Submitted by
akp
a Cross Country Rider
from whistler, bc
Date Reviewed: October 27, 2010
Strengths: none -
Weaknesses: stay away from this fork - tst cartrige was a failure, constantly loses air, takes forever to adjust
Bottom Line:
send back it to marzocchi to be converted to a regular 55 with spring shock for about $120 - TST system is crap BAD DESIGN - Marzocchi has definitely lost some credibility with me - stick to rock shox and fox!
Weaknesses: Rebound adjustment came off on first ride. Blew out in the first couple months. Took 6 months to get it back. After I got it back is was in worst shape than I gave it to them.
Bottom Line:
If you want junk get it. If not buy something else.
Bike Setup: Kona Coilair with Fox Float R 160 and Marzocchi 55 laying in a box ready to get shipped back.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
ERocK
a Weekend Warrior
from Vancouver BC Canada
Date Reviewed: July 29, 2010
Strengths: Performs well when the TST2 is removed.
Weaknesses: TST2 is Garbage. Sticky stanchions
Bottom Line:
I have the exact same problem as many reviewers below me... TST craps out after only 3 months of riding. Travel reduces to only about 3".....The fork works well if you have the TST cartridge removed.
Marzocchi does acknowledge this problem, so I am sending it back for warranty...staying away from any Marzocchi fork with TST technology until I see some improvements.
Favorite Trail: crank it up, a line, dirt merchant
Duration Product Used: 3 months
Purchased At: came with my SX Trai
Similar Products Used: none
Bike Setup: sx trail with e13 SRS+ , avid code upgrades
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Submitted by
j50005
a Downhiller
from Flagstaff, AZ, USA
Date Reviewed: May 26, 2010
Strengths: very smooth progressive travel. for it's performance I think it is light.
Weaknesses: had to send back to Marzocchi like everyone else because of the travel lockout. they fixed it and made it better. the TST2 probably won't last forever but I never saw any other manufactuor lockout that lasted either.
Bottom Line:
This is a great all mountain/light freeride fork. use it for that purpose and you will be impressed. I weigh almost 200# and the stock setup was perfect.
Submitted by
Zachariah666
a Weekend Warrior
from Goleta, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: April 21, 2010
Strengths: Very strong and plush. Can take big drops no problem (I weigh 200 pounds and never bottomed it out). Lockout works well. Easily adjustable rebound.
Weaknesses: Decals scratch off easily. Problem with these forks becoming limited to only about 3 inches of travel, an issue only Marzocchi can fix.
Bottom Line:
This is a great fork when it works properly. I was on a pretty rocky downhill ride when I realized the travel was maxing out at about 3 inches (half of the normal range). No matter what I tried, it would not budge more than that (made for a rough finish to my ride). I checked online and found out that a LOT of people have had the exact same problem with the 55 TST2 fork, and my LBS had to send it back to Marzocchi. They seem to be aware of whatever causes the problem and said it was an easy fix, but I'm worried it won't be as plush when I finally get it back. Kind of disappointed with Marzocchi's quality, but performance is great.
Similar Products Used: Marzocchi 66, RockShox Pike.
Bike Setup: Stock fork on my 2008 Kona Coilair with Magic Link.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
PURPLE TOM
a Downhiller
from AUSTRALIA
Date Reviewed: March 29, 2010
Strengths: super plush(mmmm butter),stiff,light for the amount of travel,great strenght 2 weight ratio,tst lockout feature works great if need 2 climb,adjustments all work great,super sweet fork.
Similar Products Used: pike,66sl ata,888rc,jr-t,dj-1,dj-3,lyrik,am-1
Bike Setup: intense ss,55 tst,saint brakes and cranks,mtx 33,
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Submitted by
trek430032
a Weekend Warrior
from GREENWOOD
Date Reviewed: March 16, 2010
Strengths: plush,easy to tune,highly adjustable
Weaknesses: so far none to speak of
Bottom Line:
Im not sure why this fork gets any bad reviews...im 6 feet tall and 200 pounds and have tried to abuse this thing with no luck yet.I did follow the manual specifically when i set it to my weight.I think as far as single crowns go its a sick fork for the money.
Similar Products Used: i used a couple cheap rst forks but of course they dont compare to this one at all.
Bike Setup: 08 jamis dakar xam-1(all mountain/freeride)
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
crisps
a Downhiller
from Somerville, MA, USA
Date Reviewed: August 18, 2009
Strengths: It's cheap.
Weaknesses: It's cheap.
Bottom Line:
It's an inexpensive fork. This came stock on my bike and honestly, if it weren't on the bike I'd be pretty teed of that I had paid money for it. Started off plush and worked OK for a few months but then travel dropped to less than 3". Had its well-known issue repaired under warranty but now it's a sticky fork and just feels harsh despite cleaning and lubing the stanchions after each ride - giving me no confidence when riding. I would not recommend this fork to anybody unless it was stock with the bike build (and then I'd probably try to sell it before use).
