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Submitted by
leather-cheerio
a Cross Country Rider
from Muttontown, NY, USA
Date Reviewed: March 25, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Stillwell woods | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | Bike Junkie | | Strengths: | Plush, Stiff, Plush, Endless travel, Plush, great-looking, Plush, Italian. | | Weaknesses: | external rebound adjustment, but you cant have everything. | | Similar Products Used: | '89 Marzocchi XR51, Manitou 2, 3, Mach 5, Rock Shox 97' Judy XC, 99' Judy C, 2000 SID XC | | Bike Setup: | 2000 GT Zaskar, full XTR, Race Face prodigy cranks, XT hubs w/ Sun Rhyno lite rims, Syncros stem and post, Titec Hellbent bar, Chris King NoThreadSet, Shimano 636's, OTI lockjaws, WTB Tires. | | Bottom Line: | I have ridden since racing my Quadangle at the age of 13 in 1982. I have ridden MTN since 1990. Wrenched through college for 3 years at a local shop.
This is, hands down, best fork I have ever tried. I will NEVER go back to a flexy RockShox or unreliable Manitou. I rebuilt each one of my Manitous countless times and the RockShoxs flexed like a pretzel.
I am 6'3", 260lbs and ride hard, I have the hard springs in and 25wt oil and have NEVER bottomed the fork, yes I use all the travel but no bottoming. The Fork is stiction-free and active over small bumps as well as big hits. Add to the fack that it is beautiful and you have a landslide decision.
My only regret is that I waited so long to get one.
Buy this fork NOW! | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
J-Dawg
a
from SLC UT
Date Reviewed: September 8, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Dirt jumps/Urban | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | Came on a P3 w/ heavier springs | | Strengths: | This is the strongest single crown you can get. | | Weaknesses: | I am only dissapointed with this fork because everyone (Bike shops/reviewers) claim it's "So Burly". I ride a hard tail and after 3 months the stanction snapped, the spring shot into the air and missed my eye by about 2 inches. | | Similar Products Used: | rock shock sid. Soon moving up to a short travel statos double clamp. | | Bike Setup: | P3 stock except mavic 321 rims<-- very good investment. | | Bottom Line: | To all you Dirt jump and Urban riders if you can stand not being able to turn the bars in the air, you must step up to a double clamp. Otherwise the Z series forks are temporary and may let you down at any unexpected moment. I'm not even going that big, 6 ft. drop is pushing it for me. Do not take bike product advice from a person who wears spandex. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Corey
a Downhiller
from ...
Date Reviewed: May 1, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Bottom Line: | This is a great frok. Don't believe any of the losers that say that this shock bottoms out. I've had this shock for 2 years and I've only bottomed out once. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Billy Knoth
a Downhiller
from BayShore NY
Date Reviewed: February 11, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | cathedral pines loop | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Purchased At: | came on bike i bought from someone! | | Strengths: | "PLUSH""PLUSH""PLUSH""PLUSH""PLUSH""PLUSH""PLUSH""PLUSH""PLUSH""PLUSH".....You can play with the compretion on the fork externaly...however...if you change the oil in it...you can make it that much beter for the type of riding that you do!...i love the fork...always have always will~~ | | Weaknesses: | it is a lil ugly with the black break arch...but thats the only weakness! | | Similar Products Used: |
SID----Sucks it
| | Bike Setup: | schwinn factory homegrown,xt-xtr,z-3, | | Bottom Line: | its a good fork for the price....and it can be tuned ...it just takes a bit more work than some other forks out there! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Johnny T
a Downhiller
from Canada
Date Reviewed: February 7, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Urban and DJ | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$10.00 | | Purchased At: | BOW ,BABY! | | Strengths: | Plush, soaks up fairly big hits. | | Weaknesses: | PLush, too plush I bottomed them out on the 3rd day having them, with SAE 10 and the fimsit coils. | | Similar Products Used: | sync's | | Bike Setup: | 2001 Kona Chute, thinking of putting JR.T's instead of these | | Bottom Line: | Not bad but better than my Sync's, but bottoming them out kinda pissed me off. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rob Thoms
a
from Las Vegas
Date Reviewed: February 5, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | they're all my favorite | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | Store | | Strengths: | Plush | | Weaknesses: | Terrible seals, no rebound adjustment, heavy, ugly, has disc brake mounts on both sliders?, ugh..I wanna puke. | | Bike Setup: | 98 Big Sur, XT 8-spd throughout, Sun Ryno Lites with LX hubs, Marz Z.3 long travel. | | Bottom Line: | Don't waste your money on this product! Go with an X-Vert, or even the new Pyslo's. It does eat up the little bumps and even some bigger ones but not a value. I've had to have the seals and oil changed three times now...that adds up quick. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jerry
a Cross Country Rider
from San Diego
Date Reviewed: January 14, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Noble Canyon/Anderson Truck Trail | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | Plush progessive damping, low maintainance, good looking | | Weaknesses: | No rebound damping | | Similar Products Used: | None | | Bike Setup: | DBRX2,Mavic 517 w/XT Hubs, UN72 BB, Panaracer Fire XC Pro, | | Bottom Line: | A great freeride fork that soaks up anything thrown at it. Only complaint here is that there is no rebound damping adjustment, was able to slow down rebound with 20wt oil(7.5 is stock).In two years have only had fork apart twice to change fork oil to adjustment rebound. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kevin
