Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 46 total)
  • Fork recommendations – Pikes/Marzocchi's
  • ryderredman
    Free Member

    The reviews are in. The pike seems to set the bar (because I’m not paying more than £500).

    However, I’ve found a Marzocchi 350CR for £300, £300, new.

    So now I’m thinking, could the pike honestly be £200 better?

    deviant
    Free Member

    Nope….at that price get the Marz’

    If they were similar prices I’d get the Pike but £200 is a big difference, put that £200 to something else on your bike instead and smile at the saving.

    howsyourdad1
    Free Member

    Put the 200 quid towards sending the marzocchi for warranty replacements when the stanchions wear . Or so I’ve heard

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    ryderredman
    Free Member

    howsyourdad1 – Member
    Put the 200 quid towards sending the marzocchi for warranty replacements when the stanchions wear . Or so I’ve heard

    Source?

    howsyourdad1
    Free Member

    http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/marzocchi-350-cr-worn-stanchions

    Put me off getting some second hand for obvious reasons ,they may well have sorted by now and they are supposed to be very good, but …

    woodster
    Full Member

    Go in the middle with a lovely Mattoc Pro? They’re ace.

    deviant
    Free Member

    You could equally say put some money away when you buy the Pikes for the inevitable journey to TFtuned to get them working properly, learn how to strip them yourself because you’re going to end up playing around with bottomless tokens to get them working properly, bare in mind you’ll be without them when they go back to have the top out ‘clunk’ sorted, factor in postage costs and time off the bike for when they go back to have the creaking crown steerer unit fixed etc etc….Pikes can (and do) come with their problems too.

    I believe Marz’ have sorted the stanchion problem with new seals, best to check the ones you’re buying have the up to date ones.

    ryderredman
    Free Member

    woodster – Member
    Go in the middle with a lovely Mattoc Pro? They’re ace.

    I’d like to, however can’t help that buying from non-UK would lead to me being up the creek when it comes to getting them warrantied.

    thegreatape
    Free Member

    I may be way off here, but are the 350s coils rather than air spring? A vague recollection of something I read.

    howsyourdad1
    Free Member

    @deviant yep tru dat

    bigjim
    Full Member

    I’d go for the Marz, not used them but had Pikes. Pikes are very good but have some problems too and that is a lot of price difference.

    ryderredman
    Free Member

    Had to throw a spanner in the works with the mattoc pro!

    glasgowdan
    Free Member

    Can I ask where the 350s are £300?

    jairaj
    Full Member

    +1 for the Mattoc, I absolutely love my forks by far the best damped forks I’ve tried.

    There are many people here who have bought forks and components from the european sites and haven’t had any trouble with after sales support.

    Tom_W1987
    Free Member

    I’d take a punt on the Mattocs, unlikely to go wrong based on user reports. Did I mention they also come in a gorgeous red and ride better than Pikes?

    BigDummy
    Free Member

    I had last year’s 350CRs, and have ended up with a pair’o’Pikes as the 350CRs are (amazingly, nearly 2 months on) still with Windwave allegedly waiting on replacement damper parts.

    Until the damper exploded, the 350CRs were very good. The Pikes are slightly better, but I’d certainly not say GBP200 better.

    🙂

    ryderredman
    Free Member

    Tom_W1987 – Member
    I’d take a punt on the Mattocs, unlikely to go wrong based on user reports. Did I mention they also come in a gorgeous red and ride better than Pikes?

    I’m sure they’ll look beautiful on my bright yellow Meta.

    chestrockwell
    Full Member

    I had the same dilemma the other week between a £300 pair of Fox 34’s and the £500+ Pikes. Went Fox even though I know they won’t perform as well due to that being a big old saving and me having better places to spend £200 atm.

    Planning on getting a fancy pants bike for my 40th in a few years so will get the market leader then if I can afford it.

    gonzy
    Free Member

    Put me off getting some second hand for obvious reasons ,they may well have sorted by now and they are supposed to be very good, but …

    that was just Hora being unlucky again!! he sent them off to windwave who changed the lowers and the stanchions and got them back a few days later. then he sold them and bought some pikes and then regretted selling the marzocchis!!
    i’ve had my 55Crs for 2 years now and not had a single problem with them.

    fr0sty125
    Free Member

    Hora had issues with the 55CR I had issues with two sets of 2014 350cr now have a third 2015 350 Cr all seems fine with this one.

    wl
    Free Member

    My Pikes are as plush as both sets of 55s I own. Been faultless for over a year, with a lot of riding done, all year round. They were £320 online from France. Basic model.

    scandal42
    Free Member

    Link for 350’s 🙂

    On a side note, what is the warranty situation if you buy forks from a company that goes out of business (shop not manufacturer)

    wrecker
    Free Member

    I bought some 350CRs at a similar price, but there are stories of woe all over the internet so I passed them on (unused) and got some pikes.
    I don’t regret that decision.

    Stevet1
    Free Member

    +1 for Mattocs are excellent.

    Tom_W1987
    Free Member

    I’m sure they’ll look beautiful on my bright yellow Meta.

