff of dream build videos, as seen on Gee Milner's channel. The Manitou Mattoc fork is perhaps the most versatile fork on the market with 110 to 150 millimeters of travel and is considered the lightest and stiffest fork in its class.

The rear suspension is modeled after the iconic Manitou FS original design, but uses a Manitou Junit fork with custom CNC-machined mounts and a re-tuned internals. Although this suspension fork was developed for teenagers, it has the same internals and technologies as forks for adult bikers. That's why Manitou sees it as the perfect complement to this unconventional but modern retro build.

Where once the iconic HED carbon rims spun on Ringlé hubs, Reynolds 309 enduro wheels on the FS II ensure perfect concentricity.

Dream Build Manitou FS II