REVIEW: 2007 Magura Wotan fork
The German company best known for brakes rolls out a winning 160mm fork
The mid-travel 160mm fork is hugely popular in freeriding these days, since many people want to do big bike riding on smaller, lighter bikes.
Sure, going big on a smaller bike forces an improvement in riding skills to hold the same lines, and increased smoothness to save the wheels from less suspension travel, but the rewards are loaded with fun: more creative lines, quicker turning, acceleration, easier to style it in the air, and a friendlier pedal up.
Magura's Wotan fits the bill for that type of fork. It's an air-sprung, 160mm travel adjustable fork with a 20mm thru axle that incorporates a double-arch design.
I tested it over the course of several months on a Knolly Delirium in a whole range of conditions, and I wasn't disappointed in the results.
Tech specs
Heres a quick overview of the Wotan's features:
* light freeride design with double arch
* 120mm to 160mm air sprung design
* German designed/manufactured/assembled
* 5.5 pounds without axle or remotes
* cold forged single crown
* 1-1/8 inch steerer
* 36mm stanchions
* aluminum remote travel adjust thumb shifter (plastic in 08)
* aluminum remote platform compression damping adjust thumb shifter
* 20mm Maxle QR thru axle
* 203mm to 210mm disc brake post mount
* 540mm axle-to-crown length at full extension
* 2.8 maximum tire width
The Set-up
Set-up and break in for the Wotan was straightforward: the 540mm axle-to-crown height fit a large Knolly Delirium-T without needing to resort to an internal headset to lower/steepen the front end. The technical manual gave the correct air pressure for my weight, and was applied to the Wotans only air chamber via the included air shock pump.
My preferred fast settings of platform compression and rebound damping were set via the gold and red aluminum knobs respectively. Three good rides were all that was needed for the fork to break in and stiction to disappear.
The remote platform compression damping adjustment knob was preset anywhere between wide open to nearly locked out, then the optional remote lever was used to flip between wide open and the preset amount on the fly.
My preferred heavy freeride-oriented riding didnt require the remote compression damping adjustment, but it did come in handy during my absolute nemesis: the climbs kindly offered in the 07 Test Of Metal.
To reduce travel to the minimum 120mm setting while riding, all I had to do was press down the appropriate thumb shifter while leaning forward on the fork; travel is set when the thumb shifter is released.
To increase travel back to the maximum 160mm, press down the thumb shifter while leaning back. This design works best flipping between the travel extremes, rather than somewhere in between. Great for competitive and lazy types alike, its simple to adjust travel on the fly for climbs and descents.
The good stuff...
Ive seen very few
Magura forks in Canada since 03 when I started riding, but a search of the
Magura web site showed that there have been 15 suspension fork models since 2000. That put my experience on the Wotan in context - what turned out to be impressive performance traits I noticed on the Wotan werent a lucky dice roll, but rather the result of serious suspension fork design and production experience. Interestingly, the Wotan is a completely new design without any parts from previous models.
Positive traits of the Wotan were many: impressively hard bottom-outs resulted in zero damage, and were partially attributed to a thick bottom out elastomer. Such protection is a great thing when you're in the middle of nowhere with loads of serious stuff to roll through before being anywhere near a car or bike shop (with who knows what replacement parts). Also, the rebound damping knob located on the bottom riders right slider endured several hard impacts from slipping off greasy skinnies without damage.
A
SRAM 20mm quick release Maxle was included with the fork, and I'm sold on it.
There were no issues at all for freeriding (Id prefer the added protection of pinch bolts for DH racing), and it's amazing how convenient it is not needing to pull out hex keys to remove the front wheel.
You also don't run the risk of over tightening the nonexistent axle pinch bolts, causing stretching or even cracking of the fork dropouts.
A note - only the first-generation Maxle will work with the Wotan. New Maxle 360s are not compatible.
As far as the the double arch design goes, Ive ridden four different mid-travel single crown forks with 8" rotors around BC this year and I didn't notice a significant difference in torsional strength with the Wotan's double arch.
True, I'm only about 185 pounds with full gear on, but I ride pretty aggressively.
A forks torsional strength is particularly noticed while braking hard in rough, uneven turns with large diameter rotors, and I think heavier riders using 8 rotors would notice a difference on the Wotan.
The Wotan uses handlebar-mounted travel and platform compression damping thumb shifters to control both settings. Each one enters the aluminum crown beside each stanchion. The left Flightcontrol shifter controls fork travel on the fly, the optional right Albert Select shifter turns on or off the rider's pre-set oil compression platform damping; the platform damping level is pre-set via an aluminum knob on top of the right stanchion.
The remote adjustment cables are a lighter version of standard shifter cables, and I had a chance to contemplate the durability of this design one icy, winter North Shore day in ideal test ride conditions.
