The Mattoc Expert is a potentially smooth and adjustable fork at a good price, but it struggles with reliability issues and the chassis options need updating. ‘In leg’ rather than cartridge damping adds 100g over the Mattoc Pro but saves you 180$.
Both forks share the same 34mm stanchions and narrow, sloped crown, which flex noticeably under large cornering and braking loads. There are no Boost or 29er options and the rearward brace limits fender options. The switch to a ‘Hexlock SL’ bolt-in axle makes wheel removal/fitting much easier than with the old bayonet-cam QR axle. When it’s working, the DH-derived air spring is impressively supple off the top and ramps up smoothly to create a mid stroke that you can lean on hard through corners. High and low-speed compression damping is tangible and consistent, and it handles big hits without spiking. The 2017 fork also gets the ‘IVA’ volume spacer stack upgrade as standard to make progression tuning easy. Unfortunately, Mattoc reliability has been poor. In this case, our fork began each ride OK but showed increasing damper randomness after only five minutes on the trail.
Travel 160mm (140-170mm*)
Weight 2,020g
Stanchions 34mm
Wheel size 650b (26in*)
Axle 15mm
Price $750
