Submitted by
bikedreamer
a Weekend Warrior
from Winnipeg
Date Reviewed: May 13, 2010
Strengths: - pretty smooth ride
- lots of adjustments
- has been fairly durable
Weaknesses: - travel adjustment on bottom left fork leg is useless
- fork tops out a lot recently (due to Marz using wrong oil)
- a bit flexy
- a bit pricy
Bottom Line:
I would say that this fork is a pretty smooth ride. I quite enjoy using the ETA for steeper climbs. The TST (compression adj) works well, but is a bit limited by only having 5 settings. Air preload works fine. I'm not sure what the hell the adjustment on the bottom fork leg is supposed to do. Something about changing the travel from 130 mm to 110 mm? I dunno. I've left the fork in the 130 setting, and have ignored the knob for about two years now.
I did have to take the fork back once for repairs to the TST. It was fixed under warranty, but the service techs at MArz used too thin of an oil in the fork, which now results in the fork topping out from time to time.
Bottom line - if you can get a really good deal on it, I'd say buy this fork. I've used it for light freeride, all sorts of XC / AM, and the occasional DH weekend at Panorama and Whistler. I'm not an extreme rider, but have enough mass to put a fork through some suffering. :-)
Strengths: Handles everything! and is brilliant through rock gardens
Weaknesses: setup instructions, weight
Bottom Line:
A complete pain to setup - until you ignore the Marz instructions, and find out how to setup properly via forums etc, then its great.
I must be one of the lucky ones as mine has been completely reliable.
TST is a waste of time so dont bother about it, ETA is really good no messing around "screwing" the fork to the right length, just flick the switch and bounce the fork...sorted.
Much better through tough terrain then my RS revalation, but is a bit heavy
Submitted by
Bret Dianich
a Weekend Warrior
from Denver, Colorado
Date Reviewed: June 1, 2009
Strengths: Supple, plush, tough composition. Sleek styling. Coil + air assist is the absolute best way to go, in my opinion.
Weaknesses: A bit heavy. Adjuster knobs for ETA and TST are complete crap.
Bottom Line:
**This review is for the 2007 All-Mountain 1**
I have been a Marzocchi fan for the past 10 years - I've loved just about every fork they've ever made, with the exception of the flylight series way back in the late 90's.
The All-Mountain forks are, in my opinion, the best all-around forks ever made. HOWEVER - I say that with one caveat - only up to and including the 2007 line. Anything made by Marzocchi in 2008 and later likely has SR Suntour internals and is made in CHINA, NOT IN ITALY. This does make a difference.
The economy has forced Marzocchi to get 'creative' about how it makes it's products and this has resulted in a sharp decline in quality. BEWARE!
The only REAL complaints I have for this fork involve this TST adjuster...first of all, I find the feature completely useless. It just doesn't solve any problem that the ETA can't solve. So far as I can tell, when you select 'CL' on the TST knob (there are two settings - DS for 'descend' and CL for 'climb') the fork basically locks out.
Why would you want a lock-out on a fork that already has a travel adjuster which can bring you down to about 30mm of travel? ESPECIALLY if it's an all-mountain/FR/light DH fork? Useless!!
I guess if you commute with this thing or hit the skate park with it, but other than that - it's just a waste. So, I'm not using the TST feature.
MARZOCCHI - learn how to make a proper adjustment knob. The TST adjuster knob is now hanging on by a thread (I've only experimented with it TWICE!) and will fly off soon I'm sure of it. Good thing I won't be USING it. =/
Similar Products Used: 07 Z1, 04 DJ, 02 Shiver SC (these were great forks)
Bike Setup: one with another defective Marz. fork
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
midwestpinner
a Weekend Warrior
from Rhinelander WI
Date Reviewed: April 6, 2009
Strengths: Looks good, plush but does not bob on climbs
Weaknesses: too easy to bottom out, rebound cartridge breaks very easily, adjustment caps are easy to loose
Bottom Line:
Fork works well for what it is designed for and that is all mountain riding. It goes downhill and uphill pretty good but if you want to go airborn dont get this fork. I blew up the rebound cartridge twice and Marzochi replaced it under warrenty. I also lost both adjustment caps. Basicly dont use this fork for anything more than trail riding.
