Submitted by
CRed
a Cross Country Rider
from Duluth,MN Date Reviewed: June 9, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$370.00
Purchased At:
EBAY
Strengths:
Light,stiff and very adjustable
Weaknesses:
None so far.
Similar Products Used:
Manitou Black Elite Air
Bike Setup:
Voodoo Legba w/XT drivetrain.
Bottom Line:
I have had no problems with these,the TST-5 and rebound works well and no stiction at all.After peeling off all the stickers aside from the "CORSA" ones they look great too.For $370 these were a great deal!
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Submitted by
Patrik
a Cross Country Rider
from Hungary Date Reviewed: April 29, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$400.00
Purchased At:
Ebay
Strengths:
weight, nice look, very smooth
Weaknesses:
Little knocking like all Marzocchi. Price: about 1000 USD in Hungary - stupid dealers!!!!
Similar Products Used:
Rock Shock Judy Race, Marzocchi Z2
Bike Setup:
Custom built Voodoo Bizango, SramX9, Thomson, FSA, ChrisKing, Hope
Bottom Line:
I wanted to buy a light, but stiff fork. I was thinking about RockShox Reba or this fork and last I bought Marzocchi. I like the performance of Marzocchi forks. The user manual not so useful, but I found this page - www.marzocchi.com/System/55345/ATA%20SETUP.pdf - and I could setup the fork perfectly for me. The first step to install the SAG with SFA and no pressure in the PAR. I am 75 kg and 120 psi enough. You have to memorize this data and deflate the SFA. Second is the pressurize the PAR (SFA +30 psi). Last set the SFA. This install is working and the fork works perfectly. I have used for 3 forks and it has been working smooth and I have no problem. Now I think I was not regret it.
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Submitted by
paul bayne
a Racer
from annapolis, md Date Reviewed: April 28, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Patapsco
Duration Product Used:
More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$400.00
Purchased At:
speedgoat
Strengths:
Pretty stiff, pretty light, super adjustable, totally rebuildable. Tough
Weaknesses:
Takes some decent wrenching skills to set-up well and to rebuild
Similar Products Used:
Variety of rock shox (either too heavy or too flimsy)
Bike Setup:
Hardtail Kona with xt/xtr mix, tubeless,
Bottom Line:
This is actually a review for the old 2002 Marathon S. Its surprisingly similar to the new corsa models. The new ones are stiffer and have better TST. I just want people to know that marzocchi customer service is excellent if you have a problem. I have been rebuilding and tweaking this fork for 6 years now. The tech folks are very helpful and the fork can pretty much be totally rebuilt to keep it working nice. The only parts I don't get direct from marzocchi are the fork oil and the oil seals (use enduro, way cheaper). I even by the o-rings from marz. I think they are higher quality than the hardware store. Some things to keep in mind with a fork like this: It takes lots of patience to figure out how to set them up with all the valving and chambers and oil levels etc. Take the time to learn it or just buy a no brainer fork like a SID. Also, a precision system like this needs some care. Contaminated oil and worn out bushings and o-rings lead to poor performance. Either send it in each year or learn how to do it yourself. There are forks out there that are a little lighter and ones that are a little stiffer, and ones that require less technical skill to keep working. I think that this line of forks from way back in 2001 to today are the best all round racing forks out there. They blend all the good performance characteristics together with a reasonable price and a long service life.
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Submitted by
RS
a Cross Country Rider
from Indian Rocks Beach Date Reviewed: March 12, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Santos, Carter Road, Alafia
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$650.00
Purchased At:
Bicycle Outfitters
Strengths:
It's a Marzocchi, light, smooth TST provides nice ride options
Weaknesses:
Remote TST was an option for 2007, Marzocchi included it for 2008
Similar Products Used:
Marzocchi Marathon, FOX RLC, Marzocchi Dirt Jumper II
Bike Setup:
Custom built Vicious Bikes Metal Guru steel hardtail with all 2007 XTR, Chris King headset and hubs on Dave's Speed Dream wheelset, Thompson stem and seatpost and Salsa clamp/skewers
Bottom Line:
Either Andre is buying online or his local bike shop isn't taking care of their customers. Marzocchi's service is great. I had one of the first CORSAs in the US and there were some issues with the oil/setup. Once the fork was returned to Marzocchi they acknowledged and immediately remedied the problem. Now the fork is sweet. The PAR valve is a bugger to get to, however; once you get it set up it's not something you have to mess with often.The fork is smooth, the TST is sweet and between the input from other post, Marzocchi's web site, the manual and common sense, set up isn't that hard. Oh yeah, unless you're a GATOR fan...