a Racer
from Warrensburg, Mo. USA
Date Reviewed: January 8, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Anywhere! | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$275.00 | | Purchased At: | Shop | | Strengths: | Looks Good, 105mm of travel | | Weaknesses: | This fork has to be one of the worst forks that I have ever used. I can bottom this fork out on anything. I mean literally anything. I used this fork for the last half of circuit. I blew this fork in half. I was on the trail and the fork came apart. The male end of the stanction legs came out of the lower leg assembly, completely out. The only thing that saved my a## was the fact that I had not put my disk on the front yet. The cable housing on my v-brakes was too short for the front to fall completely off while I was in the air. THANK GOD! | | Similar Products Used: | Answer (THE BOMB) EVERT-R dual crown TPC
Trek Mogule (bad idea also) | | Bike Setup: | 1998 FSR Elite-Large(red) Grip shift, teflon cables XT brakes, levers, cranks, BB, Super Shuttle chain, XT der's front and rear and an XT cassette. The suspension consists of the Answer (THE BOMB) XVERT-R on the front with the Fox Vanilla coil over in the rear. The wheels are: Spin on the front, very unforgiving, with the CrossMax on the rear. I run the VelociRaptor 2.1 on the Spin with matching VelociRaptor on the rear. Various other parts complete the bike. | | Bottom Line: | In my opinion, the Z3LT in a total waste of money. I have had nothing but bad luck with this fork from the very first ride with it. I can NOT get marzocchi to deal with me on it either to get it fixed. The shop said they would help my if I needed they to, but that has yet to go anywhere. The fork is a total loss. I would not suggest to anyone that they get one, unless they have extra money to throw away. To the one's who do like their fork, more power to you all. To the riders who use Answer products, ride on! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian Attiyeh
a Downhiller
from moraga ca, 94556
Date Reviewed: October 1, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Donald drive | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Very bombproof, lots of smooth travel, low cost, doesn't break down | | Weaknesses: | none | | Similar Products Used: | judy c, xc. | | Bike Setup: | dbr x2, race face, xtr hubs, rhyno lites | | Bottom Line: | Great fork, soaks up all the bumps, no problems at all. It has been working great for as long as I've had it. Works well on big drops. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dennis
a Cross Country Rider
from Montana
Date Reviewed: August 8, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | The Surreal TRail, Technical Trail, and MEow Mix | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | Travel, steering, beefy | | Weaknesses: | Lil' heavy, get over it | | Similar Products Used: | RS Judy XC | | Bike Setup: | '99 moab 1, Gripshift upgrade, | | Bottom Line: | Although I have only ridden on this fork several times, it rocks! Rock Shox should take some notes from Marzocchi. Its so plush...! Awesome intermediate freeride fork. For $250 dollar, you can't beat it.
I will give it many flaming hemmoroids!!!!!
BTW-I weigh 200lbs, haven't bottomed it yet. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Billy
a Cross Country Rider
from San Diego, Ca, US
Date Reviewed: August 1, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Any | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Plush, rigid, low maintenance, confidence inspiring, 4 inches of travel, aggressive looks, haven't bottomed out yet... | | Weaknesses: | heavy, cromoly steerer, little adjustability. | | Similar Products Used: | 1999 RS Judy XC | | Bike Setup: | FSR Enduro w/ 4 inches rear travel to match Z3's 4". | | Bottom Line: | Great product. Better forks exist, but for only $249, you can't beat this deal with a stick! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Graydon
a Cross Country Rider
from Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Date Reviewed: May 16, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Bottom Line: | I've owned a pair of Marzocchi shocks for approximately 2 years. I recently took them apart for their annual oil change and seal inspection/replacement. When I removed the Hydraulic Cartridge, I discovered it was cracked up the side. I was not surprised to hear that my forks are out of warrantee and that the replacement part costs almost $300.
I would not recommend Marzocchi shocks to anyone. I recommend everyone with Marzocchi shocks to inspect them carefully (inside & out) prior to the end of the one year warrantee.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
CobraDMX
a Weekend Warrior
from Oxfordshire, England
Date Reviewed: April 22, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Anywhere | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Solid construction, quite light, plush and progressive travel. | | Weaknesses: | Crown bolts | | Similar Products Used: | RST 180 and 381s | | Bike Setup: | '98 Kona Cindercone frame (steel), no groupset as such just a random collection of quality parts. | | Bottom Line: | This fork is extremely good especially for the money. It comes with quite soft springs but they are the ProWind springs and are very progressive. This is a Good Thing. I weigh 90Kg (apx. 14 stone) and I have not bottomed them out as such, just neared the end of the travel. The preload adjustment helps a little.
