Strengths: Stiff, plush, easy to work on/disassmble
Weaknesses: Travel adjust is still sort of an issue, but I don't use it at all, just noting it here.
Bottom Line:
Bought this used, from a person that stated it needed a new ATA cartridge. I was fully aware of all the issues surrounding this model; travel wind down, leaking ATA cart, sloppy feel...
Spent $125 on the fork including shipping. Bought $4 worth of O-rings. Received fork, removed the PAR piston, changed the O-ring on the ATA, and put about 100 lbs of air in the ATA (when you remove the PAR piston, there is only one chamber that holds air).
Fork has held air pressure for a week and three ride, one ride being nearly abusive. Fork handles great, is plusher than I could imagine, and gets nearly all the travel it claims to - but I've yet to bottom it out. It is stiff, tracks great, takes the big hits just as good as the small stuff. A very small bit of stiction in parking lot testing, but when riding, it is not noticable.
If you find a good deal on this fork, and have medium mechanical aptitude - it is totally worth it. Feels as good as my 888, or my previous favorite air fork - the Rock Shox Duke. Love it.
4 chilis, only issue is the travel adjust. But not worth bagging on as the fork is so good otherwise.
Bike Setup: 05 Reign, Velocity Blunt wheels, race face ride dh bars, Deity Stem, Funn seat, Thompson layback post, True vative fire x cranks, blackspire lower chainguide, mainipoo swinger three way air shock for frame, Syncros Mental pedals
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Submitted by
GloryKid
a Downhiller
from Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
Date Reviewed: February 18, 2009
Strengths: Smooth, buttery, and plush when set up right.
Weaknesses: Hard to set up correctly.
ATA wind down
Makes bad noises due to play in first inch or two of travel.
Bottom Line:
I got this fork, and rode it for a month or two without noticing any problems, until i realised the travel had been winding down every run, losing almost the full adjustable travel per downhill run.. very annoying. It also was making a horrible noise, due to the mentioned play. Despite this, the fork felt great, smooth and buttery as long as you're deaf and dont mind winding the travel back up every run.
So I sent the forks to Marzocchi. Got them back, no wind down, still had the noise. They ride well, but the noise is incredibly annoying.
I would reccomend the fork, but be prepared to send it away unless it's aftermarket. OEM you will have problems.
Submitted by
benronpro
a Downhiller
from Australia
Date Reviewed: February 10, 2009
Strengths: A plush fork when tuned in right.
Weaknesses: SHOCKING Marzocchi service in Australia.
Leaking air from ATA valve.
Wind/down of ATA adjuster.
Weak compression knob on lower leg(snaps off while adjusting).
Leaking stanchion seals(oil/air).
Adaptor is needed for the two different air valves.
Excessive play in thru-axle.
Incorrect settings/adjustments provided by Marzocchi.
Unavailability of parts.
Bottom Line:
Well I never thought so much could go wrong with a set of forks,but looking at other peoples comments I guess it can.
When these forks have actually been performing as their maker intended,they're a decent plush,progressive fork.The rest of the time they're a pain in the ass.
Having a useless Marzocchi service centre in Australia does not help the problem.
As they stand right now these forks are not worth owning...
Bike Setup: Giant Glory 0,Raceface cranks,Mavic 729 rims,Juicy 5's,Sram x9,Fox4.0,Ringle,FSA.....
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Submitted by
steveo1
a Downhiller
from samoens , haute Savoie, France
Date Reviewed: July 18, 2008
Strengths: looks great, neat q/r axle
Weaknesses: no where near specified travel, slack bushes and seals, compression dials fall off, useless user manuals, ata wind down, collapsing cartridges
Bottom Line:
These forks are terrible. Straight out of the box the left leg seals were incredibly slack and they never achieved anything like the 180mm travel stated, possibly 130mm max. compression dials seem to have a habit of falling off and setting them up according to the manual results in a pretty much solid fork. After several emails to Marzocchi they said that 'after much testing' they've realised you should run no air in the non ata side cartridge (why is it there exactly?) the forks have now collapsed no matter how much air's pumped in, and are useless after just a handful of rides. Might I suggest to Marzocchi they try 'much testing' before they release the forks.
