Submitted by
Chad evans
a Cross Country Rider
from Miami
Date Reviewed: May 22, 2008
Strengths: Light,compared to others with similar features, Good looking,lateral stiffness, very tuanble
Weaknesses: complicated set-up
Bottom Line:
This fork is great. It is tricky to set-up at first, but once you got it dialed into the sweet spot, you are good to go. I called Marzocchi tech support and the guy gave me a good idea of the pressure to run in each cartridge. ** This is an article that I found helpful***** However, a word of warning, the manual that accompanies these fork is somewhat casual in its accuracy concerning recommended air pressures. In fact the information is rather poorly presented and may well create problems rather than solving them. As a reasonable guide, and this is only our working opinion, it is advisable to operate on 20 to 25% less of the recommended pressures that are in the manual and to work on a ratio of three times the negative pressure to the positive. For example if the positive pressure is set at 25lbs the negative would be set at 75lbs. This works well. These forks are worth experimenting with because their potential is considerable. Another caveat…..allow time for the forks to “bed in”, as any Marzocchi owner will tell you, the seals on the Marzocchi forks are some of the best in the business and take a little time to loosen up. Once they are “bedded in” they provide years of excellent service, keeping the rubbish out, keeping the oil in. The oil bath system that Marzocchi utilises creates an outstanding lubrication flow that virtually guarantees the longevity that is so much an endemic part of this Company’s enviable reputation.
Submitted by
Vegas Bob
a Racer
from San Juan Cap, CA
Date Reviewed: February 27, 2008
Strengths: Very squishy & smooth, light. Like the Travel Adjust/Lockout. Air adjustability (didn't seem as hard as some mentioned, but I still have the manual).
Weaknesses: Lock-out blew out after a year, BUT it was warrantied No Charge. Blew out again after year 2, but warrantied AGAIN, no charge. Stickers flake off but whatever.
Bottom Line:
I had to set up the fork at 4" cuz it's an older race frame and geometry is set up for 80mm SID and it was too raked out at 5". Love the fork. Race all year in Cal State, Nationals, and Rim Nordics and the fork is great! Love the lockout for climbing, especially since lots o races have fire road or pavement climbs.
Had to have it warrantied 2X, but both times it happened just after race season ended. It comes back quickly and I have another bike to ride while it's out of commission.
Similar Products Used: Rock Shox SID, Mag 21, Fox Float R
Bike Setup: Litespeed Tanasi Ti, XTR, V-brakes, Spinergy Xyclone wheels
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Topsfield, MA
Date Reviewed: May 3, 2007
Strengths: Lightweight
Weaknesses: Manual is terrible, air adjustments are very difficult to tune in and adapter barely grabs threads. Had warranty service after one year,one year later was totally blown. Not a very well designed product and very poor reliability.
Bottom Line:
If looking for a lightweight fork I would look elsewhere.
Weaknesses: too many adjustments (4 air chambers); main cartridge malfunctioned in a little over a year of easy trail riding and Marz would not warranty
Bottom Line:
after riding and fiddling with all of the adjustments for several months I finally got it dialed in. With 660 miles on it the TST cartridge blew up and Marz said it was "way over due" for its 50 hour check. I explained that the 660 miles was probably right at 50 to 55 hours and it should be warranted. They said no deal and wanted over $200 to fix it. The 660 miles on this bike were all on one easy to moderate trail system and the fork should not have blown. Granted I was right at the service time but the manual doesn't say it blows at 55 or so hours which I suppose it should. And their 2 year warranty doesn't cover this. As it wasn't that great of a fork to begin with I'll go back to a Fox.
Great fork for experienced Cross Country riders that want precise tunability, stiff plush ride, good lockout and compression adjustment. It take everything you throw at it and climb like a mountain goat with the ECC at position 5. Jsut change oil twice a year and you have the perfect forks for racing and raid.