A word of advice to anyone with these forks: the crown bolts. They come loose easily. What you should look for is the fork going "clunk" when you lift it into the air and then hit the ground with your weight on it (eg. riding off a kerb). If this happens to you, don't panic. Just press each side of the crown and look carefully at the stantions (gold bits). One (or both if you are unlucky) will come a tiny bit out the crown. Just take out the bolts, use threadlocker and screw it back in, making sure the top of the stantion is plush (or as close as you can) to the crown. Tighten the bolts up as equally as possible.
Who should buy this product? If you are a cross-country rider who is concerned with weight and "bobbing", try elsewhere. You will lose a bit of power through the fork as it is has soft springs. You could try harder springs but there are lighter forks out there. If you are into downhill or dual, you might want to look for something a bit more solid. Not that these aren't strong forks because they are, but they won't be able to stand up to repetitive huge drop-offs or massive jumps. If you are a freerider then these are good forks - plenty travel, just enough damping and a lot of strength.
Overall, these are good forks. They are solid, good looking (especially with blue FSA kit) and have very nice travel. The crown bolts are nothing to worry about, just tighten them with threadlocker and they won't bother you again. If you can, try before you buy to be sure but if you are looking for a decent set of forks these are hard to beat. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Felix CowCow
a Weekend Warrior
from Walnut, CA
Date Reviewed: April 21, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | the hills | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | plush, reliable, looks cool, pretty light | | Weaknesses: | noticible flex, not enough adjusting capabilities | | Similar Products Used: | manitou x-vert dc and original rock shox | | Bike Setup: | 1999 DBR X2, 4.5 rear wheel inches. came stock with my bike. | | Bottom Line: | this a good fork. works well in all conditions. its very plush and i definitely a good deal. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Allan
a Downhiller
from Patterson/Pawling
Date Reviewed: March 3, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Local | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Very Plush, Good weight, Looks GREAT, Nicely built, Basically Z.1 BAM 99 with same stanchions, not BAM , and different sliders/crown/arch/steer tube materials | | Weaknesses: | Low rebound and Damping, poor compression controls | | Similar Products Used: | 99 Z.1 Bam, 98 rockshox Judy XC long travel, Marzocchi Z.1 drop off, shoddy Cannondale shocks, other rockshox stuff, Z.2 BAM | | Bike Setup: | 97 Heckler with rockshox rear shock 4.5 inches travel, Full XTR w/ XT brakes and Avid levers | | Bottom Line: | Very Nice for a good price. If you want hardcore fork, take a Z.1, but this is a solid fork with fewq problems. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Romeo
a Cross-Country Rider
from Fairfield, CA
Date Reviewed: July 23, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Fast Track at Rockville Park | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Long Travel | | Weaknesses: |
Too plush
Needs more Damping | | Similar Products Used: |
Scott Unishocks (years ago) Rock Shox (original) Manitou Spyder | | Bike Setup: |
Stock on 1999 DBR X2 | | Bottom Line: | I have a love/hate relationship with these forks. I love the plush ride when I am in really rough terrain, big drop-offs, and the like. However, on the technical sections where you need to ride between rocks, or when you don't get a chence to pull up after a rock, they have a tendency to bottom, and throw me over the bars! Over all they're great!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave
a Cross-Country Rider
from Vernon, BC, Canada
Date Reviewed: June 22, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Spanky's | | Duration Product Used: |
tested or demo'ed only | | Strengths: |
everything | | Weaknesses: |
none | | Similar Products Used: |
Judy XC, Jett XC, Man. Mach 5 Pro, Indy S, Indy C, Z.2 AB, Z.5, Z.4, Judy T2 | | Bike Setup: |
Gt 3000 I drive | | Bottom Line: | Extremely plush. Let's see any RS or Manitou fork top this one! I'd take this fork over a pair of SIDS! Bombers all the way | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Elliot
a Racer
from England
Date Reviewed: June 10, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
more than 3 years | | Strengths: |
none | | Weaknesses: |
no resistance | | Bottom Line: | rubbish | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kyle Baker
a downhiller
from Kanata, Ont, Canada
Date Reviewed: March 8, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I would have to say that this is a very nice fork, I have just recently purchased the z.3 Long Travel and am very satisfied with there preformance on the downhill. Even cross-country these bad boys are a dream, especialy for big drop-offs and ruts. the only Complaint is that they will devower your wallet if you buy them at the first store you see them and dont shop around. $450 is allot but if you do what i did and trade your old forks in, you can avoid the whole price problem. So i would have to give these beuties... | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike
a downhiller
from Massachusetts
Date Reviewed: February 13, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
This fork is the all out best dh fork you can buy. Nothing comes close to the performance. Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla. | | Overall Rating: |
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