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Submitted by
Guillaume
a Cross Country Rider
from Montréal
Date Reviewed: July 13, 2006 | | Favoriate Trail: | bromont | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$200.00 | | Purchased At: | a friend | | Strengths: | It is a lightweight fork. Plushness is good and it can easily be tuned and the maintenance is not that bad. ridding it give me confidence and it makes my rides faster and gives a better handling | | Weaknesses: | None since those three months | | Similar Products Used: | SID 100, minute 2, Duke u-turn, Marin, RST, MAG 21 and other old stuff. | | Bike Setup: | GT zaskar all XT and TI components. | | Bottom Line: | I really like this fork and never faced any problem. I do not have any leakage (oil, air). Also, even if some say it is kinda long finding the right settings, it just shows how fine can the tuning be. I am also an heavy rider at 195 avg. I really like stiffness, but wanted to be able to use the neg air feature. I am a level two mechanics and I wanted to share with others my trick to set it right (if you like it stiff with long travel):
You take off all the neg air. After, you set the positive air pressure to the stiffness you like. When it's done, you raise the negative pressure until the travel is reduced. Then, you use your pump to realease the extra air until you get your full travel back. To get the best performance with it, I run at 57-62 and 100-120. I saw some people with 0 neg pressure, you can, but you are not using the features you paid for.
A really good fork, maybe the best in its category. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Marc
a Cross Country Rider
from Houston, TX, USA
Date Reviewed: June 9, 2005 | | Favoriate Trail: | Bluff Creek Ranch "Warda" | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$550.00 | | Purchased At: | Online | | Strengths: | Savvy Marketing | | Weaknesses: | Inability to perform intended function as advertised. | | Bike Setup: | Hardtail | | Bottom Line: | Left leg disasembled itself on the 5th ride. I had high expectations for this fork, and had talked it up to all my friends. This fork made me look like a punk. Damn thing gave me a lubricant facial to remember her by as well.
I want my f$#&'n money back. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Daniel Parker
a Cross Country Rider
from Waco Texas United States of America
Date Reviewed: December 7, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | speed run | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | Very sturdy and adjustable good for cross country racing and maraton racing. | | Weaknesses: | Rebound and Compression adjustment have to use a special little tool. | | Similar Products Used: | Rock Shox Race Titanuim | | Bike Setup: | Bianchi Super Grizzly XTR all around wheels too. | | Bottom Line: | Good cross country fork it's light and strong go for all users.Bomb proof hints the name "Bomber". Looking at replacing it for an 05 Marathon SL. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
William Patterson
a Cross Country Rider
from N.Ireland
Date Reviewed: November 21, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | Well manufactured with good design criteria and attention to detail. Extememly tuneable and stiff with impressive tracking abilities. | | Weaknesses: | Bushes are excellent but require time to bed-in.
The manual isn't sufficiently informative. | | Similar Products Used: | Manitou. Rockshox. Fox. Pace. RST. | | Bike Setup: | Specialized FSR M4 with full XT. | | Bottom Line: | An impressive set of forks which perform exceptionally well. My forks have no leakage problems, are very smooth and responsive and track superbly. They are very reliable and consistent in performance and the ECC 5 allows me any amount of tuneable variations to meet every sort of terrain. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
JG
a Cross Country Rider
from Ohio U.S
Date Reviewed: October 28, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | Very well designed with strong but light construction and a plethora of available settings from fast rebound to lock out. Low level of air leakages, much better that the SIDs. Great tracking in a point and go way. Solid braking | | Weaknesses: | Slow to break in and the manual sucks. | | Bottom Line: | Top line forks for all the reasons I have given in the product strengths window.