Similar Products Used: FOx F80, MAnitou black, Manitou skareb, RS
Bike Setup: S-Works Epic
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
nrdbomber
a Cross Country Rider
from east bay, san francisco, ca
Date Reviewed: September 6, 2006
Strengths: stiff, very very very light, very very very tunable, very very very squishy...did i mention very very very plush? this fork has 130mm of travel!
Weaknesses: it takes a bit of time to set up...4 different air chambers. a bit of stiction at first, but once things get broken in...did i mention very very very squishy?
Bottom Line:
i would definately reccomend this fork for a cross-country rider looking for a quality fork. good deals on previous year models online. do yourself a favor and read through the entire user manual (read only the part in your native language). the manual is not steller, but gives you a perfect starting place for fork setup. from there, use the explaination of features portion of the manual to get an understanding of how each adjustment will change the ride. now the hard part...use your brain and a shock pump (along with the required and included adaptor), to think through how each tweak of adjustment will affect the ride.
my first ride i simply adjusted somewhere in the range of what the manual said...the second ride i spent some quality time on my favorite and most familiar trail adjusting back and forth to find the sweet spot. now it's set, and i never have to adjust it!
After a few rides w/this fork on my new NRS, I have to say that it's fairly awesome. It's very stiff- no flexing like some Rock Shox I've used. It's very plush and silky smooth over the bumps. I've got mine set up to be a little firmer over the little bumps, but the big ones get eaten up. This fork definetly compliments the rear suspension of the NRS much better than the Duke XC did. It may take you a little while to get this fork dialed in, since there are so many adjustments. But once you do, it's great. Get one if you can still find one.
Strengths: Marzocchi's fit, finish and function on top....no peeling paint as with Fox products, no excessive bushing play as with Rock Shox products. It's spot on and worth the money. Now it's end of season these forks are cheap on E-Bay.......go buy one now
Weaknesses: None - it's right on par with Marzocchi's product quality
Bottom Line:
This is my first Marzocchi fork so their was somewhat of a learning curve on how everything needed to be set up. I've mostly used RS products which I know inside and out. I'm not sure I would service this fork myself since I'm new to the product but it seems like it will last longer than the average SID. It took about a solid two weeks to set up. I basically took a shock pump along to change air pressure then recorded the effects and ride quality. This is not a free ride type of fork purely long travel cross country.
Similar Products Used: RS Duke, SID SL, Judy SL, Fox TALAS & Vanilla
Bike Setup: Titus Racer X-100, King HS & Hubs, a Shimano/SRAM drive train
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
brian
a Cross Country Rider
from canton, ga
Date Reviewed: September 9, 2005
Strengths: Stiff. Tuneable.
Weaknesses: Too much stiction.
Bottom Line:
This fork sucks for being a Marzocchi. Do yourself a favor and get the XC coil version. The coil version is like butter now that I replaced the SL. It's a much better fork although it's heavier. The SL suffered from too much stiction even after a hundred miles of hard riding. I've had several Marz products and this is the worst fork from them I've experienced yet. My 100MM Skareb was better than this. Try the XC version though, it's like a night and day difference. My XC is probably the best fork I've ever had.
Similar Products Used: Fox RLC125, Fox 100x, Manitou Skarebs (80 and 100 MM), Other Marzocchis, Rock shock Judy.
Bike Setup: Intense 5.5
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Steve Klassen
a Cross Country Rider
from State College, PA
Date Reviewed: September 6, 2005
Strengths: I agree with pretty much all the praise that has been thrown at this fork, plush, stiff, tunable. Lockout and on the fly compression adjustment is perfect for the mix of trail/road and rock hopping typical of central PA. Heavier than my old SID but blows it away in performance.
Weaknesses: Bummer, negative air leaks on new fork. It holds pressure fine when not riding or even on shorter mellower rides but leaks considerably when ridden hard. Results in travel extending to full 120 mm and hard knocking sounds when the fork tops out on rebound. Tried submersing in water to identify leak but no bubbles, even when compressing the fork by hand. Must only leak when ridden hard or leaks internally from negative to positive chambers? Understandably the kind of leak that would not be easily identified during manufacturers testing. Yeah same bubbly stickers as someone else noted but easily reapplied. Doesn't come with pump.
