85, 100 or 130mm options/Air sprung/Remote lockout/Weight: 3.97lb
Contact: Magura 01530 837195

No, you’re not seeing things — the Magura Laurin really does have a double-arch design (DAD for short). It offers good tyre clearance and mud hasn’t lodged between the braces so far. Unfortunately, the lower assembly is the same across all three different travel Laurins, which means the two shorter forks are carrying extra weight. Add in Magura’s Firm Tech mounts (for its hydraulic caliper brakes) and you’re looking at a 4lb race fork.
Like most firms, Magura angles the dropouts at 45 degrees but it’s one of the few companies that claims this is for safety reasons. Stainless steel inserts are pressed into the dropouts and disc mount to protect the magnesium against wear and resulting corrosion.
Magura calls its platform compression damping Albert Select. It’s operated by a bar-mounted remote, which is nicely machined but uncomfortable to use. The collar isn’t hinged but uses a thin shim, which scored a groove in our carbon riser when we fitted it.
Once activated, the gold adjuster in the centre of the blue dial lifts up and allows you to tune the threshold or ‘blow off’ force. However, on our test fork the Albert Select didn’t always kick in. We found if we flicked the lever and then pressed the fork about half an inch, it would work, but it was inconsistent.
The lower rebound adjuster is slightly easier on the hand and, depending on your weight, it’s best one click in from fully closed. A rubber O-ring on the stanchion makes setting sag easier, but with the correct setting for our weight, the Laurin needs to hit quite a big bump to get it moving. Running more sag helps, but the fork has a tendency to blow through the mid-stroke.
This catalogue of errors doesn’t bode well, but we actually liked riding the Laurin, which we put down to the fork’s length. At 485mm from axle to crown, it felt like we were riding a 120mm travel fork, not a 100mm one.
Offering three travel options using the same chassis is a compromise and adds weight. That said, the 130mm Laurin looks more promising and it may be prudent to buy one and get Magura UK to step it down to 100mm — it’d go some way to future proofing your purchase should you decide on a longer-travel bike down the line.

MBR RATING: 7/10