Mg Marathon monolite one piece arch & sliders Marzocchi was there when Marathon racing was born. Endurance races and 24-hour events are increasingly popular, and components that address the unique needs of long distance riding are in high demand. Marathon racers want forks that are durable. They want smooth operation, mile after mile. These cutting edge designs satisfy those needs. These forks are experienced to the core, and they’ll see the sport of marathon racing into its old age.
Submitted by
tomemarelic
a Weekend Warrior
from Zadar, Croatia
Date Reviewed: August 11, 2011
Strengths: Excellent performance on rough terrains, very fast rebound,springs in both legs, ETA system which is excellent for steep climbs and longer road trips, rough construction (almost every part is made of metal, even knobs), very light (~1,8 kg) and very easy to maintain
Weaknesses: Oil levels in both legs need to be very precisely added to achieve full travel, which demands a lot of experience (original Marzochi specifications recommend oil volme which is way too big, and allows only 60-70% of travel)
Bottom Line:
Excellent fork for my demands, performs very good in all situations, and ETA option is one of the best ideas to put on bicycle forks, ever. Plus, it seeems very durable, and is also a very good looking. Highly recommended.
Similar Products Used: Suntour XCR - can be compared only because they are both forks :)
Bike Setup: Fuji Tahoe 2008 frame, Marzocchi Marathon s '04, Deore and XT deraleurs & shifters, Deore V-brake brakes
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Submitted by
geedoubleyou
a Weekend Warrior
from New Zealand
Date Reviewed: January 8, 2008
Strengths: Plush, gets full travel, tracks beautifully, wide range of rebound adjust, eta works great, can use standard pump for air preload adjustment.
Weaknesses: None found yet
Bottom Line:
Great fork as my Z3 was back in 2000. Handles superbly and with correct preload corners like it's on rails (American made Zaskar certainly helps here too !). I ride fairly aggressive XC and fork hasn't bottomed out yet and I weigh 180lbs. Compression dampening works a treat but is non adjustable, but why adjust it when it's spot on?
Similar Products Used: Marzocchi Z3, Pace RC 30, Manitou Black, Marzocchi EXR Pro
Bike Setup: 96 GT Zaskar, Full XT
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Shane Oneal
a Cross Country Rider
from Salina KS, USA
Date Reviewed: October 16, 2007
Strengths: Very smooth travel, has a crazy amount of dampening adjustment. ETA is one of the single coolest inventions ever.
Weaknesses: Its a little flexy, but now more then other products ive used....
Bottom Line:
Ive never ridden such a nice fork. additionally this is the first air fork ive ever owned. however i love it. the ETA is by far my favorite part of the whole fork. its a little flexy at full suspension, however as its compresses it stiffens up greatly. I love it, ill update later.....
Similar Products Used: manitou, rock shock, other bombers
Bike Setup: two year old full suspension mountain bike. 80 mm of travel. weighs thirty pounds.
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Submitted by
GorDo
a Cross Country Rider
from Utah
Date Reviewed: September 19, 2006
Strengths: Tough, good looking, well built
Weaknesses: Heavy, may need thicker oil after the first couple years.
Bottom Line:
This is a great fork. you can't beat Marzocchi. I have riden miles and miles on this fork. From SLick rock to wyoming, the toughest trail that will kick your can. This fork wont quite and it just keeps asking for more. The ETA just makes it that much better. A remote would be nice but you can't complain with the on the fly action.
Strengths: Durability, feel (once broken in) and the lack of lateral play. ETA
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
The bottom line is it's a great fork for the money. It's no lightweight, but then you'll probably spend more time riding it than repairing it. I was happy with it before the seals broke in, once they did I was even happier. Mine's the 120mm model so the ETA actually comes in handy on some steeper climbs (feels clunky when the travel is compressed but that's not really an issue). Overall the fork just has a solid feel, no flexing and no rebound issues to contend with at all. It goes where you point it and acts predictably. I probably have 60 or so rides on this fork (120 hours give or take)with no issues. For the record I weigh 155 and ride mostly rocky technical NE trails. I just started using the newer Marzocchi forks this year, and it made me wonder why I wasted time on the RS Psylos for so long.
