Marzocchi's Prototype 320 LCR Carbon - Sea Otter 2014

While last year saw a number of new and re-worked downhill forks debuted, 2015 is looking to be the year of fresh cross-country suspension, and Marzocchi is looking to attend the short-travel party with their 320 LCR Carbon. As its name suggests, there is a large amount of carbon found in the fork, with it sporting a one piece steerer tube and crown manufactured from the material, although the gloss black paint on the crown doesn't make that immediately obvious. The fork's travel sits at 100mm, and riders will be able to either drop it down to a very European 80mm or up to a more North American 120mm of stroke via internal spacers that can be easily swapped in and out. It's air sprung, as you likely guessed, and uses a small coil negative spring to help it into its travel at the top of the stroke.



Damping comes from a downsized version of the Dynamic Bleed Cartridge that is employed in their longer travel forks. The DBC system uses a one-way seal that lets damping oil enter as required, but the clever bit is a spring-loaded piston that acts as a compensator (similar to how an internal floating piston functions in a shock's piggyback) that keeps the cartridge full of oil without it hydraulically locking: the piston moves up to make room as the damper cartridge fills with oil, and also down in its travel to take up the lost displacement as oil rushes out. There are dials to adjust both low-speed rebound and compression, and a handlebar mounted remote activates a lock-out function for those finish line springs.

Claimed weight for the 650B compatible 320 LCR Carbon sits at 3.1lbs, with the 29er version likely coming in at a touch more. There are no plans for a 26" fork, but there will be three different options that come in at different price points for each of the two larger wheel sizes. Expect it to be available by late January or early February of 2015.



Marzocchi also had some interesting 3D rapid prototyped models of two shocks that are currently in the works, with both looking so realistic that we had to remind ourselves not to try and compress them or turn any dials. Why bother creating plastic models? It's actually a common practice that allows them to fit the shock to bikes in order to check for any clearance issues that might arise, as well as to give the engineers an idea of what the finished product is going to look like. The shock on the left is a model of a possible long stroke enduro model that will offer both low and high-speed compression adjustment, as well as low-speed rebound. The black lever on the side of the piggyback bridge controls a three position compression system that can be adjusted on the fly, with a small hex adjuster on the opposite side of the production version that will be used to adjust the amount of force required to overcome the compression damping when it's in its firmest setting. And what's up with the strange looking double piggyback? Marzocchi told us that the larger cylinder will be a second air chamber as opposed to the usual solution of fitting a high volume main air can. The second shock on the right is a smaller cross-country unit that will offer low-speed compression and rebound, as well as a three position compression lever. Just like on the enduro shock, a small hex adjuster on the opposite side will be used to adjust the amount of force required to overcome the compression damping in its firmest setting.


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