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RIP Zokes?

MinorThreat

MinorThreat

Turbo Monkey
Nov 15, 2005
1,630
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Nine Mile Falls, WA
rpet said:
My gut is that the MTB part of the business was probably bigger than the Moto side.
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slimshady said:
Still, MTB is a niche market compared to moto as we all know, . . . ..
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I would say the totality of the Marzocchi venture was a pimple on the ass of an outfit as huge as Tenneco. We're talking an $8.4 BILLION corporation with 29,000 employees. So they have this underperforming little subsidiary with a scant 138 employees that's going to cost them 27 million to shut down and save them 7 million a year to not to operate. They probably lost no sleep wondering what to do with it.
 
jackalope

jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,606
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in a single wide, cooking meth...
While I think it'd be harder to make a "R" shaped lowers arch, my sources tell me Risse is going to acquire them. Because it's difficult for a single component brand to go it alone these days, they're going to form a new triumvirant of power"

Mountain Cycles, Seismic Hubs, and Riss-Zochi

Actually, given that Germany owns a substantial portion of southern yurp's debt, perhaps Magura would pick them up. Not sure it's possible to make a better fork than the Wotan (i.e. the single crown Rux), but maybe they could pull it off.
 
Bikael Molton

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,022
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Hey Bender on Marz in an elder statesman role at big mountain events could be kinda cool! He's like the freeride version of Shaun Palmer. I liked Cam McCaul's announcing on Redbull.tv, and it would be sick if Bender were there too.

We see nostalgia around vintage brand names all over in the moto space: Husky, 80s Dakar imagery, Steve McQueen flogging, throwback jerseys, Indian relaunch, that Bultaco relaunch mentioned in the other thread, etc...
Very little of the value of those names/brands/products have anything to do with hardcore IP and patents. IMHO we have entered a much more stable phase in MTB tech development... a patented shim stack or bladder or slam switch isn't what broke Marzo and won't be what revitalizes the brand.
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,883
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rpet said:
Hey Bender on Marz in an elder statesman role at big mountain events could be kinda cool! He's like the freeride version of Shaun Palmer. I liked Cam McCaul's announcing on Redbull.tv, and it would be sick if Bender were there too.

We see nostalgia around vintage brand names all over in the moto space: Husky, 80s Dakar imagery, Steve McQueen flogging, throwback jerseys, Indian relaunch, that Bultaco relaunch mentioned in the other thread, etc...
Very little of the value of those names/brands/products have anything to do with hardcore IP and patents. IMHO we have entered a much more stable phase in MTB tech development... a patented shim stack or bladder or slam switch isn't what broke Marzo and won't be what revitalizes the brand.
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nostalgia is for sure big these days. 3" tires from a decade ago are back and being marketed as "plus" tires.
 
gemini2k

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
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San Francisco
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
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May 23, 2002
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Eh, I could see the marz name worth keeping around. I'd rather buy a marz than a sun tour, if that makes sense. Even if it's just a rux in disguise, I know that marzocchi has a history of putting out decent products, whereas sun tour is still a big question mark.

I'm not sure how any patents you need for a suspension fork. At least three dials, seals that work, crowns that don't creak, axles that are easy to install...shouldn't be a problem.
 
slimshady

slimshady

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Dec 20, 2007
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Sandwich said:
Eh, I could see the marz name worth keeping around. I'd rather buy a marz than a sun tour, if that makes sense. Even if it's just a rux in disguise, I know that marzocchi has a history of putting out decent products, whereas sun tour is still a big question mark.

I'm not sure how any patents you need for a suspension fork. At least three dials, seals that work, crowns that don't creak, axles that are easy to install...shouldn't be a problem.
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Suntour checks all the items on your list. They have upped the game in the last years and their products work as expected. It'll take a lot to shake off their low end market reputation, but for the money their stuff is worth looking.
 
gemini2k

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
Sandwich said:
I'd rather buy a marz than a sun tour, if that makes sense.
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You'd probably also have to pay 20x more than zoke to buy suntour (or more). Since they make about 100x as many forks as zoke and probably actually ya know...make a profit.


Sandwich said:
I know that marzocchi has a history of putting out decent products, whereas sun tour is still a big question mark.
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SR suntour made zokes when they were at their highest quality (I think it's gone down since they moved to Hodaka or whatever). Also Suntour makes the diamond and emerald. Which probably are the highest quality forks on the market.
 
Electric_City

Electric_City

Torture wrench
Apr 14, 2007
1,994
716
Shimano will buy Marzocchi to complete the components circle.

Sram/Rockshox/Truvativ

Fox/Raceface/Easton

Shimano/Marzocchi

Manitou/Hayes/Answer
 
tomasis7

tomasis7

stroganoff
Nov 5, 2014
623
65
Electronic bong-shed LEGAL
gemini2k said:
You'd probably also have to pay 20x more than zoke to buy suntour (or more). Since they make about 100x as many forks as zoke and probably actually ya know...make a profit.



SR suntour made zokes when they were at their highest quality (I think it's gone down since they moved to Hodaka or whatever). Also Suntour makes the diamond and emerald. Which probably are the highest quality forks on the market.
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Yep

 
toowacky

toowacky

Monkey
Feb 20, 2010
200
4
Pac NW
Buyer: DVO - Reluctantly acquires the mothership, financed by selling 20 Emeralds at MSRP. Reintroduces the Emerald as Shiver E; releases new posters with scantily clad models posing on a glacier.
 
Trasselkalle

Trasselkalle

Monkey
Oct 28, 2014
138
25
Sweden
That's the same stuff Tenneco has been saying all along. The MTB side has been chasing a buyer and sounds like they are still hoping that something shakes loose.
 
toowacky

toowacky

Monkey
Feb 20, 2010
200
4
Pac NW
Looks like the Espresso Push dropper to be sold by Cosmic, but no other info on ownership:

http://www.bike-magazin.de/eurobike/eurobike_parts_zubehoer_bekleidung_neuheiten/eurobike-2015-federgabel--und-daempfer-neuheiten/a27071/fotostrecke/5587557/5587577.html

"According Marzocchi sales Cosmic Sports to bring despite companies selling espresso push dropper seatpost on the market , the Italian traditional brand . The noble piece moves the saddle by remote control to 125 millimeters in the basement."

Kick it in the basement, yo.
 
Trasselkalle

Trasselkalle

Monkey
Oct 28, 2014
138
25
Sweden
No news at Interbike, after all. Now they seem to be hinting towards things on Instagram and some of the comments seem to know something to become official soon. Keeping my fingers crossed.
 
S

samdemo

Chimp
Aug 8, 2007
98
8
Well it seems there may be some hope for the moto fork. I heard from my local moto/trials shop that Sachs has bought the rights to produce the motocycle fork design. The fork will appear on the upper end models of the Beta Enduro bikes. No word though if it would have the Marzocchi name on it or Sachs. No word on if they will produce the fork for other brands although they would be crazy not to. Also no word on a possible trials fork( I have the trials fork on my Ossa and its pretty nice as far as trials forks go)

Gasgas was a big user of Marzocchi forks and with Gasgas not having paid their bills to marz in a long time...well it likely didn't help things. Gasgas went down roughly the same time as Marz.
 
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