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”.