Submitted by
Juicy360
a Downhiller
from Krakow, Poland
Date Reviewed: October 2, 2011
Strengths: stiff, strong, lot of effective settings, it'll fit anybody because it's air fork, progressive work - good for freeride
Weaknesses: manual is useless, i had to buy another headset to fit it in my frame, works not as good as other forks(smoothness, flow), clearances (08 issue) but does not affect the work
Bottom Line:
good for freeride, quite light, air, but im gonna buy something like boxxer or 888(2010 and up)
Similar Products Used: fox 36 van, z1 fr2, boxxer, old 888 forks
Bike Setup: duncon cane corso, roco wc..
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Steve the dog
a Weekend Warrior
from Brisbane, Queesnland, Austraila
Date Reviewed: March 19, 2010
Strengths: Big, looks cool, smooth, rebound is good and effective as is compression. Feels like a set of triples. VERY STRONG
and pretty smooth movement
Weaknesses: User manuel is crap... I dont know what PAR is yet.. ATA is slow... havnt used it much tho because everyone said it breaks easy. Loud air noises when rebounding, kinda annoying
Bottom Line:
I reccon it tops fox 36ers, ive been happy with mine and think it is a superve fork. And im going to be keeping it for a lot longer to come.
Similar Products Used: Marzocchi 55R, Rockshox Boxxer,Fox 36 Van, Rockshox Totem
Bike Setup: Giant Reign X1 2009
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Submitted by
carpantera
a Downhiller
from Ledyard, CT, USA
Date Reviewed: August 1, 2009
Strengths: Great adjustability. Smooth response.
Weaknesses: Does not fit well on some frames and a tall headset is needed and even then some grinding may be required.
Bottom Line:
Great fork, but sucks to fit it up to some frames. Crane creek make a headset to help with interference issues, but you may have to grind knobs to be able to clear the down tube.
Submitted by
gabtomato988
a Weekend Warrior
from concord,ca
Date Reviewed: May 20, 2009
Strengths: looks pretty cool
big 38mm stantions
Weaknesses: oil and air leak out where the ata cartridge is so that sucks
super heavy due to the nickel plated stantions
quick release loosens bup all the time dont feel safe riding fast
travel adjust is a pain in the butt turning
Submitted by
crashmatt
a Weekend Warrior
from Sweden
Date Reviewed: October 21, 2008
Strengths: 3 year warranty
Weaknesses: 1. Wobbly stachions
2. Worlds worst user manual leading to 2 fork failures
3. Self adjusting travel adjust
4. Air leak between ATA and PAR cartridge
Small bump sensitivity could be better but not really what I am looking for.
Bottom Line:
RELIABILITY SUCKS. Buy this fork if you crave dissapointment and have a high tolerance for pain.
1 chili for value. A fork at this price should never need repair (unless mistreated), only service.
2 chilis for overall. It gets an extra chili since it is so good when it does work.
Don't bother with long travel adjust air forks. The technology is not mature. Only Fox seem to have a reliable platform but TALAS is too linear for my taste.
Thanks to excellent support from CRC I have not suffered too much from these problems. Dont buy these forks unless you have a very supportive bike shop.
Similar Products Used: RS Totem 2-step air - Lifetime 2 years
Bike Setup: SX trail, Hope, Mavic, SRAM, E13 DRS, No working fork....
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
nicholas
a Downhiller
from japan
Date Reviewed: August 18, 2008
Strengths: very great feel, just like a coil 66 but better because you can adjust the air as soft or as hard as you desire. the bulk of these are wonderfuly stronger than the older 66. this is my third 66. and it seems great.
Weaknesses: the ata is one of the best systems out now because of the dual air.the bottom and the top air combined make for a great feel. however the ata doesnt hold air under the stress turning the knob. this is so bad,bad,bad.