Strengths: excellent damping,excellent quality,coil springs,not much flex,seals DO NOT LEAK.
Weaknesses: none,
Bottom Line:
look at the review in mountain bike action july 2005,the giant reign has a Manitou Nixon fork,it does not work! the "infinite travel" which is rip off of the Marzocchi E.T.A. system is crap! Marzocchi had a solution to enhanced climbing years ago,those guy at mountain bike action are so full of crap,you never hear much of anything about Marzocchi cross country/freeride forks they always rave about Fox fork,I know of numerous people who own them,the seals are crap! they leak oil and fox is slow to honor their warranty on this problem,any way I love this fork,too bad their new trail bike forks do not have springs on both sides,seems like air sprung forks are all the rage,sure they save weight however they will probably never be as good as a dual coil fork in regards to feeling progressive,ya I hear a "squish" sound when the fork is working...so what,you would hear the internals working on a motorcyle fork too if the engine were not muffling the sound.I am sold on Marzocchi and plan on purchasing an all mountain 1 to install on a new Heckler I just bought.Marzocchi has been in the hydraulic buisness since 1949 it is no wonder they make such a quality product.what good are all the features of a fox fork if the seals piss oil out? poor R+D. overpriced too.
Bike Setup: 2004 ibex trophy hardtail,stans no tubes conversion,race face x crank,all x9 drive train,reccomended set up for fork only 5 psi air preload
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Submitted by
Rob Conti
a Cross Country Rider
from Cleveland Ohio US
Date Reviewed: October 20, 2005
Strengths: This fork is really durrable hard to bottom out if your not Extreme freeriding or downhilling.
Weaknesses: ok well i have to ride urban sorta because i live in the suburbs outside of cleveland and i do a lot of like flatland and endoes and i also have discs so since the disks are only on one side when you brake hevily the opposite side of the disc pops out of place because its quick release and it has ben wearing the mount down a lot over the past few years.
Bottom Line:
im not really an xc rider but there was really nothing that describes me i live in the cleveland suburbs so theres not too much to ride in way of freeriding im only 14 so im cant really afford much more im looking at the mantinou stance kingpins but i hear there bad. ive probally only ben like 6 feeet in the air before and they did not do so good on the landing.
overll i would say that there good for the money but if your going to so big stuff it will b worth in the longrun to buy a more epensive fork that will hold out better however if your just getting started its an exclene for but if your really in to it youl outgrow then quickly.
Bike Setup: 04 specialized hardrock, mz comp, and unfortunantly tektro IO's (they suck really bad dont get them).
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Submitted by
Dennis Verburg
a Weekend Warrior
from Kudelstaart Netherlands
Date Reviewed: September 10, 2005
Strengths: -Smooth, ETA, Stiff, Bomb Proof, Easy to adjust
Weaknesses: -Weight -Disc brake limitation -After 1 1/2 year I noticed some play in the bushings, needs overhaul, I think! -Spring inside the fork make some noise sometimes.
Bottom Line:
This fork is very reliable. In 1 1/2 year never had any trouble. ETA works very well. But even this fork needs overhaul. I have abused this fork in the French Alpes(downhill). After France I noticed that this fork has limitations. (play in bushings). But still the fork perfomes very good.
Submitted by
Greg
a Cross Country Rider
from Oak Harbor, WA, USA
Date Reviewed: July 24, 2005
Strengths: Travel, bump absorption, price, stifness, quality construction, ETA
Weaknesses: None found yet
Bottom Line:
As a 220# rider this fork was sweet out of the box. I did add 15# to the air preload to compensaste a little for my weight. I will probably add more oil to the forks as well. That is when I feel like not riding the badboy. It is a perfect 5" travel fork that will not break the budget. Anyone looking to upgrade from a P.O.S. Judy will be blown away by this fork. You can still climb too with the ETA feature. This fork has kept me in my old bike for at least another few years.
