Marzocchi Z1 Coil Fork – Have your prayers been answered?

When the Marzocchi Z1 fork was launched back in April 2018 we applauded the return of a simple, bomber-(sorry!)-strong air sprung fork. Long time Marzocchi fans, though, still talk fondly of the coil sprung, open oil bath original forks. Well, today, their misty-eyed musings have come true in the form of the new Marzocchi Bomber Z1 Coil Fork.

And if you already have a Marzocchi Z1 air fork, there will be a spring upgrade kit that you can fit to it (or to a Fox Rhythm 36 for that matter…) to get that buttery spring feel. (Hopefully you’ll like what you get as it’s a one-way journey – you can’t turn it back to air once you’ve gone to spring).

Marzocchi says of it “As terrain and riding styles have gotten rowdier and rowdier, and bikes have gotten more and more capable, the need for bomber suspension that feels buttery and bottomless has never been greater. The industry has fondly embraced recent trends towards coil-sprung rear shocks yet none of the major players have stepped forth with a complete coil fork system. Up until now, that is.”

The new Bomber Z1 Coil retains the renowned and simple to dial-in Grip damper but swaps out the air spring assembly for “the most advanced coil spring system Marzocchi has ever made”.

At the heart of this new coil system is an ultra-lightweight tempered silicon-chromium steel spring (available in four spring rates to suit a wide range of riders); coupled with a ‘noise management system’ (which looks like a bit of rubber shrink-wrap around the spring to us, but is probably far more technical) for ‘near silent performance’; an integrated air assist for progression and bottom out control; and an external preload adjuster to dial in sag and firmness off the top.

Travel can easily be changed in 10mm increments from 150-180mm (depending on wheel size) via included, reconfigurable internal spacers. The fork will come in 27.5in and 29er, with the 150mm travel version being 29er only and the 180mm version being 27.5in only. Got it?

There is also still a lengthy service interval of 125 hours of riding. Ideal for those of us who want to pump tyres and ride, without having to faff around with pressures and tokens.

The 2018 Bomber Z1 air was surprisingly affordable (comparatively) coming in at under £800. This is true of the new Bomber Z1 Coil, which will sell for £779

If you have a Z1 air, then the Coil spring kit will cost you £154.95 with further coil springs costing £54.95. Your fork will still be covered by the factory warranty.

Although the new spring kit only applies to the Z1 Bomber air (and the Fox Rhythm 36) Marzocchi (and its parent company Fox Racing Shox) hasn’t ruled out making other spring forks and upgrade kits available for other forks. It’ll be interesting to see how the takeup is.

In the meantime, kits and forks should be arriving with importer/distributor Silverfish UK any week now and they expect to have them on sale by next month. See silverfish-uk.com for more details.

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