[Deartist7]

I've been eyeing this on jenson for a while now.

Marzocchi 320 LCR 27.5" Fork > Components > Forks & Suspension > Forks | Jenson USA

Seems like a stupid good deal. I keep hearing mixed opinions about marzocchis though. Some consider them to be holy grail of suspensions while other call them un-reliable, under performing, etc.

I'd be running it at 120mm for aggressive XC and trail riding for a 130 pounds rider on a hardtail. I'm pretty hard on components though, but I maintain them regularly, sometimes obessesively ,so they would be loved and cuddled all day :thumbsup:

Not quite worried about warranty as long as they are reliable and durable since I'd be shipping them to my country Honduras where there are no marzocchi dealers and any kind of deal with the manufacturer or jenson would be cost prohibitive requiring me to ship the thing back and forth depending on the situation. So If it breaks, I'd be on my own with my local LBS to fix it.

Any first hand experience with them? They seem to be a bit older version (maybe thats why they are so cheap), they got the espresso coating while the actual one got black stanchions.
Gotta love the espresso color though.

 

[Deartist7]

Anyone?

 

[A_street]

The price discount could also be that marzocchi is no longer doing bike suspension.

 

[Deartist7]

Wasn't that a 2015 rumor? They were acquired by fox as far as I know, and they have 2017 models on their website. So I think you might be wrong.

This model is apparently a 2016 one.

 

[A_street]

Wasn't that a 2015 rumor? They were acquired by fox as far as I know, and they have 2017 models on their website. So I think you might be wrong.

This model is apparently a 2016 one.

It would not be the first time!

https://m.pinkbike.com/news/marzocchi-now-2016.html

 

[Deartist7]

Doesn't matter if they are still in the game (they seem to be), it would only help with warranty and I'm not worried about that.
Is the fork in question good or not? That's what I asked.

 

[Uphill=sad]

I can't comment on the 320, but I can comment on overall quality as I own a NCR 350 ti, NCR 350 air and a 380 C2R2, a riding fellow also owns a 380 C2R2 ti and a 350CR, ranging from 2014 -2016 models.

Short answer is the forks are excellent and finish quality is higher than RS and FOX forks, performance? well that is arguable, I am happy with the performance hence why I own 3 Marzocchi's of recent years.

The 2014 350 ti had to be warrantied due to misaligned bushings, and warranty is still avaliable via fox's network, which is actually better than it was service wise prior to 2016. The latest set I brought also have fox on the box, next to Marzocchi.
No issues with the 2015 on wards forks at all. The damper shaft in the 380 ti's has significant wear, but its be ridden extensively, otherwise all the other forks amoungst the two of us have been issue free, and the fork performance is higher than our ability to use it.

So overall for that price, well worth the investment.

 

[Deartist7]

I can't comment on the 320, but I can comment on overall quality as I own a NCR 350 ti, NCR 350 air and a 380 C2R2, a riding fellow also owns a 380 C2R2 ti and a 350CR, ranging from 2014 -2016 models.

Short answer is the forks are excellent and finish quality is higher than RS and FOX forks, performance? well that is arguable, I am happy with the performance hence why I own 3 Marzocchi's of recent years.

The 2014 350 ti had to be warrantied due to misaligned bushings, and warranty is still avaliable via fox's network, which is actually better than it was service wise prior to 2016. The latest set I brought also have fox on the box, next to Marzocchi.
No issues with the 2015 on wards forks at all. The damper shaft in the 380 ti's has significant wear, but its be ridden extensively, otherwise all the other forks amoungst the two of us have been issue free, and the fork performance is higher than our ability to use it.

So overall for that price, well worth the investment.

Thanks for the info!

How about ease of service? Ever tried servicing them or just shop services?
I realize that might be an important aspect for me to consider if I end up taking them to a non-marz shop and find out they can't service the thing at all.

 

[Uphill=sad]

Thanks for the info!

