[jackalope]

Your business plan has one missing item: the bong shed/portable bong. Please specify and re-submit for approval.

My bad, I wasn't clear about the final design. One leg will be lava lamp damping (probably with a small LED light in there for urban night hucking) and the other will be a hookah style bong (ie - "air spring"). Cable routing may get a little messy, but I think the performance benefits outweigh such minor aesthetic issues.

 

[Bikael Molton]

do i need shimz or what doi need to do to make me bomberz more plush

 

[StiHacka]

My bad, I wasn't clear about the final design. One leg will be lava lamp damping (probably with a small LED light in there for urban night hucking) and the other will be a hookah style bong (ie - "air spring"). Cable routing may get a little messy, but I think the performance benefits outweigh such minor aesthetic issues.

When is the new Marzocchi Bonger hitting markets? I will take two. Will it come with an optional full face helmet adapter?

 

[jackalope]

You raise a good point, we may need to create a separate women's specific brand. The forks will come with a couple bedazzle sticker sheets, temporary tramp stamp and flowery ankle tats, and pink lava lamp media. Maybe call it "Athena", and it will offer a special damping technology:

Totally Incredible Trail Support

 

[Sandwich]

i have always wanted to put monster stickers on a fox 40. then I could jump off a roof.

 

[jonKranked]

i have always wanted to put monster stickers on a fox 40. then I could jump off a roof.

40 bomber.... sounds like something made and bottled by Olde English

 

[kidwoo]

i still have a z1 in my parts bin. i don't think i ever changed the oil in it.

Sir. I'm calling the hazmat team. Please remove all children from the building, and DO NOT attempt to open the device until they arrive.

 

[jonKranked]

Sir. I'm calling the hazmat team. Please remove all children from the building, and DO NOT attempt to open the device until they arrive.

we could have a WMD if we can find a set of hayes purple that were never bled

 

[kidwoo]

No, 20 year old brake fluid is nothing like 1 week old marzocchi oil. I would drink the brake fluid before even sniffing the other. Not even close to the same caliber.

 

[Mo(n)arch]

Totally Incredible Trail Support

Best marketing slogan ever.
Ms. Jameson approves:

 

[Bikael Molton]

Just like the old Z1 and Monster, I bet Ms Jameson could use some more shims in 2015... you know for mid-range support.

Or would that be to prevent bottoming.

 

[jackalope]

No, 20 year old brake fluid is nothing like 1 week old marzocchi oil. I would drink the brake fluid before even sniffing the other. Not even close to the same caliber.

So much this. I cracked open an antique Z1 once...still getting skin grafts from my ass

 

[jonKranked]

So much this. I cracked open an antique Z1 once...still getting skin grafts from my ass

if i do decide to open it, i'll document it.

 

[aenema]

You pretty much have to open it now, the internet demands. Just do so in one of those hermetically sealed rooms where you operate a robotic arm from outside the room.

 

[Trasselkalle]

Livestream!

 

[blindboxx2334]

https://mobile.twitter.com/MarzocchiSusp/status/624042366668664832

hope this hasnt already been posted here

 

[Trasselkalle]

https://mobile.twitter.com/MarzocchiSusp/status/624042366668664832

hope this hasnt already been posted here

Actually no. Sounds great to hear them say that they are being sold, even if they won't disclose to whom.

 

[mykel]

While not the Z1, I have an older xc51(?) that has never been opened. The air spring finally gave out last year and collapsed when I moved it. Hasmat gear before service I take it...

 

[stevew]

also, i am completely shocked that an italian company is having severe financial difficulty

maybe they are secretly greek...

 

[supercow]

What a royal f*ckup of a press release they made of this whole "we're closing / no we're selling / no we're closing / MTB dept is alive".

 

[Sandwich]

Yeah, that's really a cluster-fudge of news. Aside from BS from twitter, have they released a PR saying they'll actually sell shit in 2016?

 

[jonKranked]

Yeah, that's really a cluster-fudge of news. Aside from BS from twitter, have they released a PR saying they'll actually sell shit in 2016?

maybe marz mtb has gone rogue?

 

[jackalope]

Or maybe the Italian mafia owns them now, and they'll use the forks to smuggle olive oil and heroin on account they're rarely filled with the spec'd amount of oil anyway.

 

[Trasselkalle]

New interview about what's happening to Mz over at Pinkbike: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/marzocchi-closes.html

Adding that together with the tweets, I think it's fair to say that they are quite seriously believing that they will sell and be able to offer both 2016 and 2017 (possibly beyond) products.

My personal guess is that the MTB section indeed is doing well, but that Tenneco as a whole isn't seeing enough payback from Mz as a whole (i.e. very much including the not-so-well-doing Moto side), and that they prefer someone else buying the MTB side to run on its own rather than do so themselves. There is always costs associated with such changes and Tenneco might not see returns on such investment quickly enough to do so. A fresh start under a different owner is likely much better, as that creates some headlines in itself.

