Positioned at the very heart of enduro, aggressive trail, and gravity-ready riding, the all-new Manitou Mezzer represents a decisive evolution in long-travel suspension. Already known for its industry-leading tunability, uncompromising versatility, and unrivaled mid-stroke support, the Mezzer now delivers a re-engineered internal platform that sets a new gold standard for performance. Riders looking for the best total package without compromise need look no further to find a Manitou Mezzer that represents:
- Unprecedented small-bump sensitivity
- Unparalleled mid-stroke support
- Infinite tunability and adaptability without equal
- Industry leading stiffness
- Lightest weight in its class
Externally familiar, internally revolutionary, the Mezzer cements Manitou’s legacy of performance suspension solutions rooted in physics, not fashion.
Two Chassis, One Mission
The new Mezzer lineup expands into two distinct chassis options, both tuned for specific rider needs yet with deliberate overlap, delivering a perfect solution for every rider without compromise. From Trail, All-mountain and Enduro to E-MTB and everything in between, the new Mezzer line-up offers two offerings that can satisfy perfectly the needs of any gravity minded athlete, no matter how or what they choose to ride. The dual chassis offering isn’t an attempt to create two wildly different products. Rather, it is a manner to produce the same core product, the Manitou Mezzer, in two variants that address the priorities of two distinct types of riders. Riders who prioritize weight above all and those who value stiffness above all else will both have the opportunity to experience Manitou Mezzer level suspension performance in a package that feels custom made for them and their style of riding.
Mezzer Pro / Expert Chassis
Travel Range: 140–170mm
The Mezzer Pro/Expert is the lightest weight chassis variant of the Mezzer line, situated at the very top end of long-travel performance. Designed for athletes who prioritize light weight as they chase podiums. It blends featherweight efficiency, nimble handling and uncompromising stiffness with the most innovative, tunable and complete suspension performance available. Thanks to Manitou’s Reverse Arch design, this 37mm chassis delivers the stiffness of a 38mm fork while maintaining an overall build that is amongst the lightest in its class. The Pro/Expert range offers the versatility of travel from 140 to 170, with the slight reduction in travel from its predecessor made to ensure optimum performance in the most commonly used travels (150-170). The resulting shorter air shaft benefits from reduced side loading and results in lower breakaway friction. The new 170 max travel also guarantees increased bushing overlap for all travels while reducing bushing point loading, resulting in lower breakaway friction. Smoother, better. E-bike approved yet optimized for human-powered racing, the Pro/Expert is the choice for riders who want maximum performance and reliability at the lightest possible weight.
Mezzer LT Chassis
Travel Range: 150–190mm
The Mezzer LT takes the same industry-leading suspension platform and scales it up for heavier hitters, aggressive riders, and eMTB adventurers. With a reinforced crown and thicker-walled stanchions, the LT pairs its burlier build with the same Reverse Arch advantage, ensuring unmatched stiffness while driving weight down. The result is a fork that offers big feature strength and performance without the weight penalty normally associated with this level of capability. With up to 190mm of travel, the LT is purpose-built for riders who demand more: more stiffness, more stability, more margin when pushing into the steepest lines and biggest terrain. It’s the same award-winning tunability, mid-stroke support, and small-bump sensitivity that define Mezzer, now in a chassis for those who choose to go even bigger.
Together, these chassis represent Manitou’s philosophy of intentional overlap: a system where every rider, from competitive elites to eMTB adventurers, finds a fork built for their style, yet flexible enough to cover broader ground.
Performance Innovations
Spring Into Smoother – ACTIVE SPRING PISTON
Every seal, bushing, and interface has been optimized to minimize friction. The Mezzer’s 37mm stanchion diameter reduces seal contact area by about 5% compared to 38mm designs, yielding smoother action without sacrificing stiffness. The new Mezzers use the acclaimed Dorado Air system. However, the air piston now rides atop a spring. This new Manitou technology, called Active Spring Piston, uses a coil spring to eliminate seal lag and reduce required breakaway force in the first millimeters of travel to the point of near elimination. The combination of these two factors allow for unbelievably smooth small-bump compliance and seamless change in direction from compression to rebound while maintaining chassis stability through the entire stroke.
Friction Reduction by Design
To further reduce friction the Manitou engineering staff has worked diligently to apply the #scienceofsmooth to creating significant improvements in its processes of machining the bushing bore. In a similar fashion, they have developed and incorporated new processes around optimizing the specific bushings based on the individual fork’s specific needs, further ensuring the highest integrity of structurally enhanced smoothness.