Cheaper than some home based (US) products and the forks rock. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Pete Ross
a Weekend Warrior
from Scotland
Date Reviewed: September 28, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | Glentress | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Very well engineered to give sooth and consistent performance. A quite light suspension fork. Very good seals and very adjustable even with a lock down for climbing. A real quality product. | | Weaknesses: | The saels are quite stiff at first and take a while to free. The instruction manual is helpfull but not enough. The positive pressure recommendations are far too high. | | Similar Products Used: | Products by Manitou, Fox, Rockshox and RST. | | Bike Setup: | Specialized FSR etc. | | Bottom Line: | I feel that this Marathon is probably the best cross country fork and light free-ride fork on the market today. Excellent seals, or maybe I am incredibly lucky, but I hardly even think about topping up the air levels. Super ECC cartridge which gives the most amazing adjustability on the fly. Rigid and great tracking. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Damian
a Cross Country Rider
from Levittown NY
Date Reviewed: September 24, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | Stillwell/ Greenbelt | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | I took this thing for its virgin ride today, man what a difference. It opened new lines on my regular trails that I would have never dreamed to attack with my old manitou. This fork will absorb anything you throw at it, just point the tire where you want to go and floor it. | | Weaknesses: | nothing whatsoever, I would have paid double for it, I can't wait till it is fully broken in. | | Similar Products Used: | Manitou sx, RockSucks Judy, and Sid. | | Bike Setup: | Klein Attitude Comp XT everything, Avid BBs 203mm with Avid 7 series levers,and full metal jackets. Sun RhynoLites | | Bottom Line: | No other choice when it comes to forks this baby is incredible | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jo Dowsin
a
from SoCal
Date Reviewed: September 19, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | well put together set of forks, good seals, stiff and strong, very adjustable, can cope with almost anything. | | Weaknesses: | Give it time to settle in. The seals have got a lot of friction at first and need time to loosen up. The instructions are non too good you need to put less pressure in the + & - than in the book. | | Bottom Line: | These forks will deliver the goods once they have had time to loosen up. Just about the best pair of forks that I have ever ridden in 16 years of Mountain biking. Just great adjustability and the ECC 5 cartridge lets you take that even further. They give real confidence and I ride so much faster than I did with my SIDs. Tried Fox....very good ...very expensive. Could not see my way to paying Fox prices when I can get this kind of performance for a lot less and with top reliability. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dean Steffenburg
a Downhiller
from Munich
Date Reviewed: August 30, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Well made and good design with a very efficient set of positive and negative air chambers. Structural strength ensures no flexing on hard hits or under heavy braking. ECC control allows to tune the forks even more than adjusting the air pressures and can be adjusted on the cycle. Multiple rebound adjustments to lock out. | | Weaknesses: | Time must be given for the forks to become smooth because of the strenght of the banjo seals. Marzocchi recommend using Silicone grease on the stanchions to help. Air pressure adjustments must be precise but the manual is no help with the negative doppio pressure settings. | | Similar Products Used: | Manitou, Magura, Rockshox, Girvin and RST. | | Bike Setup: | Cannondale Jekyll Shimano XT transmission and disc brakes. | | Bottom Line: | A superior Fork that has been well engineered to provide an exceptional level of performance for hard crosscountry riding. Very adjustable and also very reliable and it will steer very well even thru hard and complex courses. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Wade McCormick
a Cross Country Rider
from San Marcos,CA, U.S.A.
