Submitted by
slowrider
a Weekend Warrior
from Midway City Ca U.S. Date Reviewed: August 4, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Porc
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$400.00
Purchased At:
Jensen
Strengths:
Light, decent suspension once you use 1/4 the pressure recommended and then burn the manual.
Weaknesses:
Flexy, ata winds down 4 turns in a 1 mile DH even after being repaired by Marz.
Similar Products Used:
Fox, Manitou, 130-140 forks.
Bike Setup:
5 Spot 27.75 lbs
Bottom Line:
it feels good when it works except that it flexes too much and the ata winds down on the dh.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
ljsmith
a Cross Country Rider
from Olney, MD Date Reviewed: July 24, 2008
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$300.00
Purchased At:
Pricepoint
Strengths:
Looks Cool, ATA adjustment, performs well if you can ever figure out how much pressure to run
Weaknesses:
Useless manual, extrememly difficult to tune, very flexy, noisy
Similar Products Used:
Manitou R7
Manitou Skareb
RockShox SID
Bottom Line:
I really want to like this fork. Probably because it is the coolest looking fork I have ever had and the ATA adjustment is so cool. But this thing is near impossible to figure out. The reccomended pressures in the manual and the ones listed on the fork leg don't even agree. The bad part is that no matter which table you use they both give you a super stiff fork. As a few other reviews have noted good performance can be had from the fork if you use less air pressure, but it is a total pain in the butt finding the sweet spot. Too little and it bottoms out and too much and it is super stiff. The TST5 knob is useless for compression and lockout changes because it is so hard to turn you can't really turn it on the fly. Why is there no lever on the knob? I asked Marzocchi if there was a better knob I could put on and they said no. This fork also makes all kinds of clunking and hissing noises (air leaks?). This fork also flexes like crazy. If I am riding on pavement and hit the front brake really hard, you can see the fork vibrate back and forth. I have never seen a fork flex that much before.
Okay now that I have ranted about all the bad stuff. If you can get the fork setup right, which is quite a challenge it actually performs pretty well.
So I would reccomend this fork if the following conditions are met:
1. You get it cheap
2. You don't mind spending a lot of time tuning to figure out the air pressure
3. You can live with the strange noises.
4. A little for aft flex doesn't bother you.
I will give it 3 Chillis for value because it is a decent fork at a cheap price. Overall though it gets 2 Chillis because of what a pain in the butt it is to tune. If I had it to do over again I would go with a Reba U-Turn.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
earl
a Cross Country Rider
from philadelphia, PA Date Reviewed: April 29, 2008
Favorite Trail:
wissahickon
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$350.00
Purchased At:
wheelworld
Strengths:
adjustable, plush, light (but not nearly as light as Marzocchi claims)
Weaknesses:
very flexy when set at 130 mm. even flexy at 110mm. at 105 or 100 or so, it's stiff. ATA cap fell off on rock garden- i emailed- shall see if i can get a replacement.
Similar Products Used:
marzocchi mxc
Bike Setup:
yeti koko, xt bits, Avid vbrakes
Bottom Line:
i got it on closeout, so relatively cheap, especially for how adjustable it is. the fork works- i hit rocks, it takes the edge off, it allows me to ride sections that i couldn't previously. it holds air, and it is relatively easy to dial in- however, you have to figure it out yourself, or learn from mtbr forums- the instruction manual is useless. for the posters that claim that the fork is TOO stiff- you have to go by feel, not by suggest air pressure. For me, a 185 lb w/o gear guy, i have it set to 80 psi in the bottom, and 45 in the top. The fork is VERY flexy when fully extended. so much so that i'm afraid to ride it set at 130mm. at 105 or 110, it's fine. because of this, the ATA is relatively useless. but, since the fork is light enough- around 3.5 lbs, it's not a terrible trade off.
luckily, your 1 chile rating probably helped me get this fork so cheap. Thanks!
who knows about durability, but thus far, after about 120 miles on it, it's coming along nicely and i'm happy with the product.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
CraigT
a Weekend Warrior
from Thousand Oaks, CA, USA Date Reviewed: March 7, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Trails around Chesboro and Pt Mugu St. Park
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$320.00
Purchased At:
Price Point
Strengths:
Relatively light, stiff, adjustable, plush (and it still has quite a bit of breaking in to do). Only been using it a couple of weeks, but so far so good. Really like it.
Weaknesses:
The manual sucks, as others have noted. Took my time and played with the pressure settings, going below the suggested setttings in the manual. From the reviews here, I was hesitant to purchase this fork, but the price was right and it looked really good on paper.
Similar Products Used:
I've used a bunch of different forks over the years. I'm kind of limited in the forks I can use on my current bike, though. It's an older frame ('01 Ibis Silk Ti) and the clearance is real tight (top of the fork crown comes in contact with the bottom of the down tube with the bar turned all the way left or right). Most of the newer forks don't fit, but the Marzocchis do. This was also a consideration in deciding to purchase this fork.
