[Closed] Marzocchi 55 CR - Any experience/thoughts?

@maxtoruque - could you expand a little - better (why?) more future proof so can re use them / sell them more easily ? My gut feel says you are right btw

maxtorgue - I think you'd be mad not to get tapered versions personally!

i agree with windydave...if your headtube is 1 1/8th then its your only option but if the headtube is tapered then you can choose either. it would make sense to get the tapered fork as most frames have tapered headtubes as standard but if Jambalaya has a hope convertor fitted to the frame then it would be cost efective to get the 1 1/8th version and save a few quid as it can still be used like this and can even be transferred to another frame

@Windydave - am I right in that you've got the Marz 55CRs on a Specialized Pitch? If so at what travel have you got them ste and how did it fair on the climb up to Nan Bield (oh and which way did you climb up - Gatesgarth or another route)? I am interested to know how you find the climbing with longer forks on the Pitch.

I've got Lyrik duap positions on my Pitch and enjoy dropping the travel for steep climbs.

Ta

[quote=jonnyblease]Well the plan would be to ditch the CTD mechanism and have it replaced with the Push tuning conversion kit to a high speed and low speed compression adjustment;

Or get the air cart upgraded to the 2014 unit - just had this done by Mojo (as part of a service - think it was about £40) on my 29er 34 CTDs and it makes the world of difference, especially to Descend mode.

@tomaso, it's an Enduro set at 170. Felt a little light on the front in comparisom to the old 160's but also i've been riding the 456 set at 120 for most of winter so it was always going to feel a little interesting on the front.

We climbed/hiked/carried/pushed up to Nan Bield from the Haweswater side, then dropped down to Kentmere and then across and up Gatesgarth. As above, it felt a bit light but not too bad. I'll make a call on dropping them after riding something a bit more familiar that i can properly compare the old forks to

I can't see any new frames coming out with a straight steerer these days, so if you have a frame that can take them, get a tapered steerer for as much "future proofing" as possible i guess

Cheers @windydave thats interesting to know.

Are tapered frames the 100% standard going forward though? Or will some bright spark invent the need to upgrade all your kit?

They do seem to be what the industry is adopting and it has been the case for a while.

I found that my lower bearings on my Hope headset didn't last too well with their step down system. A few others with longer travel forks have ground the same too.

ive got a pair, and they are rad. remind me very much of my MX comps. Simple, reliable (so far) and a good feel. I prefer them to my Fox 36s, which blew through the travel on steep descents. 55s seem to support much better, while still actually working.

ive even got used to the gopping decals and orange stantions

worth noting, Axel to crown in 170mm mode is the same as 160mm lyriks and only a shade longer than 160mm 36s.

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I am going to buy a 55 next month. I have a couple of questions for owners. I have had marzocchi forks in the past, and the thing I really like about them is how active they are on the small chatter. I also have a Totem which is great on big stuff, but hardly moves on small rough bumps.

I was planning to get the 55R, but I am put off by the straight steerer, weight and the light spring. My DJ fork has the air assisted preload which I always run empty because it affects the small bump feel.

I also noticed that the 55R is open bath, and the 55CR is not. What I want to know is, how does the 55CR feel compared to a Marzocchi open bath fork, specifically wrt stiction. The Totem, like the 55CR, has 20cc of lube oil in each leg and it requires a service every 5-10 hours of use to keep it smooth. How does the 55CR stack up?

Other things of note in response to earlier posts, the 55CR at 170mm has an a2c of 555mm. Rockshox Lyriks and Totems have the same a2c. 160mm travel - 545mm a2c, 170mm - 555mm, 180mm - 565mm.

