Pick & Mix McMara Self Tune Kit (Shockcraft)

Pick & Mix is a Self Tuning system engineered by Shockcraft.  It enables technically minded riders and bike shops to install Shockcraft designed and tested tunes in MTB suspension with the tools they normally need for service.  Further information is available here.

The same tune kits can be installed by Shockcraft into new suspension or your existing suspension during service (Shockcraft Ready Mix).

The Manitou McLeod rear shock debuted for model year 2015 with a completely new platform with external compression and rebound adjusters.  As an inline shock it is light, simple, fits almost everything and can even be rebuilt at home.  In 2019 Metric Eyelet versions of the McLeod were released.

2021 saw the release of the redesigned Mara Inline with Metric Trunnion mounts, new internal tunes and new adjuster levers.

Stock tunes evolved through this time with three different pistons being used with various preload and bleed sizes.  Factory tunes were usually focused on XC performance with a taut and well controlled feel.

The original McLeod tunes used a red piston with no bleed and shim preload needed set carefully to avoid the shims knocking at change of direction.
MY20 McLeod saw a new compression tune with yellow bleed piston and other changes to prevent shim knocking.
MY21+ Mara inlines used modified yellow bleed pistons or new silver bleed pistons.
Mara Youth Tune shocks feature a faster rebound tune to work with lower air pressures.

Why Ride the Manitou Mara & Mcleod Inline Shocks?
Mara & McLeod Inline shocks are light, tough, punch well above their weight and being inline shocks, have no fitment issues.  They can be rebuilt at home and are the perfect air shocks for 90-95% of the mountainbike trails worldwide.

Who Is Mara/McLeod Inline with McMara Pick & Mix Self Tune Ideal For?
•   Riders 40kg to ~120kg depending on frame leverage.
•   Bikes 100 mm to ~160 mm travel.
•   Riding XC race, trail through to light Enduro and E-bikes.
•   Riders who can do or organise basic air sleeve maintenance.
•   Riders who have a Pick & Mix Mezzer Pro or Mattoc Pro 2023 fork and want to match the feel front and rear.

Who Is It Not Ideal For?
•   If you want coil then you want coil.
•   Sizes top out at 230 mm eyelet and 205 mm trunnion, which is a hard limit for the big bikes.
•   Past 55 mm stroke riders on progressive leverage frames will want the bigger king-can air-can.
•   Big riders riding jump lines will find inline shocks rapidly heat and cool which speeds/slows the damping.  We can mitigate that with higher VI oil but ultimately those guys need to be on bigger shocks with more thermal mass.
•   People who never maintain their suspension.  The trapped negative means these shocks need an air-can reset (removed and reinstalled) roughly every 3 to 6 months.

The Shockcraft Pick & Mix Self Tuning system developed for the McLeod & Mara Inline has:

•   7 different compression and rebound tunes spanning 5 different grades.
•   Grades suitable for <40 kg children to >100 kg Dadzillas.
•   Kits are configurable for Trail or XC feel.
•   Genuine Manitou piston required and included.
•   Compression & rebound tunes matched to spring-rates.
•   Each tune dyno tested.  Selected tunes extensively test ridden.
•   Rebound has the right combination of playfulness, poppiness and plantedness.
•   Compression matched to stay stable, supportive and suck up bumps.
•   Huge changes in feel, speed and confidence.
•   Tune from lightweight cruisers to heavy hitting bruisers.

Included in your Pick & Mix McMara Self Tune Kit:
•   A new Manitou damper piston which is specific to this kit.
•   A shim kit which covers the required tune range.  Shim sizes and thicknesses have been chosen so you don't need to accurately measure them.
•   A tune drawing which shows your specific tunes for rebound and compression, laying out the shims required for each tune (paper drawings & to scale).
    The drawing also shows 1-2 optional softer/firmer tunes for compression and 1-2 optional sticky/poppy tunes for rebound damping.

Installation Instructions
Pictorial instructions for stripping, re-valving, assembling and bleeding the shock are provided here in PDF form.  These include tool, fluid and torque lists.

IMPORTANT: Once you have purchased your Pick & Mix kit please complete our Pick & Mix Calculator to determine your kit tune grade.  Results will be emailed to us so we can build and ship out your tune kit.

Recommended & Optional Items
We have included a list of recommended and optional items for your McLeod or Mara Inline.  See relevant Related Products for photos and further information on these items.