Bike Setup:
Ibis Silk Ti with a combination SRAM X.O and XTR drive train. Mavic Crossmax SL disk wheels (had a rear disk brake mount welded on by Strong Frames), Race Face Next cranks, Egg Beater pedals, Thompson Elite post, Easton EC 70 bar, Margura Marta SLs with a 180mm rotor up front, Ritchy WCS stem, American Classic bottom bracket. Light (but not crazy light) and very functional.
Bottom Line:
Well, again, the fork hasn't been used much, so take this review for what it's worth. But so far, I like it. It has what I was looking for: it's a lightweight, XC oriented adjustable fork that's stiff and plush.
I also wanted a fork that would accept a 180mm rotor. My frame was designed around an 80mm fork, so I like the fact I can drop it down to 90mm or so for the climbs and open it up for the decents (although I'll probably just end up keeping it at around 100mm for most riding).
Not sure how the fork will hold up over time, but adjusting was no problem. I just took into consideration what other reviewers have said: the manual is off, so I made the corresponding adjustments to account for this.
Yeah, if you go with the settings in the manual it will be too stiff, so just lower the pressure settings. Really not a big deal; not really even an issue in my mind.
I'll post another reveiw after I get some more miles on it, but I have a feeling I made the right decision.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
john
a Cross Country Rider
from bend, Oregon, USA Date Reviewed: December 10, 2007
Favorite Trail:
McKenzie River Trail
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$450.00
Purchased At:
through a friend
Strengths:
Light, stiff, plush, looks great, feels great(when dialed in), tracks really well on tight singletrack.
Weaknesses:
Air pressure table is incorrect. Easy to rectify though people just be patient.
Similar Products Used:
Fox Talas RLC 140, Pace RC41 Fighter, Rock Shox Revelation 454 Dual Air 130.
Bike Setup:
Intense Spider(XL) White/ with Fox RP23, Chris King, Sram X0 drivetrain, Hope Mono Mini brakes, Thomson front and rear, DT Swiss 5.1 rims with Chris King hubs, Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.1 tires and the Marzocchi XC700 SL fork.
Bottom Line:
Just to let all you fellow riders out there Marzocchi has been in my line up for years and these products work really well with those who really understand suspension technology. Seems like most riders now are either too lazy or plain stupid as far as setting up their bikes. It is quite easy just play around with the air pressures and voila!! Come on people when you buy a car you don't take it back within a couple of days and say "hey I don't understand how the electronic seats work so take it back"!! Apply common sense and use that mass of ???? between your ears and it will be just fine. As Carlos Mencia says "Dee Da Dee!!
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Lami Bertan Tokuzlu
a Cross Country Rider
from Ankara Date Reviewed: November 1, 2007
Favorite Trail:
Cappadochia
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Strengths:
Looks fancy..
Weaknesses:
Extremely stiff. The air pressure table provided by Marzocchi is definetly wrong. It is impossible to adjust.
Similar Products Used:
Manitou SX, Manitou SX TI, Manitou X vert Air, Rockshox Judy XC, Rockshox Duke XC, Marzocchi Atom 80, Cannondale Headshok Ultra DL
Bike Setup:
Cannondale F800
Bottom Line:
I do not recommend this fork this to anyone. It's not worth the money I paid for it. I really miss my old Marzocchi Atom 80.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mika
a Cross Country Rider
from Porvoo,Finland Date Reviewed: October 28, 2007
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$574.00
Purchased At:
Bike-Discount Germany
Strengths:
Light,best looking fork i have seen,travel changing and much adjust posible and the remote works well too
Its feel great when i drive XC trails but i cant get the sag right?I have 80psi bottom (rekomended 115psi) and 50psi top (recom.85psi) and still the sag is 11mm?? But i like it on the trail.The best fork i owned so far.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Kevin
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto, Ontario Date Reviewed: October 20, 2007
Favorite Trail:
Shabomeka Leg Power
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$550.00
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
Light, lots of travel. ATA and TST5 have worked very well for me. They look pretty nice too!
Weaknesses:
I think maybe the pressure tables are off. It does feel VERY stiff with the recommended air pressures. Oh well..just tune it to your liking.
