Sad news, just shows the fox, rockshox dominance. Makes you wonder how long DVO will last. I thought they looked great with the espresso coating, recent reviews seemed good as well.

http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/feature/Marzocchi-To-Close-Shop-Again,325

Moto only, I believe.

Never had any. Always seemed to be too heavy compared to the alternatives.

Moto only, I believe

Parent company is pulling the plug so it means the end to everything.

My 66RC 2X’ are the best forks I’ve ever used.

Hope the MTB side stays unaffected.

🙁

If true, hopefully they will find a buyer for the mtb part at least. It seems like the trend is for companies to acquire brands so that they can offer more components to oems as a package deal. To compete with SRAM’s brands; Hayes (w/Manitou, Answer, SunRingle, Wheelsmith), Fox/Easton/RaceFace etc…

I’s love to see Shimano get into suspension, and they may have to in order to compete with SRAM.

I’s love to see Shimano get into suspension, and they may have to in order to compete with SRAM.

I can’t see the Marz workshop posters and calendars lasting if that happens 😉

General comments on the linked post seem to be that there has been a statement that it only affects the Moto side (though I’ve not seen it first hand).

Would be a shame if the MTB side is affected. I’m a big fan of Marzocchi forks even though they had a few wobbly years. The original Bomber was amazing compared to the turd being churned out by Rock Shox and Manitou at the time. They may not be the lightest thing in the world but they’re so supple. I still quite fancy a pair of 55 RC3 Ti’s. The new 350 NCR’s get good reviews.

They’ve never done that well on the XC side of things but their gravity / bigger hitting firms have always been good. Their big problem though is the lack of OE sales which is how Fox and SRAM have more or less taken over.

They’ve denied the rumours on Instagram. We shall see.

FFS, let us know any clarification

Just read- Italy = moto
Taiwan = Bike biz

Vitalmtb = spam?

I bl**dy hope not! Both my forks are now Marz and I was thinking of getting the seatpost if reviews go well. 👿

The Marzocchi rep on mtbr is denying it too. In fact, he denied it already a week ago. Just the moto division that’s closing, but the resulting strike at the Italian plant has affected a design office on the bike side, or something like that.

I’m sure someone will own them and the sets of bombers.

I’m sure someone will own them and the sets of bombers.

no news of this on their official facebook page either

Never had any. Always seemed to be too heavy compared to the alternatives.

It seemed to swing both ways. I’ve some Corsa’s which are only slightly heavier than the defailt Reba/SID choices.

The downside of them is the damping is a bit simple, on the one hand there’s very little scope for customisation and adjustment, but on the other they don’t spike, pack down, or have any other issues, they just work. Although I’d rather a 3rd position on the lockout between “DH bike plush” and “near as dammit lockout” They needed a “smooth trail” setting. Which for a top flight XC fork is a bit of an oversight.

The bigger forks were open bath so you were swapping an increace in weight for reduced friction and 3 year service intervals. I was happy with that, even if a lower leg service on my lyrics only takes 15-20 minutes, it’s yet another thing that takes 15-20 minutes on top of all the other 15-20min jobs that seemed to have crept into keeping an MTB running smoothly.

TBH I’m surprised they are still going, haven’t seen one of their forks for years.

What the hell am i going to pwn burglars with??

no news of this on their official facebook page either

Nothing new there then. They were never good at communication (cough how to set forks up/tech etc).

What happened to the oneeyedwilly thread? 😀

I bought a set of 55CRs a couple of years ago. For the price I paid (£400), they were excellent, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them. The damping was spot on but the spring cartridge needed a few CCs of oil to get the spring curve right.

As for build quality, real thought had gone in to making sure that the fork was user serviceable – the spring/damper cartridges could be extracted using a cassette tool for example and they were a doddle to work on.

I really hope that they stay in the MTB market, they deserve a presence on merit.

Can’t beat a set of old Marz forks for reliability.

My previous Marz 55 rc3 ti evo V2’s were a revelation when I got them, compared to previous fox 36 RC2 fit forks. A bit Heavy , but only 200g heavier than the fox, but I was happy to make that trade off for the performance.

But then I bought a 650b frame, so needed new forks and tried some Pikes, they are not quite as good as the 55’s in terms of damping , but nearly 600g lighter

Can’t beat a set of old Marz forks for reliability.

And this is exactly it. Old Bombers were ace around 98>2001. Far, far better than anything else out there. But that was 15 years ago and everything (just about) that Fox and probably moreso, Rock Shox have made since then have p*ssed all over the Marzocchi option (or so the general opinion seems).

As someone else said, when was the last time you saw someone with a set of Marzocchi forks whilst out riding? Massive lack of them being specced as OE on bikes must be a killer too as you don’t buy a bike with some Pikes or whatever and think “I really want to upgrade to some Marzocchis”. Whereas I suspect if you bought a bike with some Marzocchis on it, you’d most likely think they were ace…

Can’t beat a set of old Marz forks for reliability.

Lovely when folk get misty eyed. The sad fact is their forks weren’t that reliable. The TST2 were a case in point. Shocking.

The factory couldn’t even get them right in the factory- how many times did they come underfilled/dry etc etc? You’d try and find out the correct oil cc’s and to get this you had to visit a forum.

Lovely when folk get misty eyed. The sad fact is their forks weren’t that reliable. The TST2 were a case in point. Shocking.