Submitted by
bcass
a Weekend Warrior
from Hamilton, NZ
Date Reviewed: July 24, 2009
Strengths: simplicity
Weaknesses: tst2, lack of ability to upgrade
Bottom Line:
These felt nice and plush and i loved them for the first few rides but that was all they lasted. They locked out and would not travel more than 3 inches. Have sent them for warranty and returned in good order, they now are leaking oil and are way too soft. Even loading them up with 20psi pre-load which firms them up nicely isn't working as it is blowing off whenever hitting anything of reasonable size. Tst knob is useless for bush rides as keeps spinning to lockout position when brushing against anything which sucks when you're in the zone! Thumbs down in general, will be upgrading very soon.
Submitted by
decamun
a Downhiller
from Friday Harbor, WA
Date Reviewed: June 18, 2009
Strengths: Very plush. Good lock out. Looks good.
Weaknesses: Paint chips, decals you can scratch with your finger nail, bad seals, weak construction, incosistant compression damping, no adjustment range, leaks oil.
Bottom Line:
Because of this fork, I am dubious about buying from marzocchi. It was origanally a 55 rc, and 6 months into use, the spring side hydrolocked so badly I could only get about an inch of travel. I sent it in to marzocchi, and they kept it there for a month and a half. Then they made me pay 150 dollers to upgrade it to this, which they said would fix the problem. Well it did, except that now the air side has blown seals, and are leaking oil. If you want my advice, stay away from 55's. These are horrible. Unless you are a cross country rider, you're going to want something beefier, and that's before they start breaking. These feel weaker than the pikes. Again, stay away.
Strengths: good fork can take just about anything you can dish out and the tst work well if you need to lock it out for any reason
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
came on my coilair and i have taken 6 foot drops to flat and it just sucks it up i actually busted the tst switch so it was stuck and could not lock out but the forks still works perfectly just no lock out but dont us it much anyway good fork super plush would recommend to any one looking for a do everything fork
Bike Setup: 08 coilair funn bars and stem 5050xx gravity gap
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Submitted by
Joan B
a Weekend Warrior
from Barcelona, Spain
Date Reviewed: February 12, 2009
Strengths: Strengths: Air preload, easy lockout system, buttery, was fine while it wasn't breaking
Weaknesses: Weaknesses: breaks really easily
Bottom Line:
Bottom Line: Loved the fork while it lasted, but I broke the fork twice in the fist 6 months, and couldn't stand it anymore. It represents 3 weeks without fork.
Broke the TST2 cartridge on a step-down, with no weird landing or bottom out or anything. Then, after about 5 months of use, the fork would not compress any more than 3 inches down.
But while it lasted, it was a fun fork. I hope to get it warranteed! Should be fine for trail riding, but I don't reccomend bashing away Dh-ing on it though
Similar Products Used: Marzocchi 66 ata, Rock Shox Pike 426 Coil U-Turn
Bike Setup: Giant Reign with stock shock, E.13 bash, XTR gear, Maverick seatpost, deemax and Juicy Seven
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Submitted by
rm_racer
a Downhiller
from Ridgecrest, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: October 29, 2008
Strengths: supple, air preload, durable so far, very stiff, quick axle
Weaknesses: kinda heavy. still a bit of stiction, but not much
Bottom Line:
this for came on my Khyber. when I first got the bike, there was too much oil in the TST cartridge so the fork wouldn't go through all of its travel. easy fix though. after breaking in it's been very good, nice and supple but still takes the big impacts well. held up perfectly to a summer of Northstar and Mammoth. no issues with the axle or anything besides the TST cartridge deal.
Submitted by
philb_bmc
a Weekend Warrior
from ACT, Australia
Date Reviewed: September 22, 2008
Strengths: Tough, lots of travel soaks up mid and big hits beautifully.
Also with a little but of tech knowledge full user servicable and lots of info on the forums here.
Weaknesses: Feels a little wooden on the mid speed hits, lots of rumours that they're not reliable. Suffer from a bit of stiction, though hopefully that will go away over the coming years.
Bottom Line:
I'm liking these forks and I'm also scratching my head about them. They work and they're very nice, they soak up the big hits, whoopsies and highspeed gullies, etc but after 3 months and hundreds of k's of XC and fast solid downhills I'm still trying to dial them in. There's just something not. quite. right.
Hitting rock gardens at speed is a can do but they feel wooden and just tend to thud through, on small rocks and roots the stiction gets to them a bit. There's a thread on the forums about this and it's got a good mod you can do where you swap a shimstack in place of some thick washers on the compression piston (gotta love that Marz servicability). It's not something that I've done yet but may.
The TST works very well, there's not many firetrails or places it's needed where I ride, but on the occasions that I do it's nice to be able to lock the front so you can stand up when your tired and climbing a smooth climb or half lock it so it's still soaks up a bit but doesn't rob you of power when your starting to get sloppy.
The place where these shine is on the big hits, big log jumps, drops, ploughing through big whoopsies and you always have confidence in their ability to absorb the impact. Its the smaller stuff that has seen me come unstuck because of them, not soaking up the small embeded rocks and roots, etc.
In all I'm happy with them, and the price I got them for doubly so, even if i bust one pair (as the rumours go) I could buy another set and still be in front of the nearest 160mm coil forks. But so far they've been fine (touch wood).
Buy them if you like a good deal and don't mind refining them a bit to get them perfect for your style.