Date Reviewed: August 24, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$340.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Price for last years model. No leakage I can tell. Quality travel. Beefy build. | | Weaknesses: | Poor owners manual. Difficult to adjust. Ecc should automatically disengage when big hit encountered. Bit on the heavy side. Not flex free. | | Similar Products Used: | Manitou Mars | | Bike Setup: | 2003 KHS Team ST. XTR, Eggbeaters, Crossmax, Easton M/Lite, Syncros post, Ritchy Pro stem, Flite SLR, Mosquito 2.35, very light bike (23.5 lbs.) | | Bottom Line: | The Marzocchi SL is a good value, especially if you can get a prior year model, identical to current model. Once set up, adjustments stay true. Little or no leakage. Not a perfect fork, but go's straight allmost allways. Very cool looking. Im 220x6'4", It is the best XC fork I've used in 15 years as MTB rider. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ted
a Weekend Warrior
from SoCal
Date Reviewed: August 18, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$400.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Stiff and Strong. Light for it's strength. Tracks great over pretty much anything. Real smooth. ECC cartridge is excellent. | | Weaknesses: | A bit expensive, but cheaper than the Fox equivalent. Takes a while to get the seals to bed in. Takes time to get the right pressures dialed in for your riding style. | | Bottom Line: | This is a great Fork. It has given me no trouble. It is super smooth once you get it run-in and it has the stiffness to track even the roughest downhill trails. The ECC cartridge is sooo usefull you can change the damping on the trail and also lock-out the fork totally. Great at climbing, great at descending. The fork keeps the pressure and I check it every month. It takes a bit of time to dial in the right levels for your riding style but once done this fork rocks! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kervin
a Cross Country Rider
from Virginia
Date Reviewed: August 11, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | Big Levels, GWNF | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$200.00 | | Purchased At: | Ebay baby! | | Strengths: | Smooth, responsive, very reliable, function. | | Weaknesses: | Color – White fork and Virginia clay are a bad combo | | Similar Products Used: | First gen Trek crap, Manitou 1,2 &3, Rock shox mag 21 and Judy, Marzocchi XC51 and Atom 80, Manitou Black 100 | | Bike Setup: | Salsa hardtail, XT, Sram, Avid discs | | Bottom Line: | This fork is great. I was looking for an “S” model, but I’m really happy that I got the SL. It seems to work well all the time. I’ve never used the lockout cause I climb in the saddle. The guy I got the fork from had “corrected” the owners manual and he weighs just a little less than me, so set-up was a breeze. Of all the fork companies I’ve gotten forks from, the Marzocchi’s always work best on the trail. Maybe it’s because they have a motorcycle back ground. I do think about getting one of those new FOX forks with “terra logic”, but I don’t think it will work better on the trail. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bill Williams
a Cross Country Rider
from Bath U.K
Date Reviewed: August 7, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | Coed-y-Brenin | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$460.00 | | Purchased At: | cycle1st.com | | Strengths: | Stiff, well made, tracks well, little deflection, little tip flutter under hard braking. | | Weaknesses: | Takes quite a while for the seals to bed in. | | Similar Products Used: | Fox, Manitou, Rockshox extensive list of models. | | Bike Setup: | Specialized Enduro. Full XTR apart from Hope Hubs, Hope Discs on Mavic X717 disc rims and Easton finishing kit. | | Bottom Line: | These have proved so far to be exceptional forks. They have not leaked air or oil and have surpassed my expectations for what is a high end fork. I suspect that the poor instruction manual has lead to a plethora of experimentation, which in itself is no bad thing except that it could cause greater pressures being installed in certain chambers than they may have been designed for. And of course there is no indication as to maximum pressures. Personally I have adjusted my pressures gradually and as I have said am very pleased with these forks. I have had no indication of any cracking at the dropouts nor have I experienced any such thing on the numerous Marzocchi forks which I have and do own. I am a little confused as to how this could occur on a 2003 fork which someone has had for over 3 years. And as to the competition I rather suspect that for me the closest contender is probably Fox. However The Marathon is as good as any Fox I have tried, it's lighter than most of the Fox range and is considerably less expensive. The cost of Fox forks in the U.K can only be described as startlingly expensive.
I conclusion, my view is that the Marathon SL is recommendable. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tom Wiard
a Cross Country Rider
from Montrose co usa
Date Reviewed: May 5, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | Monarch crest | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$400.00 | | Purchased At: | Over the edge/Fruita co | | Strengths: | predictable/weight/tunable/ | | Weaknesses: | owners manual | | Similar Products Used: | 98 judy xc/2002 duke 100 | | Bike Setup: | over the edge full suspension(made by Titus like a racer x set up for 100 mm travel 4-bar) xt/race face turbine LP cranks /king headset/thompson/eston/bontrager mustangs | | Bottom Line: | I was worried by all of the comments below -but if you think about it there are two positive air chambers and so there is one on each leg and the outer schrader valve on the edge of each leg adjusts the positive chamber for that leg-there is one negative chamber that is adjusted by the one center schrader valve- the owners manual and the recomendations below seem to give a good start to adjusting.
