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Inclag

Turbo Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
2,750
439
MA
Dear Marzocchi,

My first fork was a Z2 BAM. I loved it, and I would be hard pressed to point at one other bike product that allowed me to enjoyably ride a crappy ol' hardtail back in the day down a hill while every other fork had fixed port dampers or closed cell urethane doing the trick and essentially sucked. When I started riding downhill faster and rode on a team, you're company was the one that sponsored us and provided us with suspension products which was largely in part to my affection to your past offerings.

Clearly things have changed, but from what I have gathered, the forks are improving and you are finally grasping how to manage overseas production. I think it's a fair assessment that Marzocchi's market share isn't nearly what it was. I'm sure I'm not the only one that has positive thoughts of Marzocchi's products of old.

With that said, I don't care how much you improve the assembly of shims, springs, and super cheap turned aluminum parts inside of your fork to make it work better and more reliably. This also applies to making sure that bushings and lowers are toleranced properly.

SUCK UP THE NRE COSTS and get rid of your horrid lowers and crowns that infect the entire Marzocchi fork line. Really....How many years are you going to extract water from those wells? I don't even think DW could market those lowers in an effective fashion. If you want to be taken seriously, make your product look serious.

Sincerely,
Every member of the mountain bike community that remembers what your old products were and in their heart wants to pull for you.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
So basicly the only problem you have with marz is the looks? The 888 evo looks pretty legit for me. Id still like for them to give a bit more support under braking but thats all I have to say.
 

Whoops

Turbo Monkey
Jul 9, 2006
1,011
0
New Zealand
Dear Marzocchi

My first forks were a pair of steel stanchioned Z1 protoypes, with disk brake mounts on both lowers, so I clearly outrank Inclaaaaag.

Do what you do best, just keep trying to do it better.

Sincerely,
Every member of the mountainbike community that doesn't like being spoken for by some dude on teh internets.
 

davet

Monkey
Jun 24, 2004
551
3
Dear Inclag,

Get a grip.

Sincerely,
Everyone other than you.

There's nothing wrong with the way the present Marz line looks. But even moreso the 2010+ works awesome. They are definitely the best Marz forks to date and a welcome return to the top after a couple of less than stellar years.
 

Inclag

Turbo Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
2,750
439
MA
Dear Marzocchi

My first forks were a pair of steel stanchioned Z1 protoypes, with disk brake mounts on both lowers, so I clearly outrank Inclaaaaag.

Do what you do best, just keep trying to do it better.

Sincerely,
Every member of the mountainbike community that doesn't like being spoken for by some dude on teh internets.
Who said I'm a dude :D

Seriously, get a grip guys and stop taking the internetz so seriously and getting bent out of shape :thumb:

I'm bored, drinking beers on a friday night, watching a cheesy movie with the girlfriend, and haven't ridden a bike since snapping my arm this spring.

Just having a little fun....
 