    Well, they also come in black. I’d still have them in red though!

    jairaj
    Full Member

    They also come in White which looks pretty good on my almost luminous yellow Bandit.

    chestrockwell
    Full Member

    Are we finally moving away from all black forks then? Hope so.

    BigDummy
    Free Member

    Are we finally moving away from all black forks then? Hope so.

    +1

    travo
    Free Member

    I’ve got some 350 ncr’s, cost me £500 and are way better than any pikes I’ve used, admittedly they did need to go back for new uppers due to creaking crowns but this took less than a week and the service from Windwave has been really good.
    I’ve had fox’s and rockshox with creaking crowns and my old marz 55’s did it too (all replaced under warranty) so I’m not that surprised the 350’s started creaking.

    The big plus for me with marzocchi is the 2 year warranty and the ability to send the forks direct to Windwave rather than going through a dealer like you do with rockshox. As I think no matter what you buy there’s a pretty good chance it’ll need some warranty work at some point

    hora
    Free Member

    Yes I regretted selling them. Mine had incorrectly sized(?) bushes fitted. Funnily when sorted they felt waaay better too. The Pikes- I bet with alot of know-how fettling they’d be great. However they come with issues along the way for some owners.

    I still think there are great other forks out there but sadly I wont risk a Mazzorchi until I know its all good quality/longevitywise.

    Manitou? Hmmmmm would you gamble £400+ of your money on a couple of reviews?!

    kimbers
    Full Member

    Based on the manitou towers I’ve had on my other bike I’d get the Mattocs in a flash

    ryderredman
    Free Member

    Tom_W1987 – Member
    I’m sure they’ll look beautiful on my bright yellow Meta.
    Well, they also come in black. I’d still have them in red though!

    You’ve got me there….

    ryderredman
    Free Member

    I’ve swayed towards the 350CR as it seems that if I do need anything doing then I’m going to be able to warranty them. They seem to be the best option for the price point too.

    Tom_W1987
    Free Member

    Manitou? Hmmmmm would you gamble £400+ of your money on a couple of reviews?!

    Loads of people running them over on mtbr and pinkbike.

    Never see many issues with Dorados or Towers either!

    Manitou are very underrated, they left the manipoo days in the early noughties a long time ago. They deserve to have a much larger market share than they actually do. People seem to be willing to take a punt on new X-fusion products for 400 quid and they don’t have the best history of reliability – but when it’s manitou – “oh noes…that old school brand from the 90’s?”.

    I’m going to be swapping my Pikes for a pair, Pikes are great – when they work.

    glasgowdan
    Free Member

    Still don’t know where these £300 marzocchis are! 🙂

    mboy
    Free Member

    Sam, bit more expensive, but check out the MRP Stage.

    Getting rave reviews in the US right now, they’re saying it’s better than the Pike and the reliability on them seems 2nd to none! Will have a set on my new bike by the weekend if you wanted to pop up and have a look at them. We’ve signed up as a dealer now too… (y)

    bigjim
    Full Member

    There were a lot of manitous in the EWS last weekend, nice to see them coming back.

    bigjim
    Full Member

    ^ I have the Stage, it’s very good. Small bump sensitivity is far better than the Pikes I had before and the ramp control is very useful. I do seem to have an air leak though, seem to lose 10 psi over a week or so.

    PJM1974
    Free Member

    I’ve had Marzocchi 55CRs and now a set of 29er Pikes…

    I hate to spoil the party, but my 55s were surprisingly good straight out of the box. I had to chock them down to 160mm (by sawing the 10mm out of the spacer and supergluing it back together) and had to add some oil to the air spring to ramp up the compression. It’s a little linear and divey, getting the right air pressure takes time, but you’re rewarded with a lovely fork that feels very active. I had no issues with stanchions or bushings. Mine just worked (after a fettle).

    I sold the bike they were fitted to, so I reluctantly eBayed my 55s as I has no other bike to fit them (I did contemplate chocking them down to 130mm and fitting them to my Camber, but that would have been a little silly).

    I bought a set of Pikes to fit to my 29er Stumpy and they’ve been superb. The damping is excellent, as is the spring curve. I can get full travel out of them without wallowing for 90% of my ride. As for creaking and setup issues…none to report so far. They feel fantastic straight out of the box. All for a smidge over £430 (thank you Alltricks) complete with a shock pump, service kit and 51mm offset.

    Both forks felt flexier than I had imagined (the 55s replaced a set of Wotans, which were astoundingly stiff, even in straight steerer form), the 29er Pikes can’t hide the flex inherent in the long lowers, but it’s far from obtrusive and the damping more than makes up for it. Both are a league above any 32mm fork out there (including old skool Pikes).

    So there you have it. I know that the 350s use the damping/spring circuit from the most recent 55s, so my experience of the damping is relevent but I cannot comment on their stiffness. It’s fair to say they’re probably “more than adequate”.

    Tom_W1987
    Free Member

    So there you have it. I know that the 350s use the damping/spring circuit from the most recent 55s, so my experience of the damping is relevent but I cannot comment on their stiffness. It’s fair to say they’re probably “more than adequate”.

    No they don’t, the 350’s use a considerably different cartridge.

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