Strengths: Strong, reasonably light for the 160mm travel, buttery smooth.
Weaknesses: none so far
Bottom Line:
I got this fork as it was reasonably cheap after spending most of my dosh on the frame. Despite some bad reviews i still took the plunge and have been really happy so far. This thing has handled drops and the Eta is suprisingly good when long climbs come along. This thing eats up the downhills. Couldn't ask for more so far, maybe i'm just one of the lucky ones or this is from a latter batch or something. So top marks so far!!
Submitted by
Ahab 305
a Weekend Warrior
from Phoenix, AZ, USA
Date Reviewed: November 5, 2008
Strengths: Plush travel, smooth feel, very secure 20 mm thru-axle setup
Weaknesses: TST and ETA knobs are loose. Instruction manual is pitiful.
Bottom Line:
I am a very heavy rider, at 270 lbs, and have previously had good success with Fox products. However, I have several friends who are less than thrilled with their 36 forks, so when the time came for an upgrade, I rolled with the Marzocchi despite the poor press. I swapped out a Float R 130 for this fork; the Float was always too light and short for the Intense's back end. After the swap, the rear of the bike, which had always felt bottomless, spikes on the harder hits. The fork just erases what's in front of it. Very impressive. The manual sucked, but I was forewarned, so I tossed it into the recycling bin and set 25% sag. I have 100 miles on the fork, and have changed nothing. It is a superlative performer. I never use the lockout, even on the road, as the fork does not bob at all, so the TST will probably last forever. The knob for it is very stiff to turn, yet is loose and seems like it's going to fly off someday. I do like the ETA adjustment for the steepest climbs. It tames the front end well. Interesting how it sets to different levels based on how hard you shove down on the bar. There's a learning curve there. Overall, I use the Intense as a long-travel trailbike, and the AM helps it to soar over sections that previously required picking my way through. My home trails are knobby and rough, and the bike is faster than ever. I can feel the increased weight in the front end, and it is taking some time to get used to it. It's actually a little creepy how fast the fork will let the bike rip a rocky section. I have a set of 1-foot stutter bumps at the apex of a sharp banked turn (there are 6, and they're rock), and where other bikes slam all over the place, the AM along with the Intense carves it like a packed-dirt berm. My front wheel needs a lot of truing from the increased abuse. I may have to upgrade the wheels to keep up with the suspension performance. I am very much looking forward to taking it to Sedona and some slickrock soon. This is my first try with a 20mm thru-axle, and the stiffness is really impressive. Bottom line? Evil fast, incredibly plush, bottomless, very stiff, precise, nice to look at. Weak effort with the external adjuster quality. Nice finish. Very Italian instructions. I hope it lasts.
Similar Products Used: Fox float, rlc; Manitou minute and black
Bike Setup: Intense Uzzi SLX (the 4-bar one), Pig headset, El Camino 8" brakes, xt, Mavic 819s on Hope Pro II hubs, 5th element coil. Specialized Eskar 2.35 tires, tubeless.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
wu-wei
a Cross Country Rider
from Kalaheo, Hawaii
Date Reviewed: September 29, 2008
Strengths: ETA works great and M. has pretty good warranty service, if a bit slow.
Weaknesses: Fragile TST cart. -- it's blown out twice now and I weigh a whopping 150lbs. and am by no means a monster hucker.
Other braindead design: The friggin' ETA and TST adjustment levers are *snap* on. Easy to lose them along with the rebound adjustment knob on the lowers.
Bottom Line:
I loved my previous Marzocchi's, but this thing never performed well despite lots of fiddling. I'd stick with my much used and abused Z1 drop off were it not for the lack of thru axle. Despite 20mm less travel it soaks up the bumps and chatter better then the AM ever has.
With the stupid, fragile TST side and the fact that the adjustment levers like to fall off, I have to assume that this piece of garbage was designed for looking pretty in the parking lot and not actually riding with, you know, bumps and things.