Bottom Line:
Great fork for experienced Cross Country-AM riders that want precise tunability, stiff plush ride, good lockout and compression adjustment. Poor choice for less experienced riders, especially those that don't want to mess around with the complexities of positive air, negative air, PAS, multiple compression, rebound, and travel settings. At $375,the performance and tunability of this fork make it an excellent value-5 chilis. I had bad luck with a leaky negative air chamber right out of the box. I've seen this problem before in numerous comments on previous year models but hoped that they had it worked out by now. Perhaps just bad luck but I can't give more than 3 chilis for a product that came defective and hope this helps to inform others of the potential problem. Once repaired, I'm sure I'll thoroughly brag about what a great fork I have.
Bike Setup: Santa Cruz SL Shock setup (140 lb rider): pos air 30 psi, neg air 150 psi(100mm travel), PAS 5 psi, rebound 7 cliks, compression generally AM but +/- depending on ride. Cane Creek Cloud 9 rear shock: 130 psi, rebound 0 cliks, compression 2 cliks. Tires: stans tubless best stuff since sliced bread 30 psi.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Lothar Othp
a Racer
from Ocomukowonowaukesha, WI
Date Reviewed: August 21, 2005
Strengths: Quality travel, very adjustable. Rock solid.
Weaknesses: Maybe TOO adjustable. Poor manual. Stickers look like my 2-year old put them on. Heavier than something I'd label as "SL".
Bottom Line:
Takes a while to setup but once you nail it this fork is sweeeet. It weighed in a little heavier than I'd like for a "SL" fork (almost 1/2 pound heavier than my '02 Marathon S). However, the quality of travel is far superior to that '02 Marathon S. I can actually ride with the recommended amount of sag without being worried about blowing thru all of my travel. My only gripe, albeit a minor one, are that my stickers weren't on straight and had lots of bubbles in them. It looks like my 2-year old applied them. For a $400+ piece of equipment you'd expect a little more attention to detail. Also the manual is better than years past but still sucks...big time. Why do they have a manual that list every fork in every language? What a waste. Other than that, great fork so far. The '06's are coming so you can get a good deal on a '05 right now.
Strengths: plush, light weight, array of tuning and adjustments, nice color, stiff
Weaknesses: TAKE THE REBOUND ADJUSTER OFF BEFORE RIDING. My rebound adjuster knob fell off first ride and the manual makes no mention to remove it. I think it's actually a tool to be removed before riding. A socket wrench works fine for adjustments but I'm sure Marzocchi will give me a new one.
Bottom Line:
This fork is super nice. Hands down best fork I've owned. Takes time to set up but that's a good thing because I was able to adjust it for a perfect response. Great in all conditions, just floats over obstacles. I slammed straight into some pretty large logs at a fairly high speed in the middle of a trail on my last ride. I was mentally preparing to crash but the fork completely absorbed the impact and I cleared the logs like they were nothing. It's expensive but worth the money, you get what you pay for. I did get a great deal thru downshiftcycles.com. It comes with a free FSA K-Force carbon handle bar and carbon seat post. I recently built the Burner myself and I wanted those components anyway so it worked out great. The handlebar and seat post are really awesome as well. I have used this fork in several races and it's performance has been flawless. I expect it will get better when I ride it more and the seals break in fully. But it's really good right out of the box. Very impressive so far.
Bike Setup: '04 Turner Burner w/ FSA, SRAM, Race Face, and of course Marzocchi components
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Andrew Bray
a Cross Country Rider
from South Lake Tahoe
Date Reviewed: May 29, 2005
Strengths: Awesome ride, Easy setup, plush and aborbent on all terrain. Makes riding EASY!!
Weaknesses: rebound adjuster fell off on first ride (never to be seen again!).. Manual is pretty generic and not very specific at all.
