[Inclag]

Seems like a low risk shock to try if the seals were designed well. Does anyone have any real world experience with it or feedback?

It seems to tick alot of the boxes that are important to me

• Coil
• No hydraulic topout so it can be shortened internally
• Fluouroelastomer seals
• Not an overly large shaft (14mm)
• LSC/HSC

 

[Udi]

Half of those are false positives - 14mm shaft is hardly small by today's standards, and shortening shocks with hydraulic topout just means that the hydraulic topout gets disabled (they almost always still have a crappy rubber bumper to deal with the awkward clunk exactly like the C2R, BOS coil shocks had the same setup). Where the rebound is adjusted at shaft end on a conventional shock like this one, there's (almost always) still a port in the side of the shaft that you need to be conscious of not obstructing with your spacer, the H/T equipped ones just place that port literally 2mm lower with a teardrop taper to cutoff flow more gradually as it gets obstructed by the DU bushing at topout. I've shortened both types with equal ease for whatever it's worth.

Most of your info seems to come directly from the raving PB thread which sounds more like a single guy in love with his shock than a particularly stringent comparison to competing shocks.
https://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=203710
His topout spacer is nice and neat in fairness.

That said, it felt decent to me, I don't recall the topout feeling bad, it can be found very cheap, and the playing field is hardly super competitive these days either. It's also one of the lightest coil shocks you can get.

I posted some super brief comments here in the past too:
https://ridemonkey.bikemag.com/threads/new-fox-dh-coil-shock.272152/page-5#post-4238320

 

[FarkinRyan]

Seal kits for them, which you need to purchase because they have a custom main shaft seal / dust wiper situation going on, are fucking bananas-expensive here in Canada and a quick internet search suggests that this holds true elsewhere in the world; https://activesport.co/Marzocchi-Shock-Moto-Service-Seal-Kit

135GBP for everything you see in that photo!

They are not as easy to shorten to length as you imagine either, as the whole shaft and eyelet is one piece from memory.

 

[Udi]

I think he meant just via adding a floating spacer under the piston, not legitimately with shorter shaft (and yeah, eyelet too on this).

Is the wiper/seal not a standard industrial size? That type isn't uncommon (wiper one side, pressure lip other side) unless it's a custom size, which it might be? I did mean to add though, in every case I've seen including Marzocchi's own previous shocks, that type of seal always springs leaks much faster than the humble o-ring on shock shafts. So it's probably worth finding a solution to what Ryan mentioned before buying the shock.

 

[mykel]

T

Seal kits for them, which you need to purchase because they have a custom main shaft seal / dust wiper situation going on, are fucking bananas-expensive here in Canada and a quick internet search suggests that this holds true elsewhere in the world; https://activesport.co/Marzocchi-Shock-Moto-Service-Seal-Kit

135GBP for everything you see in that photo!

They are not as easy to shorten to length as you imagine either, as the whole shaft and eyelet is one piece from memory.

That price does not surprise me.
I heard that Fox overpaid for Zoke, so spare parts got real pricey.
Springs basically tripled in cost, and the last 38mm seals I got before going SKF were like double.

 

[Inclag]

Half of those are false positives - 14mm shaft is hardly small by today's standards, and shortening shocks with hydraulic topout just means that the hydraulic topout gets disabled (they almost always still have a crappy rubber bumper to deal with the awkward clunk exactly like the C2R, BOS coil shocks had the same setup). Where the rebound is adjusted at shaft end on a conventional shock like this one, there's (almost always) still a port in the side of the shaft that you need to be conscious of not obstructing with your spacer, the H/T equipped ones just place that port literally 2mm lower with a teardrop taper to cutoff flow more gradually as it gets obstructed by the DU bushing at topout. I've shortened both types with equal ease for whatever it's worth.

Most of your info seems to come directly from the raving PB thread which sounds more like a single guy in love with his shock than a particularly stringent comparison to competing shocks.
https://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=203710
His topout spacer is nice and neat in fairness.

That said, it felt decent to me, I don't recall the topout feeling bad, it can be found very cheap, and the playing field is hardly super competitive these days either. It's also one of the lightest coil shocks you can get.

