[Closed] Recon SL vs Marz XC500

iv,e got the recon 351 solo air sl on one of my bikes and they are superb.i,v upped them to 120mm by chopping 20mm of the spacer and they,ve been flawless.
i love them,great to ride.super plush m/control is perfect.
no complaints here...

I had an XC500 TST5. It was 2007 model (2008 models were known to develop all kind of faults) and had it from new. Never really liked the idea of the coil spring with air assist, as it kinda didn't work for my weight (15st) had to still pump the fork up and small bump sensitivity suffered, but had all 100mm travel or have small bump sensitivity but big sag and fork being too soft for bigger hits.

Can't fault the damping, TST5 worked nicely as well, wide range of adjustments, but the weight of 2kg+ is a bit high. Looks nice and stealth black, plus the black finish on uppers doesn't wear out as with Manitou forks. Would stay away from ETA models, as that's another thing that was breaking down in 2008 models in the range. The most annoying thing was small play in bushings, contacted the dealer and they told me it's within the tolerances. On the plus side for XC500 is that You can get second hand examples cheap. Would I buy one brand new for £180-240? No. I would still prefer to get a used Recon for around £100. Also normal 32mm seals from Marzocchi will not fit, special 32mm seals for XC Retro series have to be bought, most shops don't have them in stock. If You're offered one for around £40-60 I would consider it, as the fork works, and after more than a year still kept air nicely and the play didn't got worse.

I never tried a Recon, but it seems it's like Reba but heavier and running Solo air spring. I had Solo Air spring in my Duke, solid, easy to set up, and have Motion Control damping in my Reba. If You can pick a nice Recon than do it. My Reba is the best fork I owned, dependable, easy to get spares, just works, and is pretty light as well.

Recon all the way...

BUT I just got a brand new 2010 Marzocchi 44 RLO for my mate and You can get them for £190 in some shops, 3 year "no-service" warranty was the thing that convinced him. Quite chunky and over 2kg as well, all black with some golden metallic effect (looks great), modern looks and adjustments You need, but it does have the older Bombers feel and plushness that the newer models were lacking. If You`re thinking of getting any of those forks brand new than 44 from 2010 would be worth considering as it's in a similar price bracket.