Marzocchi's Bomber Z2 Returns as an Affordable Trail Fork

 Had many, many marzocchi over the years. Would literally service them in the kitchen right before a ride and get them perfectly tuned to my riding style. They were reliable, performed consistently on the big stuff and would keep working forever. You didn't need customer support with marzocchi... you just needed a wrench! Who doesn't miss that squirting open bath feeling and sound... hmmmm yeah!

 @audioshnoll: One problem with Marz was they marketed the same chassis with an array of different dampers that spanned between amazing and awful. You could often get the same fork model with an plush, responsive high-end RC3 damper or a horrendously terrible RCV orifice damper. One letter difference between a world class fork and a budget shit box, and I bet to this day there are people out there who think Marz suck cuz they didn't understand their dumb marketing and bought a bike with a budget Marz.

 If you want a fork that has the smoothest action of anything out there and wallows halfway in its travel, with compression adjusters that simply make suggestions to the damping, get a DVO

 @dthomp325: I rode 09 triple8 rcv's for two years trouble free before I sold them and I can say from my experience they weren't shit box as you describe and were actually way better feeling then my 09 66 rc3 that I had to send in for two rebuilds in less then a year.

 GRIP dampers actually have some semblance of being an open bath damper.

 Heavier budget fox fork with a different name on it.

 @dthomp325: Indeed, cheaper models, especially those made by Suntour from years 08-09 and after were subpar (to say the least!). However, I've beaten the crap out of a 2005 66 RV (i think), a 2006 66 RC2X and an insane 170mm 2007 66 RC2X which I've had for many years. 10 years later, every ride I get to remind myself of what a decent fork should feel like while riding downhill aboard an airsprung suspension. Too bad weight matters... somehow.

 After converting my Ribbon to coil and rebleeding the damper with oil appropriate for my weight..it's like having the hottest girlfriend in the world and zero need or desire to look at anything else.

 @audioshnoll: definitely something to be said for the simplicity of the forks. Sure they were heavy, but a damping system made of metal and an oil bath were really what made Zocchi great.
That being said rebuilding my 66SL doppio after almost every weekend at the bike park did get annoying.

 Trail mincers 150mm travel. WTF!

 For real, I feel so patronized as a consumer. Like what kind of mind trick would I have to play to convince myself that this isn't a lower end fox?

 @audioshnoll: I had a few Marzocchi forks, among them, 66RC2X, which at the time, in 2006, was possibly the best performing single crown, long travel fork out there. But then Lyrik and Fox 36 came, over 1 pound lighter with much better damping. Marzocchi forks were diving under braking like a Meth addict after a penny. You could do a ft drop and it wouldn't bottom out. Instead you'd botom it out few meters below when wanting to stop on steep hill. I have very fond memories of my white 66RC2x but wouldn't ride it today. I also had same years 66SL and it was a piece of crap.

 @reverend27: you cant get it any more dialed then that...converting to coil, using the correct weight of oil for you body weight and seasonal temp...a very smart setup!

 @audioshnoll: i still love and ride a '11 888 RC3 Evo. I did an oil change out of guilty conscience after 2, maybe 3 years some weeks ago. I'm sure it will live on for many seasons to come. I love reliable bike parts more than anything.

 Foxzocchi

 @reverend27: I converted my Ribbon to coil, stock oil (probably could use lighter oil), and was between sizes of springs so went with stiffer. The thing is pure zen now.

 @generationfourth: ya I can't imagine a fork being any better for me then the ribbon.
What I really love besides the obvious so soft off the top is the lack of harshness anywhere it does not rebound like air does it's a different feeling altogether.
I'm yelling woohoo on the trail with a ear to ear grin.

The only thing that would even begin to turn my head would be a fork with adjustable offset.

 @hamncheez: not sure about your experience with dvo but mine has been very good

 @WAKIdesigns: ahhh, yes, that gorgeous white 2006 66 RC2X... used to be on my Banshee Morphine and yes, it would bottom out all the time! However, the year after, my Giant Reign X came with a Fox 36 and it just couldn't handle big hits so I bought an '07 66 RC2X, and it was just... perfect! Kept it for almost 5 years straight, never been happier on a bike. Than I bought an all mountain rig, stopped wearing a full-face helmets and got dressed in lycra and spandex... Still trying to figure out what happened :\

 Marzocchi is no longer Marzocchi.