I posted some super brief comments here in the past too:
https://ridemonkey.bikemag.com/threads/new-fox-dh-coil-shock.272152/page-5#post-4238320

Thanks for replying. Fair enough on the 14mm. As for the hydraulic topout, I didn't think that there was a side port, hence why shortening was a little more straightforward.

Reason I'm asking is because I've been trying to search the secondary markets for a reasonable coil platform to install on my bike that has a LR curve that is by my estimation better suited for a coil than air shock. I'm also looking to do some frankenbiking too and fit something that is 216x63 to add some travel as the current shock is metric. Being budget mindful is up there in terms of prioritization but I don't want that to be the primary driver. Plan B is probably just a Vanilla RC. But yea, with the big air push lately and focus on twin tube shocks the market seems a little underwhelming.

Vital said they were going to do a long term review some years ago after one of those first ride PR things. Perhaps with the woes Marzocchi suffered they never received the next payment installment since that 'review' never materialized from what I can tell....

 

[Udi]

I didn't think that there was a side port, hence why shortening was a little more straightforward.
Reason I'm asking is because I've been trying to search the secondary markets for a reasonable coil platform to install on my bike that has a LR curve that is by my estimation better suited for a coil than air shock.

I think you're right, it looks like the additional red piece (basically a second piston, somewhat redundant + forces the sealhead to be much shorter, questionable) has the port in that instead. But that port being there or not makes little difference, because the way that guy has designed his "spacer" - any contact is on the OD, the ID of the spacer is larger than the shaft so oil is free to flow there in any scenario - which means it would work just as well whether on a ported non-HTO shaft (eg. Stoy), or on a ported HTO-equipped shaft (RC4, Van RC, etc). I'm just not one for marketing things as features when they really aren't.

Re: Van RC they're reasonably reliable but have some cost-cutting over the RC4, the compression assembly is a bit clunky at higher levels of damping and the un-anodized main piston contaminates the oil faster. I think it also has a plastic IFP.

If a small shaft RC4 is an option I'd take it over both of those shocks, but otherwise I'd try the C2R. Keep in mind that the minimum chamber pressure acts over the shaft CSA to give the total damper air-preload force (which is the majority of the breakaway force on a coil shock), so for the C2R you've got 140psi (145 +/-5) over 14mm, while on the SS RC4 you've got 125psi over 12.7mm.

I'd find a matching seal/source before the shock itself if going with the C2R, maybe just me though.

 

[Inclag]

Small shaft RC4 is an option, but so far nothing has popped up over the course of a month that I've been able to find.

 

[Kurt_80]

Different line of questioning here, but does the C2R still take the same size spring as the Marzocxhi shocks of old? I've found a 1.43" ID Ti spring (a Kronos, actually), and I want to make sure it fits.

The old IDs were 1.4" from memory, so I imagine the difference would be small enough to work?

 

[Udi]

@Kurt_80
Yeah, C2R = same springs as Roco, so 1.4" / 35.5mm.
1.43" springs will fit fine albeit with a little movement.

 

[FarkinRyan]

The Van RC is clunky because they use a tiny wave washer / circlip to preload the compression assembly internally and every single one breaks. You can 100% make the Van RC into an excellent shock with the right tuning though it still has the basic limitations that being a cheap-ass shock comes with.

 

[Jm_]

The Van RC is clunky because they use a tiny wave washer / circlip to preload the compression assembly internally and every single one breaks. You can 100% make the Van RC into an excellent shock with the right tuning though it still has the basic limitations that being a cheap-ass shock comes with.

ebay + tune =$329, and tuned for your weight/bike/style.

 

[kebarb]

Hi guys
anyone knows where to source this whiper? Is this a standard component or is this special for the C2R shock? Seems strange to me that marzocchi would develope a special seal for a shock, when there is so much stuff avalible from hydraulic market.

i would be happy if anyone knows where to source just the main seal, mine has had the rubber dried out and cracked, and i dont want to collect dirt beind the wiper part because i am afraid it will eat the coating on the shaft.

 

[HeadMaster]

I have one of these I’d like to keep going as well. If anyone has any info on seals you’d be helping two monkeys now haha