Out of the box thedouble-arched fork looked and feIt a bit stout and the scale confirmed thiswith the weight coming in around the 5.51bmark. In the realm of long-travel singlecrowned trail forks, five and a half poundsis right in there with the competitionand the Wotan has the bells and whistles to justify the weight.
MAGURA spec'd theWotan with all the features any Enduro enthusiast pines after, handle barmounted adjustable travel, adjustable platform,adjustable compression and rebound, 36mm stanchions, cold forged 6082 T6aluminum crown, easily removableMaxle 20mm thru-axle, and not one, but two arches.
The nicely labeledand color-coded rebound/ compression knobs provide a very broad range ofadjustment, so dialing in the rightfeel for your terrain is easy. In fact everything on the fork is nicely labeledand color-coded. The Wotan evensports an easy to read set-up chart for air pressure on the side of the leftleg, below the air pressure valve. On the top ofthe right is where the Albert Select on/ off platform damping dial resides,which takes about a 90° turn to fullyopen or dose. This is a handy feature for climbs or any long flat section wherepedaling bob becomes an issue. I find thistype of platform a bit better for enduro style riding since you have theimmediate option of having it on for climbs or offfor descents.
Changing the travelon the fly is a simple task thanks to MAGURA’s Flight Control Remote, which caneasily be mounted near eithergrip. Simply press the lever down and compress the suspension to get the 120mm mode.Once in the 120mm mode, press the lever down again and the suspension pops backup into the 160mm mode. The lever is a bitprimitive looking and feels somewhat inexpensive, but gets the job done and I neverhad an issue with the system theentire test. It's a simple, yet effective travel change system.
Out on the trail theWotan can climb like a mountain goat when in the 120mm setting with theplatform on, giving the perfect head angleand resistance against bobbing. The 160mm setting can get the job done on longclimbs, but feels a bit too slack on steeperswitchbacks, where you need your weight forward for front wheel traction. Whenpointed downhill, the
160mm setting setsme up with a slacker head angle and sucks up any imperfections the trail canthrow at me and makes second guessing myspeed a thing of the past.
The Double ArchDesign or DAD looked odd at first and was a bit distracting, but after I gotaccustomed to it, I noticed the performance ofhow stiff the fork felt laterally, particularly under hard breaking andcornering. Thanks to the double arches and Maxleset-up, the break rub under hard cornering that usually plagues 8" rotorswas nearly eliminated. The 8-inch post mount onthe lower casting was the only fault I could find with it. I'm a big fan of the7-inch rotor size for my trail bike and notbeing able to choose was a bit of a pain for me. If you like a fulJ 8inches of braking power, not having to use an adapter simplifiesthe mounting process.
What the hell is aWotan anyway? After some web surfing I found out it's an epic Italian metalband, all,ancient Germanic god, a worlddominating computer system in the show Dr. Who on BBC, and the god of dwarveson some crazy video game. So, I guess itmeanswhatever you'd Iike it to mean.
To me, it's a well-built and top notchperforming trail fork with the ability totackle any terrain.
The Albert Select damping has better speed sensivity for 2008 too. It's butter smooth and free from traction ripples. You can add adjustable low speed platform damping for cornering/braking through the Albert Select twist cap. The supplied Flight Control remote drops travel to 120mm (4.7 in) for climbing.
The only downside is relatively hight weight, but if you can handle that it's one of the best forks available.
MBUK verdict:
Trail: 7/10
Freeride: 9/10
Use: 9/10
Value: 9/10
Overall: 9
Bit heavy, but outstandingly stiff, smooth and controlled.
This setup takes away some sensivity but provides excellent support under heavy braking and in corners, and helps the fork stay up in the travel for better handling. The compression valving oens up on hard hits, making the Wotan lush on rugged downhills, absorbing multiple impacts welland sucking up hard landings with ease. It lets you ride burly trails with condirdence by offering great all-around bump absorption and solid steering.
Between the climbing aids, quality travel and superb handling, the Wotan will please both gravity junkies and trail riders alike.
Due to the size of the post mount brake fitting, the smallest rotor you can use is a 203mm/8 in. The Wotan has a bar-mounted lever for reducing the travel to 120mm for climbing. We aren't big fans of bar-mounted levers. They are ugly, take up bar space, become stiff with dirt ingress and there's no need for them to be within such easy reach for the relative infrequency of use. Indexed adjusters on top of the fork legs would be much better.
