[J5ive]

My 1995 model dh3 is still kicking it- on the ss now and not the dh rig though

AND my 888 eats everything up. Loving it.

 

[narlus]

That's what I thought. I've heard alot of different people say it different ways..............

in italian, the "c" sounds like "ch" as in choo, and the "ch" sounds like "k"

 

[Toshi]

in italian, the "c" sounds like "ch" as in choo, and the "ch" sounds like "k"

since it has two 'c's would it be "mar-zotch-key"?

 

[narlus]

and carpaccio should be spelled "charpacio".

 

[Jm_]

I ran across something else today;

I have ridden a few "Pure" damped forks around, but never really had to work on them much.

You have to flippin BLEED the pure damper with a syringe to make it work right....WTF?? You gotta have special tools, some oil-mixer syringe thingie, and get air bubbles out of it.

I have to say, given this factoid that I was not aware of, the pure damped rockshox have to be one of the worst designs ever for user servicability. It includes a part that not many people have, and a proceedure that is not used on any other fork or damping system in existance.

Marzocchi forks are simple to work on. They all have similer parts and design. They use common themes and proceedures. I held off today on telling the RS tech what I thought of this "pure" design for user servicability, but that kind of crap is rediculous after working on Z2s, Z1s, Super Ts, Jr Ts, Shivers, Monsters, etc. Even manitou has RS beat in this respect. Manitous are usually extremely simple and easy to work on. Maybe this is the patent difference between TPC+ and Pure. TPC+ is easy to work on and simple, while Pure is a PITA to work on.

 

[ohio]

I like them because they are heavy and have no compression damping.




(just stirring the pot, fellas....)

 

[Threepointtwo]

There is an awful lot to be said for a fork that just works every time, the same way. Maybe not the lightest, no gimmicks, and not the best looking (personal preference), or the most adjustable, but they work and you don't have to mess with them.

 

[ZEDMAN]

my hat says it like mar-zo-key

 

[Brian Peterson]

I like them because they are heavy and have no compression damping.




(just stirring the pot, fellas....)

And that Brian guy is an ass....

Brian

 

[Orfen]

And that Brian guy is an ass....

Brian

not to be confused with JP!

 

[bigkonarider]

1-Monster-T...indestructable just about.
2-Original singlecrown Freeride forks..rock.
3-Reliability & the whole quality feel you get with a Zoke. I love stuff that works Solid.

 

[Lumpy_Gravy]

Aesthetically the Shiver is the second best looking fork, next to the dorado.

its half the price and if you have changed the oil in the last 6 months then its only because you want to and not cos you need to.

 

[Grimey]

noticing a trend..

people who ride marzocchi= lazy

 

[Jm_]

noticing a trend..

people who ride marzocchi= lazy

Yeah, and I'll accept that as a logical argument the moment you start changing the shock oil in your cars shocks every month.

 

[syadasti]

Yeah, and I'll accept that as a logical argument the moment you start changing the shock oil in your cars shocks every month.

Yeah we all know cars have shocks built to be very light weight and used off-road everyday in harsh conditions

 

[lovebunny]

well ive had a dj 2 a shiver sc a monster a jr t and a shiver. and i have not had any probs w/ any of them. awesome product.

 

[JRogers]

I have owned a Jr T (fine for the money and application, not so good for pure DH), a Z1 CR (great fork) and a Shiver (smoothest thing I have ever felt). Low maintainence, great performance and (bonus) they look cool. I have never had any major issues with any marz fork. In my experience, the only forks that come close in the total package are Fox.

 

[Jm_]

Yeah we all know cars have shocks built to be very light weight and used off-road everyday in harsh conditions

In other words, marzocchi engineering tops all

Relatively lightweight, able to take abuse in harsh enviroment, and it doesn't need 25 hour oil changes like rockshox products!

 

[Grimey]

Yeah, and I'll accept that as a logical argument the moment you start changing the shock oil in your cars shocks every month.

tehehe.... I change my shock oil every month.

 

[ohio]

I like them because of the M-shaped arches and crowns.

My name starts with M, so it's like they made the forks just for me.

 

[biandon]

So here's what I gather for what makes a Marzocchi so desirable.

