Marzocchi 350 CR

There seems to be a lot of good options for 160mm forks these days. I was wondering if anyone has tried Marzocchi’s new offering 200g lighter and a new cartridge which seems tempting to me.

There doesn’t seem to be many reviews of them yet, but ill be getting a set and sticking them on the front of a GT Sanction when its released. Ride io have done some testing and rated them highly, and Steve Jones has been testing some so expect to see a review in Dirt very soon. They have the potential to be a real Pike alternative Imho..

Anyone ridden or tried these yet?

I have them.

What do you think of them fr0sty125? Happy with them?

I’d also like to hear more about this fork, I don’t want a pike due to the topping out clunk and reliability issues. Hopefully the 350 is a good alternative but there aren’t many reviews around.

Keep in mind that according to the Marzocchi reps on MTBR, the NCR has more complicated compression/rebound internals.

Team Tested: The 2015 Marzocchi 350 NCR Fork

I’ve got a 2014 set, I really like them. Very plush and stiff. They are dirt cheap at Merlin at the mo too, nearly 100 quid less than I paid for them

they are very gold though!

I think they look good tizzzle! Just ordered a set from merlin…

Nooooo no one buy them pleasei can’t afford any for a couple of weeks lol

I didn’t want Pikes for the same reason. I think frosty had a bit of trouble with his with the stanchions scratching on too-tight bushes. Mine are good though, they were a bit sticky at first but that’s the same as my old 55CRs (which were also awesome), they take a few hard rides to bed in but then they are super plush but supportive through the travel at the same time. Couldn’t be more chuffed with them tbh, makes me think that the new 350 NCRs must be incredible! £370 is a great price too.

So I have had my 350 CR since July when I first got them I thought there was something wrong with them as they had so much stiction they wouldn’t sag. At the time I was advised by Windwave that they would bed in. It did get better but the small bump never felt great. However the stanchions started to wear badly last weekend and it looks like the bushings were out of spec.

However it has meant I have been able to directly compare my old RS Sektor RL with the 350cr on the same trail only a week apart. The trail being black rocks and crich chase.

For a start the 350 CR is far stiffer than the Sektor I’m not a heavy rider at 70kg but I notice how stiff the 350CR feels it just doesn’t deflect when hitting bigger rocks such as parts of black rocks and Jacobs Ladder descent. I noticed that on every single descent I had significantly more arm pump, the sektor is not as well damped and it really shows on these sorts of fast rocky descents. It isn’t able to sit in the mid stroke sweet spot like the 350 CR does. Sometimes the Sektor gets completely overwhelmed and rebounds badly. At the end of the day it means it is harder to keep your line and your arms have to do more work. The particular thing I like about the 350CR is the rebound great range of adjustment and it seems to work very well with the compresion damper to keep the fork totally under control.

Oh the stanchions are very orange/gold goes well with my orange frame though.

Anyone ridden them back to back with pikes?
It’s a shame there is lack of reviews at the moment.

Ordered some, too good an offer to miss if you need some forks soon, there’s no decent Pike offers at the mo.

Yeah hopefully they are a bargain at the price! What are you putting yours on Stevelol?

Mine are on a Chromag Samurai65, shortened to 140mm travel by TF Tuned (I got them to do it as I couldn’t find any instructions, and I do’t much care for tinkering with expensive new things!).

The stanchions are amazingly orange. I think 2015 model gets the “espresso” colour of the 2014 NCRs.

I’m not a massive fork connoisseur. They feel pleasant, very supportive and with good sensitivity. I haven’t managed to detect any real flex. Rebound seems to be a bit on the fast side (I don’t really understand if/how shortening them may have affected that). The dials (compression and rebound damping) seem to have a pretty small range.

There does’t seem to be a recommended air pressure range. Mine seem to want to run softer than I expected.

There’s a thread on mtbr where a fella gives some info on dropping the lowers and changing travel.

forums.mtbr.com/27-5-650b/marzocchi-better-late-than-never-908511.html

Mine are going on a SC Solo.

@fr0sty, I think Hora of this parish had the same problems with his forks if My memory serves me well. A riding buddy has just bought some R’s, so we will see if they are Ok

I’ve got a set on the front of a covert 650b and i absoultuely love them, all of my friends have got pikes and ive had a go on them and id chose these everyday , so plush and hold up in their travel really well and great with small bumps , look mint too!

So mine arrived and I have them fitted:
Zesty1 by weewillywinky[/url], on Flickr

Any ideas on air pressure settings for 90kg rider? I didn’t get a manual or guide in my box!

So Windwave warranty replaced my fork quite happy with that. They had already been delivered when I arrived back in the UK. Sorted out in a week so was only without a fork for 1 weekend.

Any ideas on air pressure settings for 90kg rider? I didn’t get a manual or guide in my box!

Nope. Me neither. Windwave don’t seem to have one either!

🙂

I’ve never used a pressure guide on air forks. Just put what ever pressure gets you the required sag.

Is an air spring or just a air preload?

If its an air spring, pressure ranges for most air forks will be from about 50 psi to 200 psi. So try 50 psi and see what sag you get and go from there. If the fork sags loads +50% then you know you need a lot more air try 100psi. If the fork sags 30 -40% you know you are roughly correct.

should be about 90-100 psi.

Just fitted my new replacement forks almost no stiction much more plush. So looking good. My old one felt nothing like this.

Windwave are very good aren’t they?

Had an issue with my 55rc3ti and they swapped both the lowers and stanchions, and fully rebuilt them as new. Took em 3 days. They’re perfect now – I just don’t have the bike tey were for any more.

So after 3 rides the new forks feel great. I ride a lot in the peaks and when it is fast and rocky they work great really stiff so little deflection. Very active and literally soak up the hits reducing arm pump. After riding the Sektors for a weekend I’m really starting to appreciate how good the 350s are.

Quick thread bump, just fitted a pair to my Mondraker Foxy XR, couldn’t be more impressed, significant performance increase over the fox 34’s that came off it and easily as good as the pike I had on my 29er. I was concerned with the lack of lock out but I needn’t have been as they are great both seated and on the pedals climbing. I’ve only had two rides on them, can’t wait for them to bed in.