Micromanager Bushing Alignment (MBA)
Axle clamping pressure can often cause binding in fork bushings, leading to added friction and compromised suspension performance. There is no sense in creating the industry’s new gold standard in smooth functioning suspension, only to have it negated by binding. The Mezzer solves this most notably with the MBA, a machined component that maintains perfect alignment of fork lowers as the axle is tightened, resulting in optimum parallelism in the bushing bores. This ensures maximum fluidity of travel, throughout the entire stroke, and keeps the suspension moving smoothly over even the most severe terrain.
Considering the new methods developed by Manitou to ensure maximum precision in the machining of the bushing bore, hand selection and optimization of specific bushings matched to each individual fork, the MBA componentry, selected with the same criteria for each fork and an additional end of line test to ensure that every fork that comes off the production line is representative of the absolute smoothest product possible…the owner of a Mezzer will experience friction free functionality the likes of which can be found only through expensive aftermarket tuning.
These extra steps, processes and componentry are not cheap to include, easy to incorporate or quick to perform in the factory. The increased complexity and cost of going the extra mile is a price that Manitou is more than happy to pay to obtain the highest integrity structural system and the resulting absolute best performance possible. It is the Manitou way…Mani-tuned for perfection, straight out of the box.
Air-Backed Bladder Damper
Instead of relying on an IFP (Internal Floating Piston), the Mezzer employs an air-backed bladder system to pressurize the damper. This innovation prevents cavitation, maintains optimum oil flow even under the hardest impacts, and eliminates dynamic seals: reducing breakaway friction and improving sensitivity. The result is more consistent damping and faster damping response.
MC2-Pro-X Compression Damper
The new MC2-Pro-X builds on the original Mezzer damper and raises the bar even further in terms of range and tunability. The new compression damper with its eight high speed and ten low speed precise detent settings, expands the overall adjustment range while offering finer, more usable increments. In other words, not only does the range increase but each click represents a tangible and perceivable change in performance on the trail.
Most importantly, the design now allows independent high- and low-speed compression control without unwanted crossover, meaning riders can dial in HSC for big hits and chatter without compromising LSC support. Tested through nearly 70 damper tunes over two years, this system is the fruit of extreme attention to detail and exhaustive research and development. The final product ensures balance, composure, and confidence whether in race runs or long days in the saddle. This shim based damper confers a more linear damping curve for balance of bump absorption and chassis composure and is paramount in keeping the bike settled through inputs from rider. Put differently, this tune allows for the suspension to react to the ground independently of the rider’s input. Smooth rider, active suspension.
High- & Low-Speed Rebound Adjustments
The Mezzer’s new TPC2 rebound system provides independent control of both high- and low-speed rebound. Low-speed rebound governs how the fork recovers from small, repetitive bumps like roots and braking chatter, ensuring the wheel maintains traction. High-speed rebound manages recovery after deep travel events such as jumps or drops, keeping the chassis stable. By decoupling these two adjustments, the Mezzer gives riders unprecedented control over their suspension’s recovery profile. Also, this construction allows riders of a wider weight range to find the optimal set up with the stock tune.
Reverse Arch: Engineering for True Performance
At the core of the Mezzer’s structural advantage is Manitou’s signature reverse arch design. Unlike conventional arches, the reverse arch takes a shorter, more direct path, requiring less material while simultaneously delivering greater stiffness. This clever engineering allows Manitou to reduce weight without compromising stiffness, resulting in a chassis that is both lighter and stronger. The reverse arch is not an aesthetic flourish, but a physics-driven solution that combines reduced weight and increased stiffness in one decisive stroke. No lights, no batteries – just uncompromising performance through intelligent design.
Physics, Not Fashion
The new Mezzer is not a gadget, not a gimmick, and not a nod to trends. It’s a rider-first solution grounded in physics, designed to:
– Deliver true performance advantages where it matters.
– Offer tunability and reliability without unnecessary complexity.
– Outperform flashier “tech” that looks good in a showroom but fades on the trail.
With the new Mezzer range featuring Pro, Pro LT, Expert and Comp LT, Manitou redefines what long-travel suspension should be: versatile, tunable, efficient, and built on uncompromising engineering integrity combined with unparalleled suspension performance. Better, more reliable, smoother and more consistent suspension performance through intelligent design, engineering based in physics, not fashion and an extreme attention to detail from design to production.
Manitou Mezzer: Physics, Not Fashion. High Integrity Smooth.
