DURIN MARATHON - REVIEWS IN THE PRESS

Despite its light weight, the double-braced Durin Marathon chassis tracks well on the trail and it'll take a 210mm brake rotor. You can adjust low-speed compression damping and threshold on the soft dynamic lockout with its pull-up top cap actuation, and there's the option of remote control 80-120mm travel adjust too. We do like the box on the leg decal where you can note your favoured pressures.

 

Stiff, light and reliable QR fork, but pressure sensitive and pert rather than plush.

Overall: 2.5/5

MAGURA's forks have been getting better every year for a while, and the steadily evolving Laurin model has become one of best trail forks out there.

The unique front and rear double brace design makes them stiffer than any other QR fork. This gives an obvious precision to every move you make on the trail, sharpening steering and giving you a real edge in sketchy off-camber situations. There's no trace of braking twist even with 203mm rotors (biggest allowable is 210mm) and despite low slung appearances you can run a fat 2.35in tyre with no mud worries.

Despite the outstanding stiffness, at 1732g they're really light. MAGURA have also worked hard to lose the starchy reputation of older forks - now they are impressively plush from the first ride. The linear 130mm stroke means a few psi either way makes a massive difference.

Luckily the supplied MAGURA pump has a cunning cam-release head for easy adjustment - we had it sorted within the first ride and it's been fine ever since. Control is good too, with no spikes or clunks at either end of of travel and reliably consistent control on random steps and rock sections that can choke other forks.

The fork top Albert Select damping lets you tune between total lockout and barely-there low pressure compression platform on the fly, while rebound is consistent and wide ranging.

The Flight Control active 100mm travel step-down feature is useful for keeping the nose down on really steep climbs. Reliability has been excellent on all the MAGURA we've run recently.

Tight clearances on the stiff forward-sloped dropouts make some wheels awkward to slot in, but stainless steel facing plates stop corrosion and paint flaking.

Old school IS disc mounts, MAGURA HS 33 FIRM-tech mounts and a disc hose guide are built in.

The middling cost is good for the impressive performance and customs colours are available for 28 pounds and a four-week wait.

MBUK verdict:

Performance: 9/10

Value:               8/10

Sensitive initial set-up, but outstandingly stiff, impressively light and usefully ajdustable.

 

 

 

What's really surprising, given MAGURA's history of stubborn starting forks, is that the air-spring internals are super plush straight out of the box.

The stroke is also very linear, with no traces of spikeor irregularity however fast you go. The vocal rebound circuit is equally controlled and easy to set up for a very floated and composed ride over big stuff or ripples. There's also a handlebar mounted remote control for the adjustable low speed compression so you can stiffen the suspension up or lock it out on the fly. The deep-crowled dropouts and "Double Arch" front and rear brace create a very stiff structure for impressive steering response and line holding across ruts or on off-camber trails.

There are no signs that this new-found smoothness has compromised MAGURA's enviable reliability reputation  either - we did not experience any leaks, wobbles or clunks. Stainless steel inserts on the dropouts and disc mounts also reduce the risk of long-term corrosion. MAGURA HS 33 rim brake users get direct mounts as standard and disc brake hose guides are also built in.

85 and 100mm travel versions plus a range of custom colour options are also available.

The 1,82 (4lb) weight of the 130mm version is slightly higher than some competing forks , but the price is fair for the performance and likely lifespan.

MBUK verdict:Impressively smooth and long-term tough trail fork at a decent price. 8/10

As a reasonably light but plenty tough 5in travel fork, the Laurin looks likely to be MAGURA's most popular fork for 2007. The more we ride it, the more we reckon it deserves some really serious consideration, too.

For a start, the first push out of the box is a revelation. Previous Ronin forks would break your wrists if you jumped on them hard until after a few months  running, but the Laurin immediately compresses smoothly with even a light touch.  A big slurp of damping oil and the return stroke is impressively controlled, too. Bolt the brake onto stainless stell IS mounts , install the neat "Poploc" style remote lockout lever, set the air pressure, add a bit more rebound and we're off.
It picks you up ripples smooth over the small stuff, doesn't pack down on steps, but sucks up the big stuff right up to the crown without any spiking or stammering. The adjustable compression remote is super simple to use and teh steering precision is impressive, even when we're deliberately trying to cross thread ruts.

In other words, we're seriously impressed so far. So watch this one closely when our monster forks grouptest comes out in spring.