 Why can't Fox leave the Zokes with coil spring and fox can have all the air spring stuff! Use the same damper of you want to be leave the coils with Zokey.

 @FurryCrew: you know Fox Vanillas were a thing

 @me2menow: but now there's no vanilla forks

 Sounds just like my old dorado @hamncheez:

 My 66 was crap when it came to durability, all other of my Firks from these guys were great @mhoshal:

 I had Jnr T back in the day and that was next level for the timeline.

 @jlague: Super T was the cat's ass. Polished with the bolt-on arch.

 The fact that they got bought out by their biggest competitor and relaunched as a budget brand makes me sad.

 Even worse fox used the marz damper gave it a new name and then act like it was their design.. Meanwhile they take the former top of the line fox damper and it becomes the budget damper in the marz. I shudder to think what they are putting in this fork. Sad when the two biggest fork makers with the most experience and biggest budgets can't seem to make the best dampers. Long live the little guys mrp dvo intend etc.

 @mammal: yep had that one. Classic

 @reverend27: that's such a good point u made about the dampers. Kinda makes u wonder how bias the industry is with the BIG Brands Vs little players

 @WAKIdesigns: m.pinkbike.com/news/inside-foxs-new-grip2-damper.html

Click link scroll to comments profit.

 @WAKIdesigns: first thing I would have done is change the weight of the damper oil.

I can't understand how people pay 1k for a fork and then don't tune for their weight.

 @reverend27: Oil weight doesn't make that much difference with shimmed dampers.

I don't understand why people are willing to pay 1k for a fork that still *needs* to be custom tuned.

 @PhillipJ: I guess someone should tell the pros they don't need their suspension tuned will save alot of time and money.

 @reverend27: don't think the pros are paying mate.

 @PhillipJ: ya you are right also I think we should have the same seat height and tire pressure. And I mean if I'm spending 5k on a bike I shouldn't have to buy pedals either those plastic ones they come with should do just fine.

 @PhillipJ: but really I just realized that some people just want to ride and don't want to fuss that's fine.

Also if you are in the 165-185 range it's all tuned for you anyway but I'm not that fortunate.

 @alexsin: Reminds me of Biff from Back to the future.

 @WAKIdesigns: with you on this currently rocking a 2016 350cr, first ride after taking off my old fox 32's, I couldn't believe how much they dove through their travel, dangerously so, ride anything steep or hit the brakes and you nearly went over the bars, increased air pressure to about 20% sag and fork dive decreased but they were basically rigid forks over any big bumps/rocks, really harsh damping spikes.

After a lot of tweaking, thicker oil better quality oil in the damper, adding 45ml of gear oil to the air chamber, better quality seals, and running 1-2 clicks off max compression damping, its now not a bad fork, holds up well over really rough stuff, still has the occasional surprise divey moment and fairly bad 'chatter' sensitivity which affects front end grip... Have never ridden a single fork from Fox as bad as my Zocchi's were ad stock, woeful crap that should have been left in the past - thankfully mine only cost $340 new, which is more than they were worth until I fixed them

 @ctd07: Likewise, my 350CR's have been the best forks I've ridden (albeit I think they were one of the last as they came with fox branding), but they were off the back of lyrics and Fox. I've virtually left them untouched apart from services, air pressure and a bit of fork spray. Super responsive, agile and compliant. I guess the night and day of 'Zocchi still proves they didn'tt lose their touch before Fox bought them.

 @elliot-20 Well, since 66RC2x, I had Lyrik Uturn, Fox36Van RC2 and Lyrik 2, none of these forks gave me any bigger trouble and 36Van Rc2 was the best fork that I have ever owned. By far. From other forks that I have ridden 2016ish Fox 36 Float RC2 was standing out as well. I am told CC Helm coil and Öhlins RXF36 coil are the same ball park as 36VanRc2. So my list of awesome forks is long and Fox is always in top 3 on it. The only reason I bought Lyrik was that 36 costed 1400€ and Lyrik costed 800€. It is however way beyond my capability to understand how someone can come up with an idea that Fox made Marzocchi worse. Stripping anodizing, underdamped LSC, average rebound.

@ctd07 - I run all of my forks under 20% SAG and most people I ride with too. Some run their DH forks at 15%. Why would you run more?