Also, you can use a tapered steerer in a 1.125" zero stack (44mm) headtube using the external cup, like the Cane Creek EC44.

jaame -
all my forks have been marzocchi's and the last 2 pairs were z1 sport rv which were coil with air assist and only had rebound adjustment and a pair of 66rc which also had air assist. the z1 sport rv were ran with very little air in the air assist and felt fine for small bump sensitivity so long as the rebound was set correctly. the 66rc had a bit more air in to cope with harsh landings but again i also ran a bit more compression so they didnt dive under braking as much. again with these i had to get the right balance between rebound and compression so they could cope with the big stuff whilst still being sensitive to the small stuff.
my 55cr has 75 psi and the rebound is set to half way with 2/3rds compression wound in to stop excessive brake dive. they still manage the big hits and the small stuff without any issues.

the 55r is actually coil sprung with air assist so it will be the same as your dj fork. not sure if its open bath but if it is then to change the damping characteristics you can always switch to a heavier of lighter oil...depending on which oil you go for, how much air you add to the air assist cartridge, your body weight, stiffness of the coil and how much rebound you set it with will depend on how it respond to the big and small stuff but i reckon you'll still be able to get the fork to work on both types of terrain

the 55r also come with 160mm and this cannot be altered at the moment so the a2c length should actually be less than 555mm. marzocchi's website says it is 546mm.

with regards to weight the 55r weighs in at 2.47kg. the 55cr with the straight steerer weighs in at 2.23kg and the tapered version at 2.2kg.
if you can afford it then get the 55cr as its lighter and more adjustable. travle may be 170mm or 150mm but there may be plans for a 100 spacer to be introduced at some point this year so the travel can get reduced to 160mm.
in terms of reliability all new marzocchi forks come with a 3 year no service warranty.
of all the 8 or 9 marzocchi forks i've owned...none have been serviced and none had any problems so i expect these to be the same. i bought the 66rc in 2005 and had them until last summer and without a service they still felt like new.

I'm a sucker for Marzocchi. Always have been. I just find them sturdier, better. The 55 TST2's that I shim-stacked were probably the best (until they broke).

jaame its £70 difference.

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/60527/Marzocchi_55_R_2013_Forks

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/60526/Marzocchi_55_CR_2014_Forks

£70.

Thats all I will say.

Hora what sag are you running at 100psi?

Just had the travel changed to 150. I'll tell you tomorrow.

It's not about the money. The difference in price here is less than fifty quid. Due to past experience I dubious of whether air forks can perform as well as coil, but I keep hearing that they can. The other problem with the R is that there is only one weight of coil to my knowledge, and heavier riders are supposed to use the air preload feature that I am not a fan of to stiffen things up, so essentially it becomes a hybrid air fork rather than coil.

I am leaning towards the CR because of the weight and ease of tuning. I am interested in service intervals though. To be honest I had a Domain coil that had the lube and damping oil separate and it never needed servicing. If you guys who already have the CR can assure me that it performs very well by Marzocchi standards, and that it doesn't need pulling apart more than once a year, I'll take the plunge.

jaame - i've had mine for nearly a year now and no problems so far. you're correct in saying that there is only one weight of coil available for the 55r....whether there will be more available in the future is hard to say. i've asked windwave about a 10mm spacer for the 55cr and theyll be discussing this with marzocchi at some point in the near future.
all my previous marzocchi forks have been coil units and these 55cr's are my first air fork and i have to admit i've so far been very impressed with their performance.

hora, if your forks are packing down on repeated hits you should be reducing the rebound damping rather than increasing the compression damping.
you need to make the fork recover from the hit more quickly, not stop it using it's travel.

Only had one ride so far. Now they are down to my desired 150mm travel I'll start adjusting/playing with.

@hora, did you change the travel yourself, or get someone else to do it?? Just wondering if you had to doa full oil change or could get away without??

Dave

Thanks for the input. I'm going to pull the trigger on a CR I think.

Dave I got a local freelancer to do it. I've spacer changed 36 Floats and converted 170DH Lyriks to travel adjust coil but I just didnt fancy mucking up new forks.

What's the process for changing the travel? Is it a spacer on the air assy? That sounds like you'd need to change the lowers oil, but if you're not touching the damper - then you shouldn't need to change the oil.

