Machete

Well i had before a manitou minute 29er fork on my vitus, Essentially it is the same fork more or less with more travel on the minute, I broke my rebound damper when servicing it ( my bad )and contacted hayes, They offered to send me one free of charge, had a leaking air piston bought the wrong one and contacted them again for the correct item no. and then the same they sent me one free of charge and this happened a couple of times, So when it was time for a new fork there was no hesitation with such an excellent customer service level Manitou was the way to go.
Technically this machete is on the xc level of spectrum, It`s stiff torsionally but also stiff through it`s travel, it doesnt dive through it`s travel excessively and maintains the ride height which i think would most be appreciated by XC riders and that when comparing to the manitou minute with ABS Plus damper.
Wish i could source an ABS+ damper for my machete as i know it is of different thread pitch than the minute.

I bought a hardtail Merida Big Nine TFS XT bike a little while back, and it has a Machete as OE spec. Fabulous fork, meets all my needs, exceeded expectation. Very happy with it, just does everything right, - light enough, smooth, stiff, easy to set and forget. Had a Mk1 Manitou back in '91, and a Mk2. Mk3, FS Ti, and a Black over the years. The reverse arch is the only way to go, great sensible design. Happy to be a Manitou owner again after a couple of Marzocchi's and Rockshox.

Wayback 2006 I’ve seen this fork from my friends bike. As far i remember it was manitou minute or the R7. And I borrowed his bike for a couple of weeks then i ride it, and i was amazed by the rebound of his fork. And then his bike was my inspiration to do the same thing. Now im using a Machete Comp 29”. Where can i buy the Abs+ for the machete?

Very nice forks. And budget friendly easy to use and low maintenance.