 

[kidwoo]

Glenlivet 12 in the house. Okay stage is set.




Man I'm so torn up about this. Like all of you, l've got a memory that started somewhere between 1997 and 2004 when they did something kinda cool and we bought it and I just can't stop buying their subpar products. Avalanche and fat bikes ease the pain by giving me that plush feel I'm after but it's just a bandaid. Richie schley is still the best rider on the planet (have you seen the one-handers?) so I really don't know what to do. I need to keep marzocchi products in the house because nothing eases that prostate pain at 4mph like bawmers™. I really hope these guys pull out of it. Otherwise I might have to actually start holding on to my handlebars and looking moar than 6 feet ahead. And that shit is hard!

 

[Trasselkalle]

Looking moar than 6 feet ahead requires binoculars, anyhow, and I haven't found any with tear-offs

But seriously, I just think more brands and options is a good thing. Unless the topic is new axle standards.

Overall, I rather like my 380 with x-firm spring. It was fun to give it a try as the first DH fork I ever tried was an 888, so Mz absolutely brings nostalgia with it! Would I buy a new one if my bike got stolen? Idk. It would be an option, I suppose. But then again, it might be fun to try something else then also. To each, his own. Binoculars or not.

 

[tomasis7]

My first fork was Z1 then Super T and even older version of Monster.

Not a single SRAM fork evaaaaarrrrr. It was times when Josh Bender was the KING!!

 

[xy9ine]

^the red decal for was the second year iteration. i seem to recall the compression circuit felt gross in those for some reason. i had the first year (black decal, 1999) one. my first "serious" dh fork. of course we were all gaga about the plushness & monstrousness of the thing. i imagine it's pretty primitive by modern standards. even then, i think it was a pretty divey thing. hearing the metal on metal clank of a hard bottom (there didn't seem to be any bottom out bumper in the things) was not infrequent. anyways, i thought it was pretty cool at the time. here it is on my 1st gen super 8 (which ended up breaking, of course); classic shore drop to nasty:

 

[Bikael Molton]

Serious question... has anyone ever seen Marz suspension on a motorcycle in real life?

 

[Muddy]

Serious question... has anyone ever seen Marz suspension on a motorcycle in real life?

Honda.

 

[Bikael Molton]

eh?

 

[bigwheel]

Serious question... has anyone ever seen Marz suspension on a motorcycle in real life?

ktm and gasgas

 

[IH8Rice]

my friend's KTM also had one

 

[Jm_]

Serious question... has anyone ever seen Marz suspension on a motorcycle in real life?

Monster T was a minimally modified trials fork.

 

[Bikael Molton]

Hmm, so losing KTMs business would be a financial blow, but it looks like Marz were only on the most recent KTMs (1190s and the Indian 390s), which would explain why I've never seen a Marz on a KTM. White Power and Ohlins before that are the suspenders that come to mind.
GasGas... dunno how many units they actually sell, but I don't believe I've ever seen one in real life.

My gut is that the MTB part of the business was probably bigger than the Moto side. Unless Marz was also making hatchback dampers (like the Showas on my Subaru) or some other non-sexy OEM business.

 

[slimshady]

They were pretty big in the '90s-early '00s in the moto segment. Most of the big Italian and Spanish brands equipped their products (Aprilia, Bimota and Beta come to mind). I used to have a Husky TC430 when I was 18 (mid-90s), and IIRC it had an inverted Marz fork. It was plush as hell, and easily customizable. Lately both KTM and Husqvarna (they are the same company from a year ago, right?) started sporting them again, but you are right, all the top Asian players head to Japan since ever when shopping for top quality suspension.

My money is on Tenneco simply letting it go simply because it didn't bring home the revenue they hoped it will. They purchased Marzocchi cheap, and hoped to make top buck from that acquisition. Still, MTB is a niche market compared to moto as we all know, and even when the prices of top-end suspension have been skyrocketing since the beginning of the century, it will never be as big as the moto business.

 

[kickstand]

Just like the old Z1 and Monster, I bet Ms Jameson could use some more shims in 2015... you know for mid-range support.

Or would that be to prevent bottoming.

Bottom out isn't the problem here, it's slop in the bushings, they're pretty whopped out.

 

[yd35]

Anyone else rooting for a Suntour purchase of Marzocchi?

 

[slimshady]

Anyone else rooting for a Suntour purchase of Marzocchi?

 

[Sandwich]

eh, I want to keep my rux my rux, and my bawmers my bawmers.

my 888CR was a great fork. It showed me that a fork can actually absorb small bumps instead of just bouncing over them. Of course, my 40 does that as well, and it weighs less, and it had moar adjustments.

I hope they recover, but I feel like there was just a little too little effort, too late.