Similar Products Used: Older 'zocchi forks, Rock Shox,
Bike Setup: 2006 Kona Coil Air
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
rojomas
a Weekend Warrior
from Cucamonga
Date Reviewed: August 31, 2008
Strengths: Cool flat black finish, ETA,
Weaknesses: TST-2
Bottom Line:
I bought this fork because I had really good luck with Marzocchi. I had a Z-1 that worked flawlessly for 6 years, a 66 that was awsome and I've got an 06 All Mountain 1 on another bike that works great. But the 07 is made much cheaper than the 06. The adjusting nobs/air caps just press on so they can just pop off. I wasn't getting the full 160mm out of it. Thought it was some weird ramp up B-4 bottoming and I just didn't push it to it's limit, untill I took it off a 3 foot drop. When I landed it made some kind of blow threw noise. I finally got it to go threw it's travel. Unfortionatly the noise was the TST-2 blowing up. I only had it for about 3 months B-4 it blew up and it never worked right. I'm not giving up on Zokes just yet but this is a piece of crap fork! Stay away from this fork. If you find a deal on this fork and can get it for cheap that is because it is cheap!!
Similar Products Used: Marzocchi Z-1, 06 AM-1, 66, Fox Vanilla RLC, Rock Shox Recon
Bike Setup: Foes FXR, Marzocchi All Mountain 1, Easton Havoc wheels, Race Face cranks, Thomson post and stem, Chris King head set.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Marty
a Cross Country Rider
from Bend, Oregon, USA
Date Reviewed: August 4, 2008
Strengths: 32mm black smooth stanctions, embossed letters, PLUSH, stiff 20mm through axle, easy air pressure set up.
Weaknesses: Heavy for those epic rides but then again this is pretty much a descending fork and a back country fork.
Bottom Line:
My current Lyric Solo air fork was serviced and this was a back up but it is running so well that the Solo is now back and sitting on my bench in my shop. I have a friend in the industry who races for Marzocchi and he showed me how to set up this fork and so far it really is a simple and plush fork to ride. I can do some serious 360's and seat grabs with this bike and this fork can take the dishing out. I have been doing some stunt riding too and took it down a flight of stairs for a video shoot and this fork was amazing. Those 40ft gaps are much easier too and even though I have a 66 air from 07 this fork being a coil really is so much more plush. I came into some money so I have a great selection of forks such as: Fox Float 36RC2 08, 66ATA 140-180 08, Lyric Solo Air 160 with Mission Control 08 and the head tube on my Nomad is 1.5 and the steerer tubes are fit for this. The All Mountain 1 coil/air is a great idea from a great company that has made great forks for a long time. I will agree with many unhappy customers that Marzocchi needs to get their sheet together for the air tables because they are falling behind Fox and Rock Shox and will probably go the way Manitou has gone. Not good Marzocchi!!!!!
Similar Products Used: Pike coil, Marzocchi Drop off 150mm, 66ATA and a Lyric coil.
Bike Setup: Santa Cruz Nomad(XL) White w/DHX 5.0 ti-spring, Chris King headset, Diabolus 70mm stem, Race Face Atlas riser bar, Formula ORO Puro 185mm brakes, Odi lock on grips, Sram X0 drivetrain, Shimano Saint(09) with MRP/LRP chain guide, Sun Equilizer 30.5 white rims on Industry Nine hubs(blue), blue spokes and white nipples, Continental 2.4 Supersonic Mountain King tires, Joplin seatpost, WTB Pure V Team seat, and Crank Brothers Acid pedals.
Strengths: Adjustably is close to unmatched, TST system works well if set up properly, Very smooth fork and tracks extremely well. Easy to set up if you follow the manual and do a little time setting it up The ETA system is awesome when yo have to climb with a long travel fork.