I weigh 165 and about 35 lbs in the positive chambers and 120 in the ngative seems to work. This fork rocks! consistancy and springy rebound make this fork superior to my duke for anything but smooth single track. The old fork seemed to not rebound well so there was a bottomless sinking feeling on big hits. This fork absorbs the shock but than rebounds in a predictable way. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
steven foley
a Weekend Warrior
from Tujunga, CA. USA
Date Reviewed: April 17, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | rainbow trail, continental divide trail, colorado trail | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$399.00 | | Purchased At: | supergo | | Strengths: | When this fork is working properly it is awsome. This fork absorbs everything in its path and I do not feel a thing. It is very responsive on cornering as well. | | Weaknesses: | I have had this fork for about 6 months and the oil seals blew twice and a seal in the negative chamber went bad causing the chamber to fill with oil. | | Similar Products Used: | 01 judy, 02 judy, 02 psylo, 03 black elite | | Bike Setup: | weyless frame, full xt, thompson stem/seatpost, race face cranks | | Bottom Line: | This fork is awsome. Even though I have had some problems with the fork ( I must have bought that one in a thousand fork with a few minor defects.) this is still the best fork I have ever riden. Marzocchi's customer service is second to none. They are taking great care of me and they are ironing out any further problems with the fork. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
DanK
a
from Emmaus PA
Date Reviewed: April 14, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | Anything with dirt | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$400.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Decent weight, great dampening, super adjustable, good spring feel | | Weaknesses: | Slightly flexy compared to my old Black, Finicky to set up | | Similar Products Used: | Manitou Black, Duke SL | | Bike Setup: | Yeti KoKo, Mavic 819's, Truvativ, XTR, Thomson, Times, Easton Carbon, Maguras, blah blah blah.... | | Bottom Line: | This fork has re-defined trail fell for me. It has yet to kick me off a rock or root in an unexpected way. ECC useful on long grinder climbs, but I only use it for those. It took about 5-6 rides to figure out my ideal setup- 49psi positive, 110psi negative, rebound clicker set where top of the M points at the head tube. I have not experienced any excess leakage (check before each ride) but a pound or two every other ride or so. One workd, though, check your pressure after the fork has reached the temp you are riding in or it will be wayyy off....Winter riding was interesting until I worked that one out. Otherwise a great fork, tracks well, eats up bumps, and makes my arms feel less like I have been handling a jackhammer after a long descent. Good balance between weight, features, and stiffness. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
David
a Cross Country Rider
from Cumming (Atl), GA
Date Reviewed: April 4, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | Chicopee Woods (Gainesville, GA) | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$340.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Super smooth. Dual Air. ECC cartridge to lower Ft End for climbs. | | Weaknesses: | very vague owner's manual. | | Similar Products Used: | RS Pilot SL, Duke Race, SID Race | | Bike Setup: | 2003 Giant NRS3 w/ following upgrades: XT rear cassette / RS SID adjust rear. | | Bottom Line: | 85mm version. Wonderful fork. I knew it would be better than the OEM RS Pilot that I removed, but riding it sure convinced me of the difference. (obviously an unfair comparison as the RS Pilot is much less expensive). Marz cust svc was very helpful in recommending correct pressures. Really soaks up tree roots, rocks, etc at speed without making you feel like you are riding on a pogo stick (as some others). ECC really works for steep switchback climbs (several on my trail) and is remakably easy to change on the fly. Don't know about others who say the '03 model ECC control knob is hard to use - mine is simple to operate. I'm 185 & set up at 40# positive / 100# neg. Can't say much about reliability just yet (only ridden once), but Marzocchi's reputation for reliabilty is very good and I'm expecting good results. Great price from Supergo (now out of stock). Very slight front to rear flex (more than my wife's Manitou Axel Super), but almost none noticed side to side or twisting. Rode 1st trail (7 miles)aggressively without bottoming out. Would highly recommend to any XC or AXC rider. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ian