Not sure if they fixed the problems the others have been talking about or maybe some people were putting air in the wrong chamber in the top (supposed to be the side with ATA for both bottom and top pressure) but I have had none of the problems with air going from top to bottom or any of that. After a whole season of riding I've only had to add air once and I think that was because I forgot to switch it back from lockout after a long climb on my last ride. ATA holds it's travel length very well and the TST5 adjuster has 5 very distinguishable settings. The pressure settings table that marzocchi has for this fork seem quite high and make the fork feel way too stiff if you pump it up to what they recommend but I just lowered the pressure until it felt the way I wanted it to and adjusted the rebound accordingly. Overall this has been a really great fork and a very good upgrade for my bike. A little on the pricy side but for all the adjustments and the weight I think it's well worth it.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
ntj
a Racer
from japan Date Reviewed: August 23, 2007
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$515.00
Purchased At:
universal
Strengths:
Actual suspension motion feels good, rebound damping.
Weaknesses:
Faulty from new (air migration) Faulty after 4 months away getting serviced (wind down) Rebound knob fell off after 2 hours and was not replaced when serviced (I asked them to). I had to pay shipping for the repairs. Creaky sounds during light compression. Dodgy looking stantion plating. Couldn't be stuffed attitude from Marzocchi - not one email reply from them. Seeing the fork on ebay for less than I paid after not having it for 4 months - I paid extra to wait while it got serviced (badly).
Similar Products Used:
Fox FRLT/Vanilla/Talas, Marz MX comp.
Bike Setup:
Commencal Meta 4, nice parts (other than the fork)
Bottom Line:
I've got an '05 66 RC on my FR bike, and my old MX comp is now doing a fine job on my wife's bike.
I thought this fork would continue that tradition, but it has not. It was a waste of money and a waste of time.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Archer
a Weekend Warrior
from Prague, Czech Republic Date Reviewed: July 2, 2007
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Strengths:
Weight, nice design, travel changing
Weaknesses:
Not reliable ATA cartridge: travel winds down, air leak from PAR chaimber to main air chaimber.
Similar Products Used:
Rock Shox Recon U-Turn, Fox TALAS RL 2007
Bottom Line:
After 50km of the first riding air migrated from PAR chamber to main air chamber. Drop it official service to repair. Waited about 30 days... during waiting bought TALAS fork.
Repaired XC 700 SL was installed on girlfriend's bike. After ~500km of riding fork has a same problem - air leak from PAR chaimber to main air chaimber.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
xc biker
a Cross Country Rider
from Quito Date Reviewed: April 24, 2007
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Strengths:
Weight, work, plush
Weaknesses:
none
Bottom Line:
the best fork in marke, plush and works well in all conditions. The air travel technologies works incredible
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
imino
a Weekend Warrior
from Ireland Date Reviewed: March 10, 2007
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Similar Products Used:
RS recon,RS reba
Bike Setup:
salty,thomson,X9,dt...
Bottom Line:
very unhappy with this fork,realy weakest link on bike,which i have just finished off.First of all...air leak from PAR chaimber to main air chaimber.Wont even survive 2 hours on trail,had to pump it up all the time.TST 5 adjuster...at 4 th position forks are rock solid...manual says lock out should be at 5th position.When it's on 130 mm forks feel not stiff at all.Now i have to send them back for repair don't know when they're be back.So keep away from trouble,get RS or FOX,that's what I have should done....
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Marc
a Cross Country Rider
from Albuquerque, NM Date Reviewed: January 20, 2007
Favorite Trail:
Faulty
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Purchased At:
Fat Tire Cycles
Strengths:
Small bump sensitivity. 1/2lb lighter than 07 Fox 32 Float, only 10mm less travel. Marzocchi reliability (hopefully).
Weaknesses:
Setup can be difficult. Only available in white. Setup.
Similar Products Used:
On this bike: Maverick DUC, Maverick SC32, 04 Fox Talas, 07 Fox 32 Float (140mm). On other bikes: RS Reba 100, 04 Marzocchi Marathon 120, 06 Marzocchi Marathon SL. Demo'd: Fox 32 TALAS, Pace RC41 Fighter, 07 Magura (can't remember model- 4lb/140ish mm)
Disclaimer: I weigh 140lb and enjoy technical XC. Finding a light fork that works well for my weight, especially on small bumps, has been difficult. Getting a fork to match the small-bump sensitivity of the Maverick has been difficult. Review: Out of the box, this fork has a fair amount of stiction, and you can feel the transition between the two separate air springs. After a couple hundred miles, though, they loosen up and start to feel *really* good. The fork is very tunable, but the manual is all but useless. Here's what I've found: the recommended pressures are far, far too high, and the fork doesn't work well. The top air chamber adjusts small-bump feel, while the lower chamber allows the fork to be tuned for progressiveness/bottom-out resistance. What is working best for me is a 30-35psi difference between the chambers, with the higher pressure at the bottom. This allows the fork to work well on small bumps, but not pack up or dive excessively. Doesn't feel quite as good as my '06 or '04 Marathons (yet), I think because of the pre-set (as opposed to user-adjustable) negative spring, but more tweaking could take care of this. Feels miles better than any of the Fox forks that I've ridden, better than the Maverick forks, but not quite as nice as the Pace (which is over $1000- well outside of my budget). Its also considerably less money than many of the alternatives and can be quickly wound down for long technical climbs (Fooses Creek in Salida comes to mind, Faulty here in ABQ). Ultimately, not the fork to buy if you're not willing to experiment and get your head around what's going on in there. If you're willing to invest a few rides in getting it dialed, though, I don't think that there's much out there that compares for the weight/travel/money.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
andres
a Cross Country Rider
from Ecuador Date Reviewed: January 19, 2007
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Strengths:
ATA,TST5,weight,Par
Weaknesses:
it is to stiff, I thik the air preasure table is wrong, it flexes, the ata doesn´t work properly, you have to feelings in the compresion one when it gets to the ata air chamber and othe whe it goes down to the bottom out air chamber.