My front wheel unexpectedly broke through a section of the trails hard crust of deep, steep snow sending me over the bars styling in full Superman mode. The crash led me to consider a number of things, including: In the event one of these cables snapped on one the many exploding branches my bike found in continuous summersaults below me, would any local shops carry them? Would I be able to modify a standard shifter cable to fit the
Magura remote thumb shifters? Would a thicker gauge standard shifter cable even fit the thinner
Magura cable housing?
When the bike and I stopped rolling down the hill, I picked it up and noted the remote travel adjust cable actually had snapped. I sacrificed compression damping adjust feature for the remote travel adjust, and testing continued.
There were a few problems...
The Wotan I was riding was one of the first-run production fork, and there were a few issues that ended up being sorted out in later production runs. That said, it's worth discussing the problems.
Soon after installation, a topping out problem was noticed at any compression or rebound damping setting.
Magura rolled out a working design fix in March '07 using different internals.
The old rebound cartridge had one orange bottom out elastomer, the new cartridge had an additional orange top out elastomer. The new cartridge still maintained the advertised maximum travel of 160mm.
The second early production issue was a slight weeping of oil visible on the stanchions. Early 07 Wotans contained excessive oil volumes, but in September 2007, Jude at
Magura Tech Support indicated these forks started shipping with less oil in each leg. (
Maguras online Wotan oil volumes page did not yet reflect the recommended 2.5ml as of November '07.) If youre unsure of the oil volume in your Wotan, remove the fork lowers and allow the excess fluid to run out into a container. The residual and remaining fluid should be approximately 2.5 ml.
The last issue concerned the ergonomics of the 07 aluminum remote travel and platform compression damping thumb shifters. They're tough and survived several rock dings from flipping the bike upside down for quick maintenance, but my thumbs complained that the Wotan shifter lever action was not as comfortable as familiar higher-end
Shimano or
SRAM trigger shifters. As youd expect, little things like this can get annoying after a long ride and the energy is waning.
Magura understandably redesigned them using plastic construction and a grippy, rubber-like pad at thumb contact area (the only difference between the 07 and 08 Wotans).
Once the early production run issues were resolved, consistency of settings over about 70 rides were glorious. Other than on the fly thumb shifter travel and rare platform damping adjustments for climbs/descents, my other fork settings and air pressure preload did not change over time.
The Ride Experience
Up to 06, it was easy to criticize air suspension in freeride applications due to a general harsh, nasty feel. Most people waited for air springs to evolve closer to the performance of coil designs. That's changed, however, and some freeride air suspension options like the Wotan have advanced to the point that they perform exceptionally well.
Coil and air designs still can differ somewhat in terms of plushness, bump compliance and progressivity, but after all your preferences are considered, air suspension could be ideal for you. For my needs, Im sold.
Service and maintenance of the Wotan were simple. Traditional oil seals wont need to be replaced since the stanchions are lubricated via more durable, oil saturated, sponge-like seals.
Magura suggests replacing the appropriate rebound, damping or travel adjustment cartridges in the event of a cartridge problem. An oil change is recommended once a year and
Magura indicates it takes about 10 minutes.
Thankfully, Canadian
Magura owners no longer have to send
Magura gear to the States in the event of service or warranty, as Orange Sport Supply in North Van is now distributing, servicing and providing warranty for
Magura bike parts. Hopefully, this will mean more Canadian stores will stock
Magura components and spare parts.
My freeride expectations were easily met with this light, tough, supple, and comfortably progressive fork in everything from ideal to extremely harsh situations.
True, I prefer more travel for large, fast bike parks like Whistler when the speeds get consistently higher, but the Wotan isn't designed for that type of riding anyway.
The Wotan sang well without getting emotional in a variety of situations: hammering in and out of speedy stutter bump corners without excessive brake dive. The fork was also at home in wet, lower-speed, super technical corners.
It did exhibit rare bottom outs, but that was usually during 10'-ish drops to gnarly landings. Small to medium bump compliance was plush and responsive.
And even when I'd committed to particularly hairy lines, I became confident this fork would predictably deliver and take me exactly where it was pointed.
At the end of the day, this fork clearly contributed to my usual post-ride-grins that usually lasted for hours. It was a mighty good time.
Colour Coordinating
Lastly, it's possible to choose one of several colours for your Wotan sliders: white, yellow, orange, pink, red, olive, turquoise, dark blue or silver.
That's a nice option for people who must perfectly match their fork sliders to their anodized spoke nipples, cassette internals and frame shock reservoirs.
The Custom Color Program is available at around an additional CDN$100; consult
Magura dealers for ordering options.
Pros:
- heavier freeride capable
- remote adjustments work well
- settings did not deviate over time
- bombproof for bottom outs
- progressive
- controlled, predictable in worst conditions
-
Magura enduring quality
- remote shifters completely redesigned for '08
Cons:
- no Maxle 360
- some initial problems with the fork
- price
Words and Photos by Derek Timmerman
Copyright NSMB.com