Submitted by
Ralphie
a Weekend Warrior
from Yakima
Date Reviewed: December 30, 2007
Strengths: Umm...
Weaknesses: ATA winddwn, air chamber leakage, knobs falling off. Slow factory response.
Bottom Line:
Ive had this fork for 13 months. For the first 3 months I did really ride it much, since there was snow on the streets. Then I rode only mild XC. Later I finally got it out in long travel setting (about 10 days in Whistler over the summer). I discovered the dreaded wind-down. I had a Marz rep take it apart at crankworx and basically retighten things, to no effect. Of course, by now there were so many problems with the forks that the factory turn around was many weeks, so instead of losing half my summer, I made due with freaking zip ties to try to keep that wind down from turning. Of course, the fork was still losing air, so I never gained ANY confidence on it on the jumps and drops because I just didnt know when I was going to bottom out on a puny 2 footer. So I finally send in the fork in Sept, and get it back 3-4 weeks later. Now the ATA is super hard to turn (is that all the brilliant engineers could think of as a fix??!!). It doesnt turn, however it still loses air. Whats work is that after a night ride a few weeks ago, I notice the right side knob fell off. Ive never even adjusted the right side knob, and it falls off. Very disappointed. And guess what, its more than a year since I bought it...we'll see if Marz will fix it for real this time. Ive never rated a product less than 3 stars before, but I just have to on this one. 2 stars only because there is still potential there, despite the fact that the fork has basicaly been non-functional for 13 months.
Strengths: gorgeous, super plush, super adjustable, can easily go from trail riding to taking big hits
Weaknesses: ATA knob can be difficult to turn, confusing initial compression settings
Bottom Line:
I love this fork. This fork helped me build the exact bike I was looking for...I can dial it down and have a killer time on great local trails and not bat an eye taking it to Sedona or racing in local downhill events. It is pricey, but good luck finding another fork adjustable from 5.5 to 7 inches.
Bike Setup: medium intense 6.6, fox 5.0 coil over, formula biancos, i-nine enduros
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Submitted by
John
from Munich
Date Reviewed: December 11, 2007
Strengths: I would've tested this fork longer before reviewing, but this fork is so amazing, so it had to be now.
-Adjustability is insanely good Rebound, Compression, Bottom-Out, you name it. -Damping is superb, you ride up a staircase, over 3 large boulders, it feels like you're riding on a motorway -ATA is a nice feature -weight is brilliant -stiff
Weaknesses: -i hate having to turn the ATA, it needs quite a lot of force -the stupid warning stickers suck because they're hard to get off
Similar Products Used: Marzocchi 66 RV, Drop Off IV, Dirt Jumper 3, All Mountain 4
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Submitted by
Theodore Jump
a Cross Country Rider
from Austin, TX, USA
Date Reviewed: November 9, 2007
Strengths: plush, stiff, adjustable, burly
Weaknesses: ata wind-down
Bottom Line:
The fork rocks the bees knees.
I'd buy it again, same model year.
I made the choice of buying it even though I knew about the various technical issues out there, the most consistent being ATA wind-down, for which there are a variety of solutions. Some of which come from Marzocchi.
Getting the air pressure settings right per-individual takes some time of playing and tweaking, but well worth it.
The forks I was looking at when I got this was the RS Totem, Lyrik, the Marz All Mountain 1 SL, and the Magura Wotan. The Wotan *almost* won out, but in the end I went with the 66 for two reasons...
1. I have a better feel for the Marz stuff and know nobody with time on the Magura, and I could not test ride the Magura (although a wonderfully timely in depth review is on the forum). I felt better risking my money with the 66 and the known issues than the Wotan and the unknowns.
2. I wanted a fork that *could* be a 7" travel fork, to max out the capability of my bike (which was in fact designed to take up to a 7" travel fork).
Value rated -1 for ata-wind-down and high cost, but I have a hard time imaging a better situation.