a Cross Country Rider
from Yellowknife, NWT, Canada
Date Reviewed: March 13, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$950.00 | | Purchased At: | Overlander Sports | | Strengths: | Stiff stanchions, reliable air pressure retention (at least on mine so far), ECC with lockout, air pressure tunability. Far stiffer than SID, and from the # of SID reviews I've read, this fork seems to be much more durable, which would seem to meet its design goals as a marathon-oriented XC fork. A fork you can pretty much pressurize and forget (not neglecting regular maintenance and cleaning, of course). | | Weaknesses: | Not cheap to buy, considering it may now be a bit technologically behind in terms of the current crop of stable-platform valved forks now on the market. The plastic "M" ECC control knob is a bit painful on the fingers to turn: a CNC-machined rounded metal knob would be much more elegant and less "biting" on the fingers. It would be nice to have the lockout feature available in the fork's extended position as well as the ECC-compressed mode. My sense is that Marzocchi's designs are not quite keeping up with the trend and technology in stable platform valving. For the money, I'd be very tempted to properly compare the 2004 Fox Float 100 RLC, the FOX Terralogic fork and Manitou's Minute 2 SPV fork, as well as the Manitou Skareb SPV fork before making a purchase. | | Similar Products Used: | Nothing this lightweight before. 2002 Rockshox Psylo SL on my 2001 GT-iDrive 2.0, 2000 Marchocchi Z1 M80 on my Kona hardtail. Have briefly demo'ed Fox Float 100 RLC, which was impressive and beautifully made, with tons of on-the-go tunability, although it is a heavier fork. | | Bike Setup: | Newly mounted on Santa Cruz Blur (with last generation XTR shifters and derailleurs, 2003 XTR crankset, Chris King headset and hubs, Mavic UST rims. Was mounted in 2003 on my 2000 Kona Pahoehoe hardtail with the same components as above, but XT/Mavic 317 wheelset instead. I run this fork fairly stiff in terms of air pressures (35 psi positive, 110 psi negative), and I weigh 185#. | | Bottom Line: | I put a fair amount of road-riding mileage on this fork last year, a bit of trail-riding, as well as riding 3 local XC races. The fork (so far) never seems to lose pressure, it is stiff (which is great for my body weight), and it's very adjustable in terms of air pressure settings.
I rate the fork very high on its durability and stiffness, and for its light weight especially in relation to that durability and stiffness (which I think exceeds anything else in its class). The ECC feature is nice to have, and it works very well (as advertised). I'm going to take it in a couple of endurance races this coming summer, so these events will be a good test of the fork over some hard miles and technical terrain. So far, after a year of riding it, I'm giving it a 5 for overall rating because of its durability, reliability and functionality as advertised.
On a slight downside, I have the sense that Marzocchi's real market focus is geared more to the extreme freeride crowd (which arguably doesn't require anti-bob technology to the same degree as XC racers and "techie" trail riders want), and as such, they don't yet appear to be focussing as intensively on stable-platform valve technology as Fox and Manitou. The fork (not surprisingly)is therefore susceptible to bobbing under hard pedalling (especially out-of-saddle), although some more experimentation with air pressures and ECC settings might reduce this problem somewhat.
At any rate, in 2003, SPV technology was brand new, and perhaps Marzocchi got caught snoozing a bit along these lines, or chose not to go that route for whatever reason. I certainly wasn't aware of SPV technology a year ago when I shopped for this fork.