Bottom Line:
Super plus ride, setup was by the book and delivered great results. Will need to play with pressures a bit to get the most out of the fork. I weigh 155 lbs and the bike is absolutely the best ever ride. The new fork is very plush and tracks very well. Obstacles are now of no concern and the fork displays no flex at any time. The multitude of air adjustments is a bit of overkill, but what the hell, the fork is the best I have ever ridden on! I was always dubious about the longer travel forks for a X-country ride, but I am now a convert. Buy one today and you will give up all other earthly ambitions to ride the mountain bike. It has taken a few rides to get the balance right between front and rear suspension. I will be tweaking further to ensure the bike is riding to its full capabilities. No complaints at all. Marzocchi says no air for this line if forks AT ALL. No problem for me...
Similar Products Used: Older Manitou forks (1 1/2" travel!!!).
Bike Setup: Turner Burner with Easton carbon bars, XC717 rims, XTR hubs and brakes, full XT driveline, Manitou SPV on rear.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Dennis Romano
a Cross Country Rider
from Las Vegas, NV
Date Reviewed: May 23, 2005
Strengths: First off, I weighed this shock before cutting the steerer tube. It was actually slightly less than advertised. That always builds trust. Setup using the manual was much improved from just a year earlier. Still, they only provide range of adjustments due to rider weight and terrain considerations. Setup was easy to get you close. TST is great and spot on. I weigh 225 lbs and the shock tracked excellent with no flex. I rode several intermediate level trails that included steep climbs and descents. Break in period has greatly been reduced. In the past, my other Marzocchi's have taken months of riding to get super plush. This shock was extremely plush within one hour of riding.
I climbed in the AM mode. Seated climbing yeilded no bob and out of the saddle caused serious bobbing. I just stayed seated and cleaned every climb. I also rode some small rock steps in the 1'-2' range and it was as if they were none existant. Great silver color.
Weaknesses: PAR adjustment information was vague. I set it mid range and will play with that later. Insane price tag without finding a deal.
Bottom Line:
Setup information: Positive Air 50 psi, TST 50 psi, negative air 140 psi and PAR 15 psi. TST knob in AM mode. Shock weight installed: 3.63 lbs (Sid Race was 2.8 lbs)
I replaced the Rock Shock Sid Race because I felt I weighed to much for it and it flexed on rocky descents. The Sid was a 80 mm travel shock and this one is 120 mm. Riding height is noticeable but riding was drastically improved on both downhill (expected) and flats (unexpected). Climbing overall was slightly slower but technical climbs were much easier. No flex on XC downhills. Disc brake installation was easy. Tire clearance 2.2".
Once again I am very please with Marzocchi products. If you ride or race rough off rode XC trails and need some more travel this is a great choice.
Similar Products Used: Marzocchi Freeride SL(similar air system) on my Rocky Mountain Slayer and a Marzocchi MX Comp on my Rocky Mountain Stratos. This shock was used to replace a Rock Shock Sid Race.
Bike Setup: Rocky Mountain Instinct, FSA stem and handlebar, Raceface LP crankset, bottom bracket and seatpost, King headset, and SRAM Rocket shifters, cassette and chain. Bike weight 27.7 lbs.
Hello guys
This is for the zocchies gurus
I have 2 Marathon SL 2005 I got them second hand and by know the both of them are developing a knocing sound from the inside (not when a Read More »
I have a 2006 Marathon SL. Well, the manual is a little lax to say the least.
I know you are supposed to put air into the negative chamber but how much? I'd like to take it all Read More »
I've got an '06 Marz Marathon SL installed on my bike - today on the way back from the trail, while I was on the road, I locked out the fork so I could stand up and mash my way up Read More »
I have a 2003 Marzocchi Marathon SL fork that uses air for both the positive and negative pressures. Last time I aired it up was a few months ago and I took it out on a ride last Read More »
Did a lot of search and was able to get most of my questions answered but one.
Adjusting the travel. Instructions say to put 200 PSI in the Neg port and compress the fork to chan Read More »