Similar Products Used:
R7, it works better than the marzocchi
Bike Setup:
Zentih Kuriaki Full XT
Bottom Line:
this fork is to stiff, the ata does not work, i guessed that marzocchi makes good forks but that is not true, marzocchi forks sucks. my marzocchi R7 works better. Maybe my fork has a factory damage.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mike
a Weekend Warrior
from Naugatuck, CT Date Reviewed: December 30, 2006
Favorite Trail:
Case Mountain
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$620.00
Purchased At:
beyond bikes
Strengths:
Not sure if there are any. It's kina stiff, stiffer than my 2001 X-Fly 100, but not as stiff as my 2007 talas 32
Weaknesses:
where do I start... I'll start at the most annoying thing and work my way down. 1. The travel adjust automatically adjusts itself to less travel as you ride... I have to electrical tape it in place. 2. The brake cable routing sucks. I have to tape the cable to the slider as well because no matter what it rubs the tire if I don't. 3. This fork clunks all the time on rebound. It's got so much stiction on it makes a clunking sound.. it's terrably annoying. 4. this fork has a ton of FOR-AFT flex. This is flex from the front to the back of the bike. Again, annoying. It's almost like the larger stanction tubes of the 2007 make no difference over my 2006 marathon SL 4. This fork is NOT plush by any standard or definition of plush.
Similar Products Used:
2007 talas RLC, 2006 Marthon SL, 2001 X-Fly 100, Carbon Lefty... and the list goes on
Bike Setup:
2006 Ellsworth Moment, Chris king, Thompson, everywhere and Full XTR.
Bottom Line:
The bottom line is that this fork is terrable. The stiction makes a clunk that drives me crazy, fork has electrical tape holding the travel adjust in place, and more tape to keep the brake cable out of the tire's path becasue there is no adaquate cable zip tie location. The LACK OF PLUSHNESS is the biggest dissapointment. I feel let down by Marzocchi. The only reason that I purchased the XC 700 SL is because all my other Marzocchi's are super plush. This fork is as plush as my 1999 Manitou Xvert with elastomer and coil spirng,and that was an OK fork for what is was. And the stiction is out of control. What is with this Nickel cadium coating? Teflon seems to work better on my 2006. In my final statement I will say that I do not think that this fork will perform WITH BUTTER SMOOTHNESS just becasue it breaks in better. Nonsence. This for stinks, and i dont think that the the anything is good. The damping sucks.. Oh, there is one good thing, or really good thing. that's the bottom out air. Works great, prevents bottom out, which when this fork does bottom out it is a harsh clunk, no bottom out springs here.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Jusin
a Cross Country Rider
from Cedar City, UT Date Reviewed: December 10, 2006
The fork is too freakin pretty, I feel bad riding it.
Similar Products Used:
Marzocchi MX Comp, All Mountain 1, Fox Float, TALAS
Bike Setup:
Commencal Meta 5
Bottom Line:
This may be a little too early for a review, seeing that I've owned this fork for a week, and have only put about 70 miles on it, but oh well.
I'm very impressed with this fork.
I can't believe that Marzocchi packed all the features into a fork that weighs only 3.6 lbs (with uncut steerer).
I bought this fork because of it's versatility, and weight. Whatever the conditions, or the type of trail, I can use this fork. The travel adjustment is on top of the left leg, and it's pretty easy to adjust. I can even turn it on the softer parts of the trail. Not as "on the fly" as the new '07 Talas, but still not a pain in the butt. The range is pretty good too, 90-130mm. I can make my bike into a little XC racer, or just let it out to 5".
TST 5 is a blessing. You can completely change the feel of the fork in seconds. There is a wide range of adjustment with the rebound. you can also adjust the feel of the fork with the air, with the top and bottom air chambers. This is fun to play around with, finding your preference. The two chambers allow for you to adjust the forks bottoming out, or the beginning of the compression.
I dig this fork. It's pretty fly for a white... guy.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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