 @WAKIdesigns: haha try running my forks with less, have fun getting your bones jarred.
Also with negative springs, especially some shocks it seems, you have to run the sag point where the piston meets the negative chamber, as the negative spring is pulling the shock down to this point, if you want to run much less sag, your air pressure has to be so high you'll never get full travel

 @ctd07: not jarred by a tiniest margin. I run just under 20%. I like flying over stuff rather than falling into holes. Run it as hard as I can for stability, as long as I have the minimum desireable front wheel grip. I run a bit more SAG when it is wet. Fox 36 tends to have better plushness to stability ratio than Lyrik so I would run it at 20-22%. There are two prevailing theories - 1. less sag, less compression and 2. more sag, more compression. As far as I know riders like Gwin go for option 1, Danny Hart goes for option 2. If you can brake in right places and load the bike right in the right places - having a plan for staying heavy/ light, the option 1 works

 @reverend27: hmm, that explains why I could never get used to fox. I grew up with Marz (made in italy versions), and quite liked the Lyrik though. Maybe I'll get to like newer foxes, the one's based on the marz damper, lol, sad.

 To ensure ultimate traction when railin' ruts ????

 The rail damper is what really allows this thing to get its fork on.

 It means is a marzocchi fork with fox damper because the marzocchi damper is in the fox fork

 @LETTHELLAMASBEFREE: I read this as railin' nuts...

 @Ploutre: performance not performance elite

 @Ploutre: not quite...

 @Bflutz625: Huh ? The Fox 34 doesn't exist in performance elite ? (the 36 and 40 both do, so I supposed the 34 also did)

 @Ploutre: it exists in 4 models. Factory (Fit4 kashima), Performance Elite (Fit4 Black), Performance (GRIP Black) and rhythm (GRIP Black but uses 6000 series aluminum uppers). Rhythm is OE only that's why it's not listed on their website.

 @Bflutz625: Hmm then I have no idea.

 @Ploutre: my guess it that it's an updated GRIP damper.

 Yes! The damper I've been waiting for...

 @LETTHELLAMASBEFREE: I would prefer the nail damper as the second half of that saying is definitely more fun IMO.

 @millsr4: nailing ducks?

 @Ploutre: the Z1 is basically a rebadged 36 Rhythm that is available OE only. That means GRIP Sweep damper (not the 3 position damper in the Performance forks), 6000 series uppers (which are heavier but reported also be stronger and less prone to CSU creaking, same CSU as the E-bike rated forks I believe).

That the Z2 doesn't get even the basic GRIP damper even is concerning, Fox could have just pulled the GRIP Sweep damper from their 34 Rhythm's. No chance it gets anything related to FiT as GRIP was supposed to be a less costly damper than FiT.

 @railin: username checks out. congrats bud

 @millsr4: surely you dont want to dampen your nailing ability bud

 @LETTHELLAMASBEFREE: You don't know me...

 @Bflutz625: and the Rhythm doesn't get the EVOL

 Not likely as the 831 is only available in factory models. Fox is only branding heir performance forks as Marzocchi.

 Freaking truth!

 @Bflutz625: Bummer.

 Would be interesting indeed to see them do coil sprung with air assist again.

 @vinay: Push ACS coil conversion is compatible with the Z1. Might be what you're looking for.

 @Bflutz625: I thought the same until I looked into it further and found that the Z1 has thicker inner stanchions, making the 36 ACS3 incompatible for the Marzocchi

 @pjo39: bummer

 @Bflutz625: No, I actually meant coil with air assist like I have in my old Marzocchi Dirt Jam (cheap OEM Dirt Jumper) forks. It was probably to save costs they only had one coil spring (so no stocks of different spring rates for everyone) and the air would allow you to fine tune it for your weight and preferences. But it also implied that with a low air pressure you could still get a fork that has a supple start and ramps up near the end because that's what air springs do. But it required open bath damping as you have air in one leg and the coil spring in the other. Nothing against this but it seems the industry has moved away from that. After all we all ride reaaaally long Megavalanche type descends every day and really need the consistency that open bath can't give you. DT Swiss currently has coil with air assist in their F 535 forks. I haven't looked into how these work.

 @vinay: ACS has an air bottom out resistor that engages half way into travel and it still keeps your cartridge damper.

 but it isn't boost 2.6 65b 44mm offset with torque caps, so it must be so unstable its dangerous to ride.

 @biglev Id still have my 07 66 if I didn't crash into a tree and snap the steer tube right off. On the plus side though I still have my 02 shiver dc in perfect working order.