Looking at a set of these for my Pitch - I see Winstanleys are out of stock of the straight steerer model CRs. You lot been buying them all!?

merlin have the straight steerer version in stock for £429...

i think Hora's bought all of Winstanleys stock....he'll be flogging them on here soon when everyone wants them and no-one stocks them...

First proper ride on them today at 150mm. Yep - run almost full rebound, only two clicks of compression and 95psi. They feel harsh on the bounce test but **** brilliant on Peaks trails.

Gonzy do you need one or two of those gromits? I can only find one.

The mucky nutz thing is brilliant!

Good to hear Hora. I had a blast round LLandegla in the dark last night. According to Strava i seem to be able to ride faster in the dark than the light. I'm putting it down to the new forks!!

Anyway i ran 3 clicks of compression and one click towards the + from centre on the rebound. Felt awesome although i couldn't see a thing as to how they were working 😆

hora - i only need one of those nuts. send me a text to let me know when you want to pick up the seat post

hmmmmm. on a bFE, I might go for it.

I took delivery of my 55CRs last night. Mounted them up but only did a test on the street. First impressions are they feel a bit sticky still which I expect will wear off after a few hours. Also, the spring rate feels spot on, I have to say quite linear, which is good in my book. Adjustments, particularly the compression, are wide ranging. I'm glad I went for the CR because that adjustable compression is something I'll definitely use.
The "gold race coating" is in breach of the trade descriptions act 1982. It should be referred to as "orange race coating". It looks the absolute tits.

Good stuff, just waiting for mine to arrive!

I have mine for nearly a week, still sitting on my desk. Look fab though.

I have mine for nearly a week, still sitting on my desk

My god man. Who are you looking to own? The tea lady?

I've used mine for a couple of hours now, including a shuttle day. The rebound was originally great on the slower side of the middle on the adjuster. Now I have it full slow and it's still too fast. Also, the stroke is feeling a bit sticky and there is a little too abrupt a stop on top out. It feels like there isn't enough lube oil in there or something.
I'm going to change the oil at the weekend and change from the stock 7.5 to 10w.

Anyone else had this problem? If so, how did you rectify it?

Weirdly same here. Not buttery smooth on compression. Slight knotchiness- come to think of it sticky is right? Too.

jaame, I also have the same problem with the rebound being too fast. I have already changed the oil to 10w. I presumed that with me being on the 'larger' side and running about 90psi (max on the weight chart is 100psi) that was the cause. I'd be very interested to hear how you get on with this. I may try going up to 15w oil to see if that helps - but the odd thing is initially the rebound was pretty much in the middle!

[i]Weirdly same here. Not buttery smooth on compression. Slight knotchiness- come to think of it sticky is right? Too. [/i]

oh god, it's started.

There's mass panic breaking out in a warehouse/office unit on the outskirts of Portsmouth as we speak.

Mine is smooth as silk on compression, and my rebound goes from very fast to very very slow. But I am a dainty 65kg, set at 65psi

There's mass panic breaking out in a warehouse/office unit on the outskirts of Portsmouth as we speak

I've used them 3 times for service/warranty stuff on different forks. If I've posted overnight on a Monday I've always had them back for the Friday.

Local service first is probably best place to start, anyway, and I hope it sorts them.

I have just read something about bleedijng the rebound cartridge?? Does that make sense to anyone?

Dynamic bleed for the damper side, it looks a faff but isnt too bad.

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There is a proper air /oil seal under the dust seal, pop the dust seal off and lube the proper one if its feeling notchy.

loverofminkys, 100psi for me otherwise its plowing through the travel, Ive put 20ml of oil in the damper to help it ramp up, might go for another 10ml.

Anyway, my 2012s have been back to windwave twice. Needed new seals as it was losing air, far enough. Was still losing air on return so then had a new air assembly installed. All work done by Windwave for nowt via LBS.

Can I just point out I've had my Pikes since last September and they haven't started knocking (yet).

Can I just point out I've had my Pikes since last September and they haven't started knocking (yet).

mutter grumble mutter

PWNED! 😀