[jbsingletrack]

Ok had the forks for a while now and been playing around with the pressures and seem to have found a setup that works well for me.

However....

I have noticed something about the fork thats becoming very annoying.
With the fork fully extended and no weight applied.

When you apply weight the initial compression of the fork first 6-8mm is very stiff and it seems as if the travel of the fork does not extend fully?? If that makes any sense to anybody.. Beyond this the forks are quite smooth. the result of this is an apparent knocking effect when riding.. Help!!

I read somewhere that the length of travel can be set with these forks but Im not sure if that is this model or a later year? Has anybody done this or know how to do this?

Ive tried Marzocchi and they havn't replied and Im in Belgium at the minute and the local bike shops dont seem to know anything about suspension they just ship them back to Marzocchi.. at a big cost.

Can anybody help me out with the above?

cheers
JB

 

[heatstroke]

I had an 03 SL. You can't adjust the travel on the fork.
There was always a bit of stiction with the fork. I'd first set the positive pressure (37psi ?)then add negative pressure till the point that the fork was just about to compress from the negative pressure(probably about 5-10 psi less ). You'd get a nice small bump sensitive fork, but occasionally they would top out with a clunk. The stiction improved with time and also with enduro fork seals.

I eventually replaced it with a REBA which is a much better fork IMO,

 

[preparation_h]

Ok had the forks for a while now and been playing around with the pressures and seem to have found a setup that works well for me.

However....

I have noticed something about the fork thats becoming very annoying.
With the fork fully extended and no weight applied.

When you apply weight the initial compression of the fork first 6-8mm is very stiff and it seems as if the travel of the fork does not extend fully?? If that makes any sense to anybody.. Beyond this the forks are quite smooth. the result of this is an apparent knocking effect when riding.. Help!!

I read somewhere that the length of travel can be set with these forks but Im not sure if that is this model or a later year? Has anybody done this or know how to do this?

Ive tried Marzocchi and they havn't replied and Im in Belgium at the minute and the local bike shops dont seem to know anything about suspension they just ship them back to Marzocchi.. at a big cost.

Can anybody help me out with the above?

cheers
JB

I'm not sure what your problem is....as I don't think I've had that one. But you might want to flip your bike over and decompress the negative pressure valve on the left leg. It will spew a whole bunch of crap out....repressurize it and see if it still happends. This is like routine maintenance on my fork.

 

[Mollydog1976]

I had an 04 Marathon SL 85. I don't know the differences between the 03 and 04, but I never had the problems you described. I would say maybe a break-in thing, but an 03 should be broken in by now.

My other suggestion would be an oil change (which is always a good idea) or lubing the stanchions with slick honey at the bushings

 

[kneecap]

I had an "02" marathon 105 mm travel, not a bad fork. Frequent oil changes helped the quality of the travel, & as prep.h described, occasionally releasing the air pressure from the negative chamber, really helps. Although my neg. valve was in the center, top of the left leg. Some oil will come out with the air, seems like a lot, but in reallity, only a couple of cc's. Also a little fork oil, just under the seals helps stiction on all forks, as per Mollydog recs.