The new 'Albert Select' compression damping does away with the previous version's separate high and low speed adjustment and - in an idea similar to a Fox RP23 rear shock - has platform damping that is either off or on (operated by a bar mounted lever) and the 'on' setting can be set to different amounts of platform damping (a second bar-mounted lever option is available for operating this if you do happedn to like that sort of thing). We are big fans of this 'fully-off or adjustable-on' idea because it's simple, effective and actually get used when out of the trail.
Rather than spend time and money developing their own patent-avoiding QR bolt-thru axle design MAGURA have licensed the Maxle from Rockshox. It's simple and effective to use.
Being able to reduce the fork to 120mm without locking it out was very useful not only on climbs but it also meant we could steepen up the geometry of the bike and still have a functioning fork for a bit fo tight 'n' twisty XC blasting through flattish woodland. Thanks to the 'Albert Select' system it was easy to have the fork perform well both on slow, steeper descents without it diving and on faster, open descents without having any compression spiking - literally at the flick of a switch.
With its fat stanchions and double braces it wil come as no surprise that we never felt even the slightest hint of flex anywhere.
Unlike previous MAGURA forks that required quite a lot of beeding in, the Wotans felt exceedingly plush out of the box. Initially we feared that this would mean they would develop baggy bushings quite quickly but after a few months' usage all we can report is a slight top out kncok when bouncing the forks up and down in the car park (which isn't detectable when actually riding).
Overall: A little on the hefty side but probably the best execution of what we think a hard-hitting 'All Mountain' fork should be.
The fork oozes German quality, with no sing of any problems after months of hard use. While the remotes could be neater and easier to fit, it's a small niggle considering the excellent performance and features for the cost.
MBUK verdict:
Trail: 9/10
Freeride 8/10
Life: 10/10
Value: 8/10
Totally proven, tight tracking and highly adjustable all-mountain fork.
Overall: 9
Appearing quite a while back in a 'Beta' form as the Thor, the greatly redeveloped Wotan (Yes, they are still doing the Norse Gods thing) has been a long time coming. But the time has not been wasted. Out of the box I was impressed at how smooth they felt, previous generations of MAGURAs had very tight seals, which gave them great reliability, but also a bedding in period close to the lifetime of a Blue Peter tortoise. The smooth feeling continued throughout the test, and my initial fear that prudent British weather-proof sealing had been sacrificed for out of the box performance proved unfounded.
Performance downhill is superbly fluid, the fork really coming to life when you up the speed and hit anything in sight as quickly as possible. There is impressively little in the way of high speed compression damping spiking either which is often a problem when you really push long travel forks. At slow speeds they can wallow a little, but by upping the compression damping on the Albert Select platform damping things become more manageable. Heading back up the hills, by pushing down on the Flightcontrol remote bar mounted lever and compressing the forks, travel drops to a climbing friendly 120mm. This works very well saving dialling, er, dials in and out to adjust travel. Going from 120mm back up to 160mm requires pressing the lever and pulling a mini wheelie, which isn't ideal, it would be better to press the lever and let the fork rise to full travel itself.
Looking at the Wotans you know thay are going to track well, the double arch design looks and feels rigid and that is indeed the case when throwing the bike through rough stuff. It takes a particularly large obstacle to deflect you from your chosen line. As if the performance wasn't enough they are easily the meanest looking single crown fork on the market, ant that counts for something in my book. These forks will sell on looks alone.
Full marks have to be given to MAGURA for licensing Rockshox's Maxle bolt-thru. It's the best system out there and rather than try to come up with their own system they've plumped for someone else's. If only they had used Rockshox Poploc lever too. The provided lever uses some incredibly tiny and easily roundable Allen bolts and is tricky to adjust once on the bars. It also seems fragile and prone to dirt ingress, which is a shame as the fork itself is quite the opposite. MAGURA has gone to (8in only) post-mount brake mounting too, in line with the general movement.
Overall: With every fork manufacturer having an 'All Mountain' model in their line up this year competition is going to be fierce, but with its build quality, meaty looks and reasonable price the MAGURA will be one of the front runners in the long travel arms race.