However, for anyone in 2004 looking for a high-end, XC fork at this price range for trail-riding, I would expect a fork with better pedalling-induced bob control than this fork's technology provides. In 2003, I would have given this fork a solid "4" for value. However, with the introduction of stable platform technology now, I'm giving the fork a 3 for value (when measured against the available 2004 forks). I've never tried the 2004 Manitou Skareb with SPV, but I would bet it would stack up very favourably against this fork in terms of weight, tunability and anti-bob technology. As for durability, I'll leave that to those who've ridden both forks to do the comparison. A comparison worth making, I would think. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Allen
a Cross Country Rider
from Portland, OR, USA
Date Reviewed: February 23, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | Ape Canyon | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$327.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Price for Wieght, stiffness. | | Weaknesses: | Service manual | | Similar Products Used: | Manitou XVertR, Rockshoc 100 | | Bike Setup: | DBRX6, xtr, rhinolights, maguras | | Bottom Line: | Seems getting this one set up is the whole issue. The comments about the schrader valves leaking is probably where most of the air leaks are coming from. If you are having that problem, pull the valves and replace them and use a bit of teflon grease on the oring and threads to prevent buggering. Also, the air chambers seem to have an upper pressure limit somewhere above 120lbs before being damaged, so don't go there. If you read the non english sections of the manual, it becomes more clear that the positive chambers are the two outer valves and the negative chamber is the inner one. I also suspect that the positive chambers will fail if accidentally over-pressurized, due to confusion as to which is which. Also, lack of adequate neg pressure seems to prevent the ECC from working. I'm 165 and have set up the shock at 30pos / 100neg, likely to add more negative on rides with more downhill.
Haven't nuked out how to change the oil yet but it is probably described well in Italian even though no procedure is written in English. Fortunately, the shock is what gets ridden, not the manual. If after all this the shock still proves as unreliable to me as it has to some, then I'm going for Fox F80X. The price is steep but I think it is the single best shock and shock manufacturer on the market. I decided to try this one, because if the air chambers can be kept within their design test pressure (no mention of this in the manual..) it probably gives me the same performance at half the cost of the Fox.
Ride Hard! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Carlos
a Cross Country Rider
from Phoenix, AZ, USA
Date Reviewed: February 13, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | All | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$400.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Lightweigth. 105mm travel. Performs like an F100X. | | Weaknesses: | A tiny bit noisier than F100X. | | Similar Products Used: | 2004 F100X, 2000 Fatty SL 70mm. | | Bike Setup: | Cannondale F700 (w/Cane Creek XC Short Headset), V-Brakes. | | Bottom Line: | This is a follow-up to my previous review. Once I figured out how to set up my pressures, this fork performed superbly. In fact, I think it is every bit as good as my $775 F100X. When compared to a Cannondale Headshock, there simply is an orders of magnitude improvement. This is a very good fork -- can't go wrong with this one. Use pressures recommended by others, and t rely on user's manual, then you'll be fine. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ron
a Weekend Warrior
from Laguna, CA USA
Date Reviewed: December 22, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | SAn Juan Trail | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$340.00 | | Purchased At: | supergo | | Strengths: | Lightweight. This fork dropped a pound from my ride. The adjustability is both a strength and a weakness. | | Weaknesses: | Getting the air pressures tuned to my liking took more time than I thought it would. I weigh 210. I run 40 psi positive and 100 psi negative. I do not like to monkey with my gear that much. I find that I do not use the ECC it lowers the bottom bracket too much. I also noticed that is some flex in dicier situations. | | Bike Setup: | Specialized Enduro, float RC, disc brakes, Mavic/King wheels. Various upgraded components throughout. | | Bottom Line: | This is a solid 4" fork. It cannot be beat for the price. The Fox products were at least $200 more and a heavier. Do not pay more than $340. Spend the time getting your air pressure dialed in and it will be a great fork for you. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mark
a Cross Country Rider
from Highlands Ranch
Date Reviewed: December 12, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | Colorado Trail | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$500.00 | | Purchased At: | Local Bike Shop | | Strengths: | Stable performance, good trail sensitivity, and the 85mm SL has great geometry for 5'7"-5'8" rider on Santa Cruz's Blur. The ECC cartridge makes steep climbs much easier. | | Weaknesses: | Negative air valve is problematic, easily damaged from use and maintenance. Once damaged it begins to progressively leak air and oil. The threads on the plastic cap for the left leg wear prematurely. Grabbing the right cap to effect the ECC cartridge on climbs could be improved. | | Similar Products Used: | Marzocchi Atom Bomb '99, Fox Float RLC 100 | | Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Blur, XTR drive train, Race Face cranks and BB, Chris King hubs, Mavic 517 rims, Avid Arch brakes. | | Bottom Line: | The biggest challenge is finding a competant technician to perform the maintenance on the shock. Inquire as to shop technician's experience on this specific shock.