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4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,883
448
I agree with Inclag, couldn't they make it work better AND look better? All I think of is those crappy '08 forks, even when I see the new ones.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
theres nothing wrong with their current crop of forks. if you dont like the M on the arch, dont buy it. their bushings and lower castings are not like they were for the past two years (thankfully). they are plenty stiff even for my weight of 220lbs
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
theres nothing wrong with their current crop of forks. if you dont like the M on the arch, dont buy it. their bushings and lower castings are not like they were for the past two years (thankfully). they are plenty stiff even for my weight of 220lbs
bbbbut they break on rampage? They surely must do on 1m drops too ;)
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,883
448
theres nothing wrong with their current crop of forks. if you dont like the M on the arch, dont buy it. their bushings and lower castings are not like they were for the past two years (thankfully). they are plenty stiff even for my weight of 220lbs
Glad to hear the work good now (seriously). I have no problem with the m on the arch, they've had it so long, I kinda dig it. I just think that casting is way uglier than even the 06/07 castings... I think doing a down to business race inspired casting and crown designs would help their image. People, right or wrong, look at these evo's and see the 2008 POS forks.
I know retooling for a new casting would be tremendously expensive, but c'mon, we want cool looking stuff if we pay so much for it, right?
I mean, look at the guy that just bought that whack used fork over a brand new one just 'cause it had some gold ano and carpet fiber (kidding).:D
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
I think doing a down to business race inspired casting and crown designs would help their image. People, right or wrong, look at these evo's and see the 2008 POS forks.
I know retooling for a new casting would be tremendously expensive, but c'mon, we want cool looking stuff if we pay so much for it, right?
I mean, look at the guy that just bought that whack used fork over a brand new one just 'cause it had some gold ano and carpet fiber (kidding).:D
what does a "race inspired" casting look like? would it look better with the run of the mill crown like the Boxxer and 40 have? i personally like the M on the arch.
my Evo Ti is fairly light at 6.66lbs w/ the axle too.
i was honestly hesitant at getting the 2010 model after having non-stop issues with my 08 and 09 888 ATA, but after riding the Evo Ti for over a year, i have to say its the best fork ive owned. i know getting over that hurdle for some people might be tough, but i havent heard anything negative about the current crop of forks, especially the ones with the Evo cartridge...its just too bad it didnt have the carpet fiber
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
what does a "race inspired" casting look like? would it look better with the run of the mill crown like the Boxxer and 40 have? i personally like the M on the arch.
my Evo Ti is fairly light at 6.66lbs w/ the axle too.
Neon colors, some lightnings, maybe sparkles. It has to match the PJs or the bike fashion police will get you.

Though in all seriousness its all due to the non race inspired marketing people think like this. Same problem the demo had.
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,883
448
what does a "race inspired" casting look like? would it look better with the run of the mill crown like the Boxxer and 40 have? i personally like the M on the arch.
It definately come down to personal preference on what looks cool, but I would think of something that is race inspired to have no extra curves or bends for looks.
I'm suggesting a direction for them to go with it- I think that if a product is viewed as problematic but doesn't actually look much different once it has been fixed that it won't make as big of an impact as something that looks new/improved.
That's why I chimed in, and that's why I agree with Inclag's suggestion.
I'm not here to rip on the 888 evo ti, in fact I'd love for Marzocchi to be what they once were, and it's exciting to hear that people are liking their forks again.
 

aaronjb

Turbo Monkey
Jul 22, 2010
1,105
659
I owned an XC500. It was visually tacky, even in an era of extreme tackiness. Also, one of the lowers snapped. I feel that the quality is directly related to the visual design, and I hold on to this prejudice even 18 years later. I also feel this is a reasonable correlation to make.

But seriously - the ****ing leg snapped in the middle of a ride.
 

bullcrew

3 Dude Approved
Who said I'm a dude :D

I'm bored, drinking beers on a friday night, watching a cheesy movie with the girlfriend, and haven't ridden a bike since snapping my arm this spring.

Just having a little fun....
So your a lesbian mtbr... right on....
j/k appreciate your point on the lowers I like em I think its one of the most legit looking marz products. But not everyone likes em. They work great....
 

Delimeat

Monkey
Feb 3, 2009
195
0
Canada
I kind of sort of agree with him. The latest forks may work good (besides needing tweaking to keep them up in their travel) and be more reliable, but don't some of you think that the "M" in the arch cheapens them at all?

Who out there had some of those Marzocchi tires with the M tread pattern? Among you guys who even tried them? I'm willing to bet that simply due to the design they weren't taken as seriously.
 

davet

Monkey
Jun 24, 2004
551
3
Dear Marzocchi,

Bring back the Shivers and the Monster XDDD
really?

I had a Shiver and it was fantastic for the time, but the 888 was better from the first year, let alone the newest bunch. I don't see any need to try and revive an outdated platform when what they have works so damn good.
 

roel_koel

Monkey
Mar 26, 2003
278
1
London,England
Who out there had some of those Marzocchi tires with the M tread pattern? Among you guys who even tried them? I'm willing to bet that simply due to the design they weren't taken as seriously.

those tires were f*cking terrible and a total deathtrap on anything but compacted fireroad

bike shops here in the UK ended up selling them off cheap to people that wanted replacement tires for their "pub bike" or $25 "hack bike" to take down to the supermarket...

its a valid point about the "M" arch making no structural sense, a design engineer I know, who designs successful bike frames analysed the M arch and said it was about the worst possible design for a fork arch

if you look at Rockshox, Fox, BOS, etc. fork arches they certainly do not have a M shape ;)
 

sethimus

neu bizutch
Feb 5, 2006
4,881
2,132
not in Whistler anymore :/
I kind of sort of agree with him. The latest forks may work good (besides needing tweaking to keep them up in their travel) and be more reliable, but don't some of you think that the "M" in the arch cheapens them at all?