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Submitted by
Andre
a
from Gainesville, FL Date Reviewed: March 12, 2008
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$370.00
Strengths:
light, handles well, TST settings actually have different levels of dampening
Weaknesses:
PAR valve impossible to find, useless instruction manual/recommended pressures, lousy customer support, half-naked women on marzocchi web site can't tell me how the fork works
Bike Setup:
handjob xc
Bottom Line:
this was supposed to be the lightest, ultimate XC fork by marzocchi.
if you bought it because it looks pretty, or it's light, you're SOL. it's neither. if you bought it because you got it on sale... well. the instruction manual really doesn't get into explaining TST, PAR, SFA, or the other features of the fork, instead it gives an idiot's guide to installing brakes and a wheel. there are 'ideal' pressures for the SFA and PAR carts but they are ludicrously overestimated. at 200#, my 'ideal' settings were rock hard. the PAR valve requires the use of an extension tube for your pump (don't lose it, there's also no mention of it in the instructions, or the location of the PAR valve). there is also no mention that the SFA cart needs to be deflated while pressurizing the PAR or that the SFA needs to be 30 psi less than the PAR (confused yet?) but don't worry, the marzocchi web site has half-naked women to keep you company when you can't figure out your effing fork.
there was also some small amount of oil around the PAR valve. i thought it was a leak, turned out to be a sloppy assembly job by marzocchi, and it was just residual crap.
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Submitted by
Patrick
a Cross Country Rider
from Brentwood, TN, USA Date Reviewed: November 12, 2007
Favorite Trail:
Hammy
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$500.00
Purchased At:
Harpeth Bicycles
Strengths:
Adjustability, stiffness, lightweight, and decent platform.
Weaknesses:
Price! Stiction was a problem for awhile. PAR air valve location.
Similar Products Used:
FOX Float and Rock Shox SID.
Bike Setup:
Sycip Diesel.
Bottom Line:
This is a good fork especially for single speed because you can really adjust the bob out of it without sacrificing too much small bump sensitivity. Set up is a pain because the manual does not give good air pressure recommendations and they fail to mention that the PAR chamber must be filled with no pressure in the SFA chamber. It took a lot of trial an error to get it right but since then it has been good. Just know going in that the air pressure/rider weight chart is not going to help a lot. Also remember that the SFA chamber needs to be 30 lbs less than the PAR chamber. I did have some serious stiction problems that was cured by changing the oil.
Good fork but can be tricky to set up.
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Submitted by
The Dragon Slayer
a Racer
from Calgary, AB, Canada Date Reviewed: June 5, 2007
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$615.00
Purchased At:
online
Strengths:
For the 80mm version: good adjustability, stiff, relatively light (1580 g with cut steerer). Can make it plush if you want to. TST settings actually feel different from each other.
Weaknesses:
TST knob hard to grab on to. Still a bit of stiction after 3 months.
Similar Products Used:
'05 Marzocchi Marathon XC
Bike Setup:
your usual scandium-framed race rocket
Bottom Line:
Compared to the Marz Marathon XC I had, the TST settings are very much improved. I agree with the previous poster about the TST knob - other shocks in the lineup have the lever, why not this one??? Overall I think it's a good 80mm shock. It's been raced a number of times now and no real problems except dialing it in, which didn't take too long. Hopefully the stiction will continue to subside. Too bad about the seals from the previous poster. Mine are fine. And Marzocchi Canada service rocks. Get this if you race.
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Submitted by
Jacob
a Racer
from Phoenix, AZ, US Date Reviewed: May 15, 2007
Favorite Trail:
Javelina
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Strengths:
The fork is relatively light at 3.5 lbs with a uncut steerer. The new single chamber air adjustment makes setup easy. The fork is plush as well as torsionally rigid. It is definately a very nice riding fork.
Weaknesses:
The fork seals blew within the 1st 50 miles and has been at Marzocchi for the last 5 weeks. I know that this time a year, that the turnaround time is not great, but being off my bike for 5 weeks SUCKS! The fork also doesn't come with remote lockout as mentioned on their website. On their site, they state that it comes with a remote lockout. They have since changed the language on their site to (optional remote lockout) For an 800 dollar fork, I think it should be included. By the way, it's a 160 dollar upgrade plus 40 dollar labor to install it. YIKES! On last gripe is that the TST 5 nob is not very conducive to actually using on the fly. The knob doesn't have a lever per se, so you have to just grap the dial which is not very convenient
Similar Products Used:
F100RLC, Reba Team, Manitou R7
Bike Setup:
2007 Epic Marathon, XTR cranks, XO drivetrain, I9 wheelset
Bottom Line:
The fork is definately a top performer, but good luck IF something goes wrong. You might be without a bike for a bit. I will see how long the fork lasts now that the issue has been resolved. I will post once I actually get to put serious miles on the fork
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Submitted by
Marc
a Cross Country Rider
from Tucson, AZ USA Date Reviewed: March 13, 2007
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Similar Products Used:
Marathon SL
Bike Setup:
1994 Fat Chance Ti, SRAM XO
Bottom Line:
Not weight weenie light, but light enough. Very solid and stable while riding fast single track with easy adjustment on the fly to fit the terrain. Far superior to my 2003 Marathon SL. Opened up all of the way, it was plush on rocky descents. (I mean plush for an 80 mil shock) They are a bit pricey, but I got an upgrade deal from Marzocchi when I traded in my Marathon SL. Plus, the folks at Marzocchi were kind enough to press in a 1 inch steerer to make it compatible with my older but still sweet Ti Fat Chance. I am so far very happy. It is a good, light XC shock that can be refitted with a 1 inch steer tube if needed.
$
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