- Reliable
- Durable
- Strong
- Good lubrication - longer bushing life
- Set and forget
- low maintenance
- easy to work on

- Easy Tunability

- Super plush
- Feels good
- Smooth
- Takes the hits nicely
- Fork saved my Ass

- Metal Internals
- Customer Service
- Company in touch with mtb scene
- Bomber chicks
​

It seems that reliability and ease of servicing were the two biggest contendors. I appreciate all the responses. I'm trying to convince myself why I would pick one fork over another.

On a tangent, what would it take for you to try another brand?

 

[RhinofromWA]

My old z-1 leaked all over the place. I used it for XC.....

Zokes leak...they are not free of that problem.

On the other hand I have owned a 98, 00, and 03 Boxxer and had the 98 (bought used leak on me once....I replaced the wiper and it never did again. The 03 sucked the bottom out bumper so I replaced it with the new styles and no problems since. My favorite model was my 2000 boxxer. Smooth and reliable. I only bought a new fork because my dumb arse ran the fork and me into a tree at warp speed. Fast enough to put me in intensive care for 5 days. When you consider how big I am I should go through Boxxers monthly. I don't necesarily like the RS single crown forks of late.

Marz are good forks....but the ballz they are not. The 888 has it's own issues. Zokes used to be heavier by a measure of pounds not onces. They are not bullit proof but they are not fragile either. Take care to tune and maintain any "decent" fork and they will treat you well. Zokes do a good job of that. I will give them props but I stop before claiming they are the, who do you hip guys say it?, The shiznit?

 

[Bicyclist]

Well they feel better than any other fork, the C.S. rocks, and they DON'T BREAK! And they look cool. And the Bomber Girls are hot.

 

[frorider]

sort of a loaded question isn't it? like running a poll entitled 'why do you love George Bush so much?"

i've owned a few marzocchi SC forks. one worked pretty damn well--it's still on my gf's bike now. the other was an older z1 that somehow never broke in and became plush. had two shops look at it, none of us could make it feel bomber-plush. on my XC bike i had a doppio air marathon that, in retrospect, was one of the worst forks i've ever owned. leaking air chambers, came from marz. with all the wrong oil levels (see mtbr.com for that discussion; how hard is it to ship a fork w/ the correct oil levels? why is this historically been a challenge for marzocchi?), and the damping (esp rebound) has always felt like crap.

2005 SPV evolve manipoo damping seems to work really well for my riding (only had it 1 month tho).

i've always liked the simplicity of completely taking apart a marz. and reassembling it; that's one reason i like manitou as well.

in terms of bushing wear, my well-maintained manitous have been equal to my well-maintained marzocchi's. i.e. very good.

in the mid weight SC range--5-6.5 lbs--manitous seem to be torsionally stiffer than a marz. of same weight. is it the box crown design on the manitou? or the weight saving of semibath?

tech support from marz. has been highly variable. some guys there have been very knowledgeable. two guys were completely mistaken about cartridge upgrade compatibility. in both cases i terminated the phone call so I could talk to someone who actually understood the entire marz. fork line. that was about 2 years ago; mebbe things have improved.

bottom line is that i'm no longer part of the marzocchi 4 ever mafia, but i'd still much rather a marz. over a rock shox.

 

[SuspectDevice]

I ran across something else today;

I have ridden a few "Pure" damped forks around, but never really had to work on them much.

You have to flippin BLEED the pure damper with a syringe to make it work right....WTF?? You gotta have special tools, some oil-mixer syringe thingie, and get air bubbles out of it.

Why is there always so much hate coming from you? Frankly, the first 2 tools I ever bought when i started servicing my own forks (mag 20 days) were a mixing cup and an oil-height syringe. An oil syringe costs ~$7 and is available at any moto shop. All you have to do is take the hose of the syringe and it works absolutely fine for a Pure bleed. And really, bleeding a shimstack isn't exactly an amazing or unique feat... Ever rebuilt a shock?

 

[Jm_]

My old z-1 leaked all over the place. I used it for XC.....

Zokes leak...they are not free of that problem.

