The main issue i see with the mara is that the negative air chamber fills at assembly/service. So you have to rebuild your shock to get it to perform consistently after say driving up to an alpine region. Bit weird and fidly.
If that feature transfers over to another shock then its dead in the water as soon as it gets in the hands of a reviewer, just like the mara.
I've run a mara hi for a few months now and have been nothing but impressed with it, it's at the top of my list for an upcoming build.
The compression adjustments give a noticeable change in feel and for a heavy rider I can set correct sag without it becoming harsh. My only gripe is that the rebound is still quite fast with the pressure I require. I notice it bouncing around setting it up but on the trail it is fine - I'm not getting wildly bucked when hitting jumps. If anything it has made me speed up the rebound on my fork.
For reference I also run an ext storia V3 on a different rig and have spent a lot of time on various other shocks.
I'd hardly call it dead in the water, I'd prefer it to most other air shocks on the market now. It's great value for money if purchasing from star bike I reckon.
To be fair I haven't been into the high country since fitting it so will bear this in mind next time I head there.
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