Bike Setup: Titus Quasi Moto, 6" rear travel (horst-link style), marz roco tst r rear shock, '07 66 sl1 ata at 170mm
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Submitted by
Kim
a Downhiller
from Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Date Reviewed: October 25, 2007
Strengths: Right amount of travel, and the nice Marzocchi squish. Adjustability, this is a strength, but because it can take some tweaking and know how some may consider that a problem.
Weaknesses: nothing until now
Bottom Line:
If the first few rides are any indication of how this fork going to work, then I would have to say excellent.
I changed to the 2007 66 SL 1 ATA from a 2006 66 RC2X. The 66 RC2X is an amazing fork and does everything I could ask of it (well almost - no travel adjust). The 66 RC2X was the first single crown fork I have had on a big bike, so I was a little leery, but part way down the first ride on the fork I no longer had any worries. After coming from the 888 RC2X on my previous bike I can say that for my riding, average Joe North Shore Freerider / All Mountain, the 66 is no compromise in performance.
Basically, when the correct air pressure and setup is applied the 66 ATA, right out of the box, provides that nice Marz buttery squish. Add to that the ability to tailor how the fork ramps up toward the end of stroke, and the usual rebound and compression adjustments, this fork does it all and is under 6 lbs. Then consider you can further adjust the fork travel between 140mm and 180mm and you can say this fork no competition.
Similar Products Used: Marz 2006 66 RC2X, 888 RC2X
Bike Setup: Nomad
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Submitted by
ryan
from australia -- melbourne
Date Reviewed: October 14, 2007
Strengths: lots of adj,stiff and plush
Weaknesses: some have the ata wind down mine does not have this prob,also you just need a cassette lockin tool,undo the ata top cap,and use a stronger spring,this has been very successful in stopping the auto wind down prob and only cost approx 3 dollars
Bottom Line:
first off these retail in australia at all bike shops for 1400-1520 dollars,these forks do take a good 10-20hrs of riding to be broken in as such,until you have done that getting them tuned perfect aint gunna happen with much success,if they feel sticky and are not exposing all of the stantion just lube with dry teflon lube wipe excess and ride ride ride til they good,then play with pressures,to start i needed 120 bottom out 80 ata and bout 5 in the rc2,once it is well and trully broken in then you can play with reb,comp and preload,air settings etc,once dialled in these forks are gr8,will handle as much freeride az i can throw at em and are nice in plush,thumbs up,no regrets
Bike Setup: 07 stinky- - avid -- king -hope -- 66 --straitline -- sram -- easton
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Submitted by
Michael Simmonds
a Weekend Warrior
from Preston
Date Reviewed: September 24, 2007
Strengths: Strong, stiff, light, looks awesome
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
These forks are a bit confusing to set up and get all the air figure in the 3 air chambers all right for you weight but once thats dont you will never look back, there amazing forks and so plush, there much plusher than my Fox 36s i had and some rockshox totems i tried on a demo bike.
i have only had them for a week but im so happy with them i had to write a review now.
the only slight problem is when i got them out of the box and was setting them up i had to use the internet to look at how to get the air pressures write in each air chamber are there are 3 air chambers and the ATA one is hidden and if you don't know about it you wouldn't find it, but once i had found some air pressures on the internet for my weight (which by the way is much less than what marzocchi say you should put in) they where great once i had done that.
i am 140lbs so according to marzocchi i should have 103psi in the ata, 134psi in the bottom out and about 30psi in the positive air. but i have put in around 85psi in the ATA, 105psi in the bottom out and 5psi in the positive air and they are really nice and plush, i do admit i like my forks relatively soft and i only weigh 140lb so thats why i have slightly lower air pressures.
all in all there amazing and the ATA travel adjust is really great ( alot better than fox's TALAS system)
the only problem i do have is the ATA air valve lets alot of its air out when you take the shock pump of it unless you spin it really fast so it doesn't have enough time to let the air out (which is what i have to do, but it isn't much of a problem)
im giving them 5 for value as i got them in the sale for £395 (£600 is the RRP) but even if i had paid £600 they would still be worth it
and a 5 overall as they are truly amazing forks compared to its competitors.