Yes, but they don't leak chronically like a boxxer. Riding at northstar on any given day I'd always see multiple boxxers with trails of oil running down the legs. You and frorider may be the only two people ever to notice that marzocchis leak more than boxxers. My boxxer didn't leak but once, but I've ridden with enough people on boxxers over the years to know that this is a problem for that fork. Just like marzocchis used to be much heavier than the competition, oil leakage has been a problem for RS.

Marz are good forks....but the ballz they are not. The 888 has it's own issues. Zokes used to be heavier by a measure of pounds not onces.

Interesting, my marzocchi AM1 is the lightest 150mm coil fork out there, lighter than the nixon coil, sub 5lbs. The 888 is only second to the boxxer in terms of weight, the marathons are not any heavier than fox, maybe even lighter for 2005. The Z150SL from the last few years was lighter than the manitou firefly, so it's not like marzocchi forks are "pounds" heavier these days than the equivalent forks from their comeptators.

Maybe the Nixon and Pike will be good enough to no longer make it seem like it's just amatuer night for RS and Manitou, but Marzocchi and Fox have been doing things right for a while, all metal, proven damping systems that work, fairly dependable chassis that are not just built to be light, but strong as well.

 

[Orvan]

I liked the air assist chamber in the RST Hi5... It's just too bad I couldn't bleed the elastomers right.

 

[Yeti DHer]

Marzocchi's rock because I can ride it all summer long and forget about it. Didn't touch it once this summer and it's still going strong. Boxxer's continuously need to be worked on. Trust me, I know, I've owned 3 of them.

 

[BikeFan84]

All I have ever ridden has been a zokie.....from my old..old...old z-1 to my 888r nothing has ever broken on me....but I am taking a chance on the new Rock Shox pike for my Banshee Scratch....

 

[Yanick]

For XC, I never had and love a fork with a plush felling like my Z3 2001 had. Now I have a lefty and even if the tosion or lateral stiffnes is better on the lefty, I miss the Marz suspension feeling.

As for DH fork, I can't tell, I never had one, just have the same Boxxer for 4 years. Work great but of course need much more maintenance than a marzo.

 

[RhinofromWA]

I liked the air assist chamber in the RST Hi5... It's just too bad I couldn't bleed the elastomers right.

I hope you and I are the only ones that remember that fork.

I secretly drooled over that fork in COllege....poor poor college student dawn of DH smuck that I was. Buddy actually picked one up and I was stuck with a Mag 20. :

 

[RhinofromWA]

Yes, but they don't leak chronically like a boxxer. Riding at northstar on any given day I'd always see multiple boxxers with trails of oil running down the legs. You and frorider may be the only two people ever to notice that marzocchis leak more than boxxers. My boxxer didn't leak but once, but I've ridden with enough people on boxxers over the years to know that this is a problem for that fork. Just like marzocchis used to be much heavier than the competition, oil leakage has been a problem for RS.

I have seen more than a dozen twisted "replacable arches" on the ols style Zokes. Weeping Zokes seals. Broken drop outs.

Does that mean they are a bad fork? No. Definately not. They are worthy forks, just not the holy grail of forks. I would run one, but I doubt I would covet one.

Interesting, my marzocchi AM1 is the lightest 150mm coil fork out there, lighter than the nixon coil, sub 5lbs. The 888 is only second to the boxxer in terms of weight, the marathons are not any heavier than fox, maybe even lighter for 2005. The Z150SL from the last few years was lighter than the manitou firefly, so it's not like marzocchi forks are "pounds" heavier these days than the equivalent forks from their comeptators.

Maybe the Nixon and Pike will be good enough to no longer make it seem like it's just amatuer night for RS and Manitou, but Marzocchi and Fox have been doing things right for a while, all metal, proven damping systems that work, fairly dependable chassis that are not just built to be light, but strong as well.

About the wieght I beleive I qualified my statement by directing it at the older Zokes. In the days of sub 3lbs flexy sticks. Even now their more recent DH forks are a little heavier and I think for the better. The 888 is a nice fork but I have seen the response fellow riders have given the fork out of the box and it was not positive. I think they use sludge to fill the forks OEM. j/k but they do benefiot from some attention soon after getting them to perform to their potential.

Today the difference in wieght is close....but 5 years ago it was almost pound(s) in a 3" single crown fork