How about ease of service? Ever tried servicing them or just shop services?
I realize that might be an important aspect for me to consider if I end up taking them to a non-marz shop and find out they can't service the thing at all.

I service all my own forks, never sent a fork away expect for the one warranty, I've pulled all the models listed apart, including the sir springs and dampers. To put it bluntly, it was a bit stressful initially, as Marzocchi have released very little information on this side of things. I like to tinker, but any fox dealer shouldn't have a problem nowdays?

But, there not much different from RS or Fox, so if ones competent with those its not much different. The main issue was the damper side locknut / footnut would rotate, worked out putting either lockout on or compression through the fork stopped that. Otherwise, their website has oil levels and there is a nice thread on pinkbike for the 380's.

 

[Curveball]

I have a 350 NCR air and I think it's the best fork that I've ever ridden. Much smoother than the Pike that it replaced. I also got from Jenson at a great price. It's my understanding that Marz will be coming out with a load of new product in 2018. They are under the radar these days because there isn't really any marketing to promote them, but the forks are at least as good as anything from RS or Fox.

There are good videos on Youtube that describe service in detail. I opened mine up to change the travel and it was an easy process.

 

[MikeBurnsie]

I have a 350 NCR for my current build. Not quite done yet, another week or two. I got mine at Jenson's as well for a great price. I took it apart to get familiar with it. Very simple to do your own service.

 

[aerius]

I've ridden a bike with the 320 LCR, it's a great fork and IMO it performs better than anything made by RS and Fox in that market segment. It's smoother & plusher than comparable forks from RS and Fox, and it's also more resistant to diving than RS forks so it can be ridden more aggressively and will bail you out of more mistakes. It definitely leans more towards the trail side than RS SID or Fox 32, it's more like a baby Pike or Fox 34 than anything else, but with that smooth, almost coil spring like Marzocchi feel.

I haven't taken apart a 320 yet, but from the videos I've seen it looks pretty similar to my 350 NCR. No special tools needed except the right sized socket to remove the top caps.

 

[Monster Truck]

I'm also looking at this fork. It would go on a kids bike so it would need to function at very low PSI. My kid is 65lbs. Does anyone know if this fork uses a coil or air for the negative spring? I know it is an air fork and that the main spring is an air spring. But all air forks have a negative spring as well. Many use air as a negative spring, some use a coil. If it is a coil then I don't think it will work for my kid. thanks

 

[aerius]

It's a coil negative spring, so you're likely out of luck for a 65lbs kid. If you don't mind having fork sag under its own weight and losing some travel you can run the air pressure below the recommended minimum, but then you'll likely run out of range on the rebound adjuster which is not exactly a good thing.

 

[Monster Truck]

Perfect. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Deartist7]

Thanks for the replies! Really got me convinced already. I really like the idea of a fork that's more in the trail side, but being on a tight budget, and most decent trail forks well over $500, this one feels like lottery if it is as good as you say. Will order one this week.

 

[DrDubzz]

Given how good this deal is, I'm trying to figure out if this fork is compatible with my new bike, a 17 Giant Talon 2. It has this fork on it Details - SR SUNTOUR Cycling

I'm new again to MTBs and don't know where the cheat sheets are for this sort of thing. It doesn't seem that the Talon has a tapered steer tube, is that a deal breaker?

 

[Deartist7]

Given how good this deal is, I'm trying to figure out if this fork is compatible with my new bike, a 17 Giant Talon 2. It has this fork on it Details*- SR SUNTOUR Cycling

I'm new again to MTBs and don't know where the cheat sheets are for this sort of thing. It doesn't seem that the Talon has a tapered steer tube, is that a deal breaker?

It depends.

You can still fit a tapered steerer if your headtube has a removable lower cup so you can install a bigger one that makes room for a tapered steerer, but adds 10mm of height.
I don't remember the exact details, but search around if you're interested. First, figure out what kind of headset you have, and the measurements of your headtube.