The factory couldn’t even get them right in the factory- how many times did they come underfilled/dry etc etc? You’d try and find out the correct oil cc’s and to get this you had to visit a forum

The TST cartridge was from the very wobbly years. Up until 2005 they were pretty simple things that just worked and were a punch of cake to service. My 05 66’s took no time to service whereas my 05 36RC2’s are a pain with silly little rubber bladders to bleed. My Z1 Anniversary forms were still going strong until last year when I swapped to a silly wheel size. Super plush, smooth and tough if a bit porky.

The TST cartridge was a total dog though. I had some AM1’s that spent more time at Windwave thsn on my bike. Marzocchi aren’t the only people to shop forks with insufficient oil in them…both Fox and Rock Shox have done it.

Lovely when folk get misty eyed. The sad fact is their forks weren’t that reliable.

Speak for yourself. My Bombers were chuffing brilliant, despite being totally neglected.

Speak for yourself. My Bombers were chuffing brilliant, despite being totally neglected.

+1
The early Bombers where miles ahead in reliability. Mine just kept on going. No idea about recent stuff, though.

No idea about recent stuff, though.

What do you class as early stuff?

I’m talking literally from 04-05 onwards as being very hit and miss. Thats a whole decade.

People talked about a return to reliability for the latest stuff. Well I had stanchion wear on my 2014 55CRs as did others.

Very simply ‘early’ stuff was of course more reliable as in general theres **** all to go wrong.

Very simply ‘early’ stuff was of course more reliable as in general theres **** all to go wrong.

Nonsense. Back in the day pretty much all suspension forks were shonky and unreliable, then Marzocchi brought out the open bath Bombers and suddenly we had forks that worked and didn’t need opening up and fixing every time you took them outside. This was pre 04 (although I was still using them way past then).

early bombers great

Had one of the first sets of the AM1’s and the compression adjust broke within a couple of months. Rest of the fork worked until the bladder inside went a little dodgy.
The AM-SL ATA’s I had would wind down in the travel over the course of a ride. It was initially fixed by some zip ties to stop the winder – then the top cap would unwind.
TST – least said

On my non Mazz forks:

Pre 2004- Fox came out with the Fox 125R(LC)- mine ROCKED 😀

The Manitou minute- ditto.

The Psylo’s were great too.

I’m standing by my rose-tinted specs comment. For the last decade Mazz haven’t been great. Even the open bath 03 or later 66’s were just too bloody heavy for a bicycle.

I’m talking literally from 04-05 onwards as being very hit and miss. Thats a whole decade.

That era stuff was fine…the original 66 was brilliant as were the 888’s. The Z1’s were really good too. The cartridges were simple, effective and solid. The issues started from 2006 on really with the ATA cartridge and early 55’s. The later 55 RC3’s seem pretty well loved.

They do seem to have been left behind in technical advances compared to the likes of Fox and Rock Shox. Neither of whom have a perfect reliability record by dominate the OE market.

The other problem they had was they were always heavier than the competition. For instance RS SID’s were loved by XC races not because they were very good, but because they were incredibly light (at the time).

The other problem they had was they were always heavier than the competition

a very fair point. My 2009 55R’s were SEVEN pounds 😯 . The Revelations that replaced them were almost exactly half that for the same travel.

Lovely when folk get misty eyed. The sad fact is their forks weren’t that reliable. The TST2 were a case in point. Shocking.

They’ve had some issues (and a few real wilderness years 2006-2009) but so have RS and Fox etc. Older bombers were indestructible, my 2010 55RC3Tis are absolutely sublime and only seem to need an annual oil change (using much greater oil volumes than other brands). You’re just bitter because you missed out on them when they were being sold half price 🙂

The factory couldn’t even get them right in the factory- how many times did they come underfilled/dry etc etc?

ever opened up a new pair of Fox or Rockshox?

This “news” seems a cut-and-paste from ~2011 when Tenneco announced they were ditching the MTB market but staying in others.

Katie’s commuter/hack bike is still running a pair of Z2 Atom 80’s (circa 2000?). I’m pretty sure they’ve not had so much as an oil change in 10 years and they still feel OK for road use.

The less said about TST the better. Endless trouble that put me off them for years but I’ve had a couple of sets of 44 RC3ti’s and they’re the best forks I’ve ever ridden. Much prefer them to the Fox Talas 32’s (still have them and changed back for an Alps trip one year for travel adjust for the climbs. Only did it once) They were enough to keep me on a 26″ bike for another few years as there were no forks on the market at the time that offered the combination of reliability and performance.

What a shame; this nearly happened is 07/08 though I think? MY2008 was when they went down the swanny, that’s when they moved production out of Italy IIRC. Prior to that, they were the best forks you could buy (apart from those ATA forks which were shite).

shame to hear, although it seems to be the Moto side that is shutting in Italy?

Marzocchi is like Manitou perhaps, in that their mountain bike forks of recent times are very good performers with good durability but often available heavily discounted, due to a lack of market traction leading to sales.

Its all about “Fox” and “Rockshox” according to OE spec and aftermarket advertising, with X-Fusion and Suntour at the low end, and some DVO and Bos thrown in at the high end?

I have been much more impressed with my current Manitou 29’er fork than any Fox fork I’ve had in recent times.

Its a little heavier, but has not started creaking in the CSU, does not “twang” when braking and the damping actually works properly!