Similar Products Used: Fox 36 Talas, Rockshox Totem
Bike Setup: Transition Preston fr with 07 66 sl1 ata, hayes hfx-mag brakes, hope pro 2 hubs with mavic 321 rims, raceface bits
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Submitted by
Rachid
a Weekend Warrior
from Ottawa, Canada
Date Reviewed: September 10, 2007
Strengths: Stiff (1.5 off a Glory Freeride), light, complements my IH 7point well. Adjustable, no issues so far.
Weaknesses: lost the top cap jumping at a local bmx track
Bottom Line:
It works, i ride it cross country from time to time when i want a workout and a change from my XC bike, freeride takes jumps and hits really well and its saved me a few times on Quebec Cup DH runs, it works and it adapts well, lets me pedal my bike up and down trails.
Bike Setup: Ironhorse 7 point frame, sram x-9 drivetrain, saint crank, hayes stroker hydros, tuned swinger 6 way rear, Headley hubs laced to a single track in the back and a wtb rim in front, ODI lock-on, Cane Creek double X headset and a FSA gravity cockpit.
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Submitted by
Corstian Devos
a Cross Country Rider
from Phhiladelphia
Date Reviewed: July 25, 2007
Strengths: It works!!! Its light!!! It has a great range of travel!!
Weaknesses: Long travel leads to some ticks and hicks in the shock over time. Non-performance hindering but on days when the forest is silent and you are "Zen" the tick-tick or shee-shee out of your fork can be irritating.
Bottom Line:
I love these forks. I am a big guy, 6' 3", 250 lbs, the LBS set these up perfectly for me as per company specs (thank you Skip!!). I have had no problems in 6 months and I ride hard. These things deal with about 290 lbs of man and bike without complaint or malfunction.
I have to say I would have been hard pressed to buy these at MSRP. They came stock on the Glory Freeride. On the other hand with the performance they have shown so far they might be worth what the other folks paid. For me, having them as a stock part of the makes these a great value and they're performance makes them great as well.
Similar Products Used: Rock Shox Judy XC, with heavy duty springs. 7 years, 6 frames 1 shock.
Bike Setup: Stock 2007 Giant Glory Freeride except for peddles SH PD-M540, seat Fizik Atlas, and replaced stock 2.5 Kenda tires with WTB Tyrannoraptor back (Yes I have a few of these old tires around) and Conti Double Fighter front.
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Submitted by
CWC
from Hong Kong
Date Reviewed: June 26, 2007
Strengths: 140-180mm travel, light weight, plush and smooth and cool outlook
Weaknesses: nothing, except the menu is so sucks!!!!!!!
Bottom Line:
It's the best fork before I tried, light weight, plush and smooth. You don't believe it's air fork. It's suitable for All Mountain and freeride.
I tried this fork first time, it's so sucks, because I followed menu setting to set up my fork. After that I used my experience to set up this fork, it's great! The feeling is better than Fox TALAS RC2. Trouble free until this time.
Go to the MtbR Forum section, All problems will fix.
Here is some reference Rider weight: 155lbs PAR (bottom left): 100 PSI Top left chamber: 60 PSI Top RIGHT chamber: 0 PSI
Similar Products Used: Fox TALAS 36 RC2, Fox TALAS 32 RLC
Bike Setup: Giant Reign
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Submitted by
austin otto
a Downhiller
from eagle river, ak
Date Reviewed: May 30, 2007
Strengths: FOLLOW UP REVIEW!!
Bottom Line:
I got this thing back from from marzocchi several days ago got it set up perfectly and now there are no problems, and i didnt think i would say it, but like others... i'm gonna have to say that it was worth all that trouble. i spend all the time that my fork was gone on a borrowed kona stab with an 888 rc2x. this thing blows it out of the water, way lighter, but just as adjustable, its got ata, and it seriously eats the small bumps, and big hits just as good or better than the 888! seriously, i would much rather race on this than anything else because it only has 20mm less travel than a boxxer wc or 888 or travis, but it performes just as good and, you drop so much weight, and have all the advantages of single crown!