My first maintenance to RnR the break-in oil went great. Rode about 1500-1600 trail miles over three and one half months. Shock performed flawlessly. Then I learned that that technician relocated out of state when the second maintenance was scheduled. The negative air valve was damaged and performance became prgressively compromised.
Ultimately I crashed late October which bent the crown. Yes, bent the crown. I ride at 150lbs. This should not have happened. Marzocchhi would only do a crash warranty on the fork at $275 for the '04 SL. So much for pride in workmanship, however, I'm also sure they are satiated with such warranty requests.
In the interim I mounted a Fox Float RLC 100mm. Great fork, but at my weight I had to lower the air in the left leg to mitigate the stiffness of the 32mm stanchions. The Fox Float was great on the downhill but I really had to get over the front on steep climbs. The air valve leaked a small amont of oil when removing the female valve fitting on the pump, but did not appear to affect performance. After about a month (about 250 miles), I decided the crown span created too much standover for me on the Blur.
So, instead of listing the '04 Marzocchi warranty replacement on Ebay, I have recently had it mounted. The crown span works much better in the geometry of the bike for my riding. Marzocchi improved the caps on the stanchions and the ECC cartridge is much more user friendly to effect. The next challenge is finding the right technican for maintenance.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tequila Joe
a Cross Country Rider
from Calgary
Date Reviewed: December 8, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | Any single track | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$350.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Plush, Very responsive to small bumps & can handle the bigger stuff too, Plush, Easy to access the ECC Control and it works well, Lockout, Plush, Tracks well, Very adjustable, Did I mention Plush? | | Weaknesses: | The manual is very poorley written thus it took a bit of effort to figure out the settings that were right my riding style. Front wheel tucks a little bit under hard braking. | | Similar Products Used: | Rock Shox Judy C, Manitou Axel Comp. | | Bike Setup: | Diamondback, Deore disks & drive train, Manitou Swinger 4-way, WTB MotoRaptor, Crank Bro Mallets. | | Bottom Line: | It took a few rides to figure out the ideal settings for my riding style. I'm 175 lbs and run 37 pos and 115 neg. for X-country. I run 43 pos & 135 neg for aggressive trails & 52 pos & 145 neg when I surpass the intent of this fork and abuse it by free riding it. At 52 psi, I do not bottom this fork from 4+ foot drops onto flat. Anything less than 50 psi, crunch!
ECC works well for me. I do not have to get off the bike to set the rebound. 5 simple clicks and your at full Lockout or open. It works really well in all settings with each one noticably different from the others. I've read that other riders reported that theirs do not work properly. I too thought this in the beggining until I figured it out. More neg air was the answer.
Some riders have reported leaking neg chambers. I loose about 1-2 psi/week. Marzocchi Service said that this is normal for an air fork and not to worry about it unless it loose all of the air in one ride. I suppose I'm lucky.
This is a very good fork once you have it dialed in to your riding style. It is plush, plush, plush for my XC riding and it has taken all the abuse I've thrown at it.