Bottom Line:
i originaly bought this fork for its travel adjust. before this i was using a 66 rc2x 180 07 model. so for my bottle rocket it was great for everything big and fast and all around,but i realy wanted to adjust the travel to better suit the area. for example 180 for drops bigger jumps and dh ridding. but for tighter trails and jumpier trails i wanted to lower the front end to 160 even 150-140,to give the bike a better feel for the partictular place.for this meaning this for is the best match for my bike, however even after having it fixed one time it still leaked air from the ata top 40mm travel shaft. marz can ealily fix this problem by upping the seals in the shaft from one seal which is standard the two or even three.
so i did just that. its not easy nor is it right by their standards, but its possible. i added one extra seal to healp stop the air form comming out. so far everthig is great and i can adjust the travel with ease, i did however lose 5mm of travel, the legnth of the extra seal but for my bike its very good. the fork is great, strong and the damping is spot on when set up for you style and weight.
however for marz allowing these problems and not fixing them is totaly untollerable. 07 ata was just as bad and everyone thought that it was fixed for 08. im glad that i have the place and know how to fix my own sus. i know this is not feasible for everyone nor should it be. for this price you should be reciving a almost flawless fork.
Similar Products Used: 66 08 rc3 no problems but no adjustiable travel.
Bike Setup: transition bottle rocket.
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Submitted by
jsoates
a Weekend Warrior
from Crawford Bay B.C. Canada
Date Reviewed: July 19, 2008
Strengths: Very smooth and progressive when working right. Stiff fork for a single crown.
Weaknesses: ATA knob turns down on rough trails. The air pressure leaks out of the top chamber and fills the stantion tube with pressure causing a very harsh ride. This only occurs when you use the wind down on a climb. If you wire the ATA knob so it won't move and set the air pressures correctly for your weight this fork works excellent on downhills. High speed compression damping a bit on the harsh side. The decals on the fork legs are about as ugly as they get and whoever decided on painting them white never owned a mountain bike that was used for off road (very hard to clean)
Bottom Line:
This fork is a disappointment considering how much money they charge for it. I bought a new Marzocchi 888RC in 2005 and it was a much better product. Marzocchi needs to test their products before putting them out on the public because they seem to have some serious Quality control issues. I was going to purchase the Rock Shox Totem instead and now I'm wondering if I made the right decision.
Similar Products Used: None that compare with this fork.
Bike Setup: Knolly Delirium T with all Shimano XT parts.
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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
kain2000
a Downhiller
from Alberta, Canada
Date Reviewed: July 11, 2008
Strengths: WAS super plush, USED TO ramp up well on the big hits, IS STILL very light.
Weaknesses: Wind down
Bottom Line:
After owning my fork a few months my travel has gone from 7 inches right down to 5.5 inches. Also as I was turning the ATA knob my top schraeder valve snapped. So far I am not impressed. Currently I am waiting on a reply from Marzocchi regarding whether they will fix these problems under warranty. If they do I will not have a problem and may continue to buy from the big M. I wouldn't advise this model though. Unless you really want the adjusting travel go for the 66 RC3, You'll be much happier in the end. Maybe even a totem or a travis would be swell.
P.S. My compression knob fell off when i was riding and could never find it. That Blew!
Submitted by
anestesista
a Weekend Warrior
from Italy and Greece
Date Reviewed: July 9, 2008
Strengths: Have not find it yet...
Weaknesses: does not do what marzocchi describes...
Bottom Line:
1: it has not 180mm of travel but 170mm!!!
2: after 10 minutes of riding downhill the fork loose nearly 15mm of travel becouse the ATA side gets pressed down, so I must stop my ride and turn the ATA knob in anti-clockwise direction for getting all the 170mm of travel!!!
3: there was a very litle movement on the bushings of the fork that I have never meet in all the ather forks that I have tried since I ride bikes!!!
4: after only 10 times of riding my bike, the knob of the low part of the left scabbard, the RC3 side that regulates compression was disconected from the fork and now I cannot regulate the compression of the fork!!!!And it is not covered from guarancee!!!
5: the axle of the fork remains extremely exposed at knocks, so I have broke his arm and now I have to use a pair of grabs for removing it!!!!
