#!markdown
I think the HiLo is great. It's cheap. It's ridiculously simple (emulsion
damper). Straight forward to rebuild. And relatively cheap to have rebuilt for
riders who don't want to do it themselves. All in I think dealers charge ~$80
including the seal kits and most shops are equipped to fix them in house.
X-Fusion says the problem with the HiLo is the mainseal is being asked to do
to much (keep oil and air in / keep crap out) while the shaft is rocking back
and forth under rider effort. As easy as they are to rebuild they do take a
fair bit of time which costs X-Fusion riders money (paying for service) or
costs X-Fusion money (warranty).
With the new Manic the goal was extremely fast service, better reliability for
all users, and the ability for users who may not have easy access to a shop or
service center to be able to swap cartridges and do the basic services
themselves. Basically, if someone can remove a seatpost from their bike they
can get a Manic working again.
So yeah, not to take away from the HiLo Strate because I think personally that
it is a pretty good product BUT X-Fusion is really excited about the Manic as
I think it addresses every complaint that some riders have about the HiLo
while keeping the price way below the market average.
Oct. 27, 2016, 10:49 a.m. - DrewM
#!markdown I think the HiLo is great. It's cheap. It's ridiculously simple (emulsion damper). Straight forward to rebuild. And relatively cheap to have rebuilt for riders who don't want to do it themselves. All in I think dealers charge ~$80 including the seal kits and most shops are equipped to fix them in house. X-Fusion says the problem with the HiLo is the mainseal is being asked to do to much (keep oil and air in / keep crap out) while the shaft is rocking back and forth under rider effort. As easy as they are to rebuild they do take a fair bit of time which costs X-Fusion riders money (paying for service) or costs X-Fusion money (warranty). With the new Manic the goal was extremely fast service, better reliability for all users, and the ability for users who may not have easy access to a shop or service center to be able to swap cartridges and do the basic services themselves. Basically, if someone can remove a seatpost from their bike they can get a Manic working again. So yeah, not to take away from the HiLo Strate because I think personally that it is a pretty good product BUT X-Fusion is really excited about the Manic as I think it addresses every complaint that some riders have about the HiLo while keeping the price way below the market average.