Bike Setup: Klein Attitude Comp, XT front, XTR Rear, disks, Rhyno Lites.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Jason Verneris
a Cross Country Rider
from Port Hueneme
Date Reviewed: July 10, 2005
Strengths: This is a follow up on my last review. Since then I've ridden about 20-25 miles trail time on these and I am pleased to say I am even more impressed with these forks.
Weaknesses: I still think the weight may be a factor but not much. Remote lock out would be a nice feature to maybe add-on later.
Bottom Line:
After taking the Zokes on a 12 and 8 mile venture in Nor-Cal in some "real" back country i was pleased with the performance and feel of the forks. I rode up/down hills I never thought i would've been able to do. I don't think i bottomed out once. The ETA definitely helps with the tough uphill sections. This fork is definitely a good buy and i will not replace any time soon.
Submitted by
Wild Bill
a Cross Country Rider
from Colorado Springs
Date Reviewed: June 30, 2005
Strengths: ETA, responsive and super strong
Weaknesses: None so far
Bottom Line:
This is an excellent all around fork. The ETA function is the perfect "on the fly adjustment". I have the 120mm version. Overall, a great fork for the price. This is a huge upgrade from the rockshock judy (junk) fork that came stock on my bike.
Favorite Trail: Marys Loop, Fruita and Monarch Crest
Duration Product Used: 3 months
Price Paid:
$275.00
Purchased At: Jenson USA
Similar Products Used: Rock Shock Judy SL-U turn
Bike Setup: Giant Hardtail
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
TCW
a Cross Country Rider
from Norman, OK
Date Reviewed: June 30, 2005
Strengths: Plush, great tracking, ETA, Air assist, nice looking
Weaknesses: Sometimes it makes a little squish noise when rebounding quickly.
Bottom Line:
Wife bought this fork for me as a birthday gift, good wife. I was expecting the front end to feel a little more clunky because of he few ounces incurred by the Marathon S. Happy to report that the bike feels just a nimble, but a whole lot more high performance than before. On root/rock infested downs the shock absorbes everything wonderfully. I easily made some climbs I usually struggle with because the ETA drops the fron end to a perfect position to make loose-steep inclines seem almost too easy. The only other shock I've used that felt near the quality of the MArathon S was the Fox Vanilla 125RL. The two shocks felt similar. I weigh around 220lbs with all my gear on and the air assist feature made the stock springs fell a little more firm. The stock oil (7.5wt.) seemed fine but after the first change i might try just a little heavier, no more than 10 weight. I never thought it would be possible to by a shock at $275.00 that worked so well. I'm real happy with this product, we'll see how it hold up, so far so good.
Similar Products Used: 2000 Judy Race, Manitou SXR, 2003 Fox Vanilla RL 125
Bike Setup: EPX Terra Shark, LX/XT, Hayes disks, Thomson post, Easton stem/bars, 4-inch travel in rear via a Fox Float RCL shock, 120mm Marathon in front.
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Submitted by
Dirt Surfer
a Weekend Warrior
from Camarillo, Ca
Date Reviewed: June 11, 2005
Strengths: Extra travel, ETA lock out, Stiff laterally, plush vertically. Good price on closeout
Weaknesses: Didn't come with a Marzocchi Girl.
Bottom Line:
I replaced my '99 Z1 that had worn out. This fork is awesome. It handles the rough, rocky trails I ride with ease. The extra travel allows you to float over bumps, rocks and ruts. The ETA lock out is great for climbing steep trails and tight single track turns. I makes my 4 year old bike feel new again. It saved me from having to upgrade the whole bike.
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