ATTENSION!!! if you buy this fork, you will need a lot of luck for having fun with it.....
Submitted by
davet
a Weekend Warrior
from Vancouver
Date Reviewed: July 4, 2008
Strengths: Stiff, plush, excellant damping, good axle system.
Weaknesses: price, stantions scuff easily
Bottom Line:
I traded the failed Totem 2-step for this fork and haven't looked back. It does everything better than the Totem and the travel adjust actually works!!
It takes a basic understanding of how the damping systems work to get it set up properly, so if you don't know what you're doing take it to a shop for some help. Like any high end fork, if you don't get it set up right with will feel like crap.
This fork feels almost as plush as my 888WC, the travel adjust works perfect. It's really a great fork.
Submitted by
PostCanyon
a Downhiller
from HR, OR, USA
Date Reviewed: June 5, 2008
Strengths: ATA on a 7" fork. QR skewer.
Weaknesses: Seals on one side were defective from the factory... Current wait time to have this fixed by Marzocchi is 3 weeks plus shipping.
Bottom Line:
Based on all of the reviews and rants of poor QC on 2008 products from Marzocchi I was wary of getting this fork...and I should have gone with my gut and the Totem. They have so many QC problems that their service center is overloaded and they are making no special efforts at dealing with the problem. How do you say "recall" in Italian?? Unacceptable quality and service for a $1000 fork.
Once I get to actually ride the fork a few times I will hopefully have a more positive review to post.
Submitted by
nicholas poetker
a Downhiller
from japan
Date Reviewed: May 25, 2008
Strengths: great adjustments, strength , and good over all feel. when set up right it feel just like a coil rather than an air fork. i love to jump and do drops so just adding some oil the reboud side can ensure a goood progessive feel. and will not bottom.
Weaknesses: i have had this for for less than a month and the ata when turned leeks the air from the top into the inner tubes creating a verry stiff and harsh feeling. i have to mail it back to get it fixed. this totaly sucks because im in japan so its going to take a long time
Bottom Line:
i love this fork and all of the adjustments. but iam so sad that its leeking air. for this price there shouldnt be Any problems. i just hope the repair turn around is fast and effective.
Favorite Trail: fast flowy steep with drops and jumps
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$1099.00
Purchased At: jenson
Similar Products Used: 66 rc2x,888 08 ata,all mtn sl ata 07
Bike Setup: transtion bottle rocket.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Holger
a Weekend Warrior
from Germany
Date Reviewed: May 21, 2008
Strengths: adjustable travel, good QR System, stiffness, look
Weaknesses: seal on left hand side came out of the bottom tube on the first day with longer DHs, all the oil and air was gone, oil went onto brake during ride, fork was used approx. 5 days. not very plush compared to other forks tried when used with enough air pressure, with less pressure fork sinks much while braking, giving less control. nickle coated stanctions scratch easily. compression adjuster knob fell off in car. bushings have play from the beginning, making a lot of noise with just a little dirt on.
Bottom Line:
performance would have been acceptable if fork was more reliable, if you want to have more of both, better go for a Rock Shox Totem. Mine has worked great until the 2Step problem came up, so take a solo air or better coil model. Sorry, with the seal broken I can not recommend the product to anyone, this should not happen with a new product, especially in this price region!
Similar Products Used: Rock Shox Totem 2Step Air, Fox 36 Float R
Bike Setup: VP FREE, Fox DHX Air 5.0, Avid Code, Mavic DeeMax, Race Face Diabolus bar and stem, Shannon Hardcore seatpost, SRAM X9, Holzfeller crankset, Maxxis Minion DH F 2.5 UST tires, 5050xx pedals
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
darren carter
a Weekend Warrior
from uk
Date Reviewed: May 4, 2008
Strengths: Great adjustability, tuff as hell, nice and plush when broke in
Weaknesses: ATA dial catches frame
Bottom Line:
A great tuff adjustable freeride fork and definately worth buying, maybe marzocchi could bring out a flatter ata dial