5 Value Chilis for the price I paid for a world class fork.
5 Overall Chilis because it has worked so well. I'd buy this fork again in a heart beat. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
greg keefer
a
from austin
Date Reviewed: November 27, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$434.00 | | Purchased At: | aebike.com | | Strengths: | solid contruction, finally aluminum top caps...,excellent tracking, still light enough for XC racing, everything is perfect, except for one thing..... | | Weaknesses: | when you have the ECC fully locked out, the left brake rubs against the rim, drop outs are clean, measured the stanchions they are equal, played with the pressure per Marzocchi's tech support-which is what hacked me most. When asking the technician about this, the first thing out of his mouth was, oh, are you running vbrakes, and I respond with, well yes I am, why wouldn't I be..Yeah we are having a problem with that on the vbrakes. No fix for it. I know it's not 2004 yet, but if you release a product it should be tested on both options for braking. Some people still do run vbrakes, b/c they are lighter, easier to work on, and personally I like the way they feel better than discs. It's just lame that one of the main reasons for buying the fork,ECC, doesn't function properly. Just a heads up. Oh, by the way, the fix was to try putting extra air pressure in the opposite air chamber. Have not been able to resolve the issue yet. I have really only used the fork for about 2 months, but..... | | Similar Products Used: | bomber z2, z2 atom bomb, 01 Xfly, 02 SID SL, 96 Judy XC | | Bike Setup: | aegis proaxe, hugi/mavic wheels with stans, 02 xtr with 960 cranks and rear derail..... | | Bottom Line: | great fork with a serious bug that needs a fix | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Carlos
a Cross Country Rider
from Glendale, AZ, USA
Date Reviewed: November 2, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$400.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Was on Sale. | | Weaknesses: | Several defects. | | Similar Products Used: | Cannondale Head Shock | | Bike Setup: | Intense Tracer, XTR, King, ceramic rims. | | Bottom Line: | The User's Manual: Abissmal. The pressure recommendations are way too high. Marzocchi recommends prying dust caps for cleaning -- forgot to tell you they are not removable and will rupture easily. Got "left" and "right" mixed up throughout.
The negative pressure eventually equals positive -- so there must be an internal leak. Annoying squeeky noise from un-lubricated stanchion tubes rubbing the dust seal.
When I setup everything right, it works fine -- but must refill before each ride. My Head Shock was so much more low maintenance.
Perhaps my '03 Marathon SL was built on a hangover Monday morning, or perhaps the engineer's Design Document is no better than their User's Manual.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Radical
a
from Houston Tx, USA
Date Reviewed: October 31, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$360.00 | | Strengths: | Light, sturdy, really plush, Nice paint, decals are staying on, has lockout | | Weaknesses: | kind of a bugger to tune at first but then its pie
Price is high-but you get what you buy | | Similar Products Used: | Rockshox Judy | | Bike Setup: | Trek Fuel 80 with mods | | Bottom Line: | 4chilis for the price being a bit high
I've ridden it for about 1000 miles on and off road/ rain/mud/ grit/grime/sunny days. Used for 3 months, no problems yet.
One of the best forks built, Marzocchi - need I say more | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jaap de Hoog
a Cross Country Rider
from Apeldoorn
Date Reviewed: October 27, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$600.00 | | Purchased At: | Stappenbelt | | Strengths: | Great fork. Make me forget my Noleen parallel fork. I use a hard set-up. The fork is almost as stiff as my Noleen so cornering is fine. | | Weaknesses: | Took me some time to find the right setup. | | Similar Products Used: | Noleen Expert. | | Bike Setup: | Giant NRS. XT/Mavic Cross-ride/ Easton. | | Bottom Line: | I have been using a Noleen fork so I was a bit reluctant on using a telescopic fork. Took me some trouble to find the right set-up (190 lbs). Works ok for me, even in the French Alps on long descents. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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$ 549.00