Weaknesses: I hate to say this about a Marzocchi product but I have to...Durability! I was very upset with the build of this fork see below in bottom line. Travel adjust is kind of setup funny and the fork has to be deflated and then adjusted too
Bottom Line:
I free ride as well as Trail ride and let me tell you for me to say durability about a Marzocchi product kills me. I use a 66VF on my Kona Stinky and it never fails me. That fork is BULLETPROOF!!! But the All Mountain 1 really disappointed me. I bought it because of the great success I've had with Marz products in the past and I was satisfied with it a first. Then I had a minor crash that threw me over the bars. Turned out the stantion tube struck a small rock on the trail and scratched it. After that the fork was never right again and would lose air (only upon compression)! It got so bad i found myself filling the air again and again on one ride. Well it seems to reach thier target weight, marzocchi thinned out the tube. When it got scratched it tore a pin hole in the tube. I sent it Marzocchi and found out that the entire uppers had to be replaced to make it run again properly!! that was close to $300 bucks!! Well after a year this fork is retired due to one crash!! It no longer holds air which then makes the fork brake dive when the pre-load gets too low. I hate to say it but the durability of this fork sucks. For an all mountain product that is supposed to be able to handle tougher trails it needs to be built better. Sorry Marzocchi but I just bought a new Fox Vanilla RLC. I'll try them for better durability for my trail bike. Still gonna rock my 66VF for my stinky though, best fork I've ridden for free ride in a long time!!
Similar Products Used: A lot!! Rockshox, Manitou, Fox, and Marzocchi
Bike Setup: 06 Giant Reign 1, completely custom built
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
John
a Weekend Warrior
from Seattle, Washington, USA
Date Reviewed: January 29, 2008
Strengths: Loved the look and its overall black coloring stanchions included. It came out of the box and worked with no problems. Once I got it dialed in though this baby worked like a champ. I weigh 175lbs and had no problems.
Weaknesses: Well the dealer I bought it from didnt even send the manual, so I never had it to complain about, initial set up is a bit tricky. Setting it up correctly meant an oil change...
Bottom Line:
A nice fork if you have the know how to make it work.
Similar Products Used: Rockshox Psylo, Marilyn Bombshell
Bike Setup: Jamis Dakar Bam 2 with Avid Juicy 7's, Maxxis Mobbsters, this fork.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Chief Running Tab
a Weekend Warrior
from Vancouver, BC Canada
Date Reviewed: January 6, 2008
Strengths: Plush. Look nice. Good Smell out of the box.
Weaknesses: Not too rigid. TST2 blown twice. User manual terrible. Knobs don't have pictures or +/- or anything, so on the fly you gotta remember which way to turn the knobs. Knobs seem cheap and prone to falling off, although they never have.
Bottom Line:
2 XC rides then first run down easy whistler trail the TST2 rebound blew. In shop overnight (I live near the Marzocchi Canada service centre). One more ride at whistler and two more XC rides and the TST2 blows again. In Marzocchi Canada Service Centre for three months now while they wait for Italy to produce a working TST2 valve and ship them to Canada. Totally sucks. I'm trading in all the fancy gizmos on forks and going back to something with rebound only. It seems like the simpler the Marzocchi fork, the higher reviews it gets. All the external adjustments really don't actually do too much anyway. Save your money and get something dead simple that'll last you forever without f#$#cking up.
Submitted by
Josh
a Downhiller
from Ellensburg, WA, USA
Date Reviewed: December 7, 2007
Strengths: Never worked right so I can't attest to it having any.
Weaknesses: Extremely unreliable. I bought it from a seller in "as new condition". If thats the case then this thing came jacked up in it's as new state. Never acheived full travel despite adjusting oil levels. Sent it to Marzocchi and had them do a $170 servicing on it, came back with the same problems. Tried adjusting the oil levels again and managed to get full travel, BUT the TST cartridge crapped out the first time I cycled the fork through a full stroke. It's now residing in a bike shop a couple hundred miles from me because no one in the local area wants to touch the TST cart.
Bottom Line:
Don't waste you time or money on this piece of junk. I've heard of some working properly but the horror stories are out there and I wouldn't risk it. I might consider it if it has the 66 RC2 cart conversion but if it says TST on it, I'm steering clear.
Strengths: Stiff, plush, lots of travel, ETA. All Black.
Weaknesses: the damn user manual like the guy below me. It tells you nothing about the AM1. I got it dialed but it took a little while with trial and error. Useless. It's not a huge deal but frustrating nonetheless.
Bottom Line:
I love the fork. It's saved my ass more than a few times especially on a hardtail with the some fast, rocky descents. It has held up very well with some 4 foot drops and I jump with it a little too. The ETA is nice although somehow my knob just popped off.... :(