Who out there had some of those Marzocchi tires with the M tread pattern? Among you guys who even tried them? I'm willing to bet that simply due to the design they weren't taken as seriously.
a marzocchi fork without the m arch is like a mercedes without the star...
 

no skid marks

Monkey
Jan 15, 2006
2,511
29
ACT Australia
hahahahah, pretty much the best analogy ever made.

Ahh Marz... used to be a fanboy but I just don't trust em anymore.
Do you trust Rockshox? They had a dud year when they first went to Taiwan also.
Manitou? they had a dud existence even with a good designed damping system, until recently(so it seems).
Fox? Took them what, five years to bring out the 40s. and they seem to have their problems, although nothing to drastic.
Boss? Don't know much, but herad they have their issues from a sponsored rider. That was a while back though.
I'll be getting 2010 888s as soon as they're cheap second hand.
Then slap my Avy cart in em:thumb: and forget about my forks for a year, then sevice, and repeat.:weee::D:rofl:
But yeah, remove the dang M arch. Does nothing.
 
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Huck Banzai

Turbo Monkey
May 8, 2005
2,523
23
Transitory
Do you trust Rockshox? They had a dud year when they first went to Taiwan also.
Manitou? they had a dud existence even with a good designed damping system, until recently(so it seems).
Fox? Took them what, five years to bring out the 40s. and they seem to have their problems, although nothing to drastic.
Boss? Don't know much, but herad they have their issues from a sponsored rider. That was a while back though.
I'll be getting 2010 888s as soon as they're cheap second hand.
Then slap my Avy cart in em:thumb: and forget about my forks for a year, then sevice, and repeat.:weee::D:rofl:
But yeah, remove the dang M arch. Does nothing.
Ah someone with some sense.

They (RS) had 3 dud years; finally got it right one day? Still had plenty of issues with th '10 boxxer. MZ has some issues for 2 years, prior to which they are renowned, and back to that status for '10+

My 02 Manitou Sherman Firefly is still running A-OK and TPC+ is still badazzzzz 8 years later.

I do think the M crowns/arch are goofy, but why would any care when so many people wear Pajamas to ride in -- fashion sense in this game is horrendous.

The Marz hate/distrust is the most unwarranted pile of BS across the suspension hating forum ez-chair riders.
 
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jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,570
24,185
media blackout
DEAR MARZOCCHI

HULK WANT GREEN AND PURPLE FORK FOR HULK BIKE.

HULK NEED GREEN PURPLE MARZOCCHI FORK SO HULK CAN SMASH EAST COAST ROX.

Sincerely,

HULK
 

roel_koel

Monkey
Mar 26, 2003
278
1
London,England
They (RS) had 3 dud years; finally got it right one day? Still had plenty of issues with th '10 boxxer. MZ has some issues for 2 years, prior to which they are renowned, and back to that status for '10+

they all get it wrong, from time to time ;)

but riders have long memories (people still call Cannondale "Crack and fail" and that was in the early to mid 90's!), here in the UK riders won't touch Manitou because of some terrible mid-decade problems, and many riders won't go near Marzocchi because of the bushing problems, damper problems and travel adjust problems with forks during 2008-2009

as a former owner of several pairs of RS Totems (coil and solo air) and Lyric (2-Steps and Coil U-Turn) I would say RS have also got it wrong more recently - judging by the amount of time my forks spent being warrantied than actually riding, than the terrible forks (Boxxers) they put out in the early years of this decade

I had to actually buy a RS Domain 318 as a standby fork for my Lyric 2-step which kept going back and forth to the UK distrib. for warranty