 @hamncheez: good point and the 35mm stanchion should really be 35.05 to really be rigid. and the extra 0.1" on the tyre is defo a problem. i will get my wallet out!! ;-)

 @mhoshal: warning you know you will have to service those shivers in 2022 ... again, sigh , such maintenance demands!! ;-)

 @hamncheez: 43.99mm! or gtfo!

 @biglev I'm sorry for you man. you probably have a hard time finding riding partners. I mean who would want to be seen with someone riding a 12 year old fork! sooner or later your're going to have to get with the program of upgrading your complete bike, or suspension, or drivetrain every 2-3 years.

 under rated comment

 We still waiting for a coil version , which is truly what Marzocchi is know for.

 @endurocat: hybrid too

 @endurocat: I haven't confirmed this with them, but since the internals are exactly the same as a Float 36, you should be able to use a PUSH ACS3 Coil Conversion. Just sayin'

 @jm2e: beware, the Marz is more like a fox rhythm, so I don’t think a push kit will work. However a Vorsprung smashpot should do the trick

 @kleinblake: My bad. The Marz A1 is the equivalent of a heavier Float 36 Performance. So that'd be the one to drop a coil into.

 Like beige. And tartan.

 @bigtim: And Khaki. Don't forget the khaki, it'll go nice with my khaki riding pants.

 @bigtim: beige with pink kashima. Maybe it would be called kardashima

 Available in any color as long as it's black

 “Colors: gloss red,”

 @zede: get out

 My bet is that they'll sell it in boring colours until sales level off then do some throw-back colours to appeal to those of us who were rocking those things (or drooling over them in magazines) in the late 90s.

 This is 2019. We want a oil slick painted fork.

 @nozes: this 100%

 Marzocchi had all black before it was cool

 Yellow like the old Marzocchi All Mountain 1, Made in Italy.

 @zede: that fat pig wouldn’t do a forkin thing. Except ruin society

 @bigtim: I would totally buy a tartan fork!!

 I really don't get the comment. This exact fork is available in Red. The Fox branded forks are available in Orange. The current Rockshox forks are also available in Red. However, some European brands (like Cube) will get a custom color to match their frames, and it seems to destroy the resale value of the fork.

 I'm surprised that they went with the red and black to launch Marz seeing as those are the RS colorways...

FOX - Orange
RS - Red
DVO - Green
Formula - Purple
Cane Creek Launched with the Blue but that is also kinda the RS Sid color, plus DVO also did the blue giant version...

What does that leave for Marz... Pink?

 @SonofBovril: Well, Marzocchi did have the Orange as the anniversary edition. White forks were their special ones and blak on blak was their go-to, with the occasional gunmetal finishes during the later years. I think that FOX should somehow let the Italian flair come out of Marzocchi and hire people who care about the product and not about the sales, as the name already does its job for the latter.

 @Scart35: I want some denim stanchions with a leather wrapper crown

 @SonofBovril: Have you not been paying attention? Marz has been offering red since they dropped the new forks.. 58/z1. They've also had red springs on athlete bikes... before RS...

 @big-red: I like your thought process.

 @SonofBovril: Red does not belong to Rockshox. Their color is black with white lettering. They are in the wrong with their recent red forks.

 @SonofBovril: RS will always be yellow to me as a kid the grew up in the 90s

 With some variations/deviations, Marz was White with black iirc

 @mtbikeaddict: White Bombers were the illest thing ever! Can't wait to get some 58s and paint them and order custom Bomber 888 decals!

 Visited the site, no help there either.

 Yeah, sounds like a 2016 Fox 34. Which is a decent fork.

 Just buy a Fox fork with Grip 2... Basically the same

 @NotNamed: I mean bring it back for the Marzocchi line. Fox can have the Grip 2 and Marzocchi the c2r2.

 Personally i think a 26" marzocchi dj fork should be a no brainer.

 Mar zah chee or Mar zoh key

 Plastic damper is RS's style and I bet Marzooooo....oh fox....won't use a piece of fxxking plastic to take place of 'high speed value'.Whait...Does sektor have speed sensitive values?

 @JuliusZhuang: download manual for Sektor Silver, see whats inside and then speak out loud.

 @EnduroriderPL: I have one demolitioned and I know what is exactly inside the damper.Just two pieces of fxxking plastic

 @JuliusZhuang: and this is exactly what I was reffering to.

 No longer coil