Marzocchi Vs. ?

[Greg Smith]

I found a pair of 2001 Marzocchi Bomber Z1's New, at a new bike shop in my town. I have been looking
to upgrade the forks (under 100 mm travel) that came stock on my Trek, and was wondering if
1. Anyone who's ridden Marzocchi's has any feed back that could help with my decision?

2. Also do you think $279 cdn (taxes included) is a good deal for an older fork?

 

[B A R R Y B U R]

On Sun, 29 Jun 2003 23:55:08 -0400, "Greg Smith" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I found a pair of 2001 Marzocchi Bomber Z1's New, at a new bike shop in my town. I have been
>looking to upgrade the forks (under 100 mm travel) that came stock on my Trek, and was wondering if
>1. Anyone who's ridden Marzocchi's has any feed back that could help with my decision?
>

The 2001 Z1 is an EXCELLENT fork!

>2. Also do you think $279 cdn (taxes included) is a good deal for an older fork?

For that fork, new old stock, it's an excellent price.

Keep in mind that increasing the fork travel may have some ill effects, such as slower steering,
poor f-r weight distribution (especially on steep climbs), and higher stresses on the head tube. If
you're increasing the travel to better deal with drops, also keep in mind that some frames were
never designed with big drops in mind, and they may fail.

If the geometry works, go for it. Marzocchi has an excellent reputation for standing behind their
products and continuing to offer replacement parts for years and years, unlike some other
manufacturers.

Barry

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>, B a r r y B u r k e J r . <Keep it in the
[email protected]> wrote:

> On Sun, 29 Jun 2003 23:55:08 -0400, "Greg Smith" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >I found a pair of 2001 Marzocchi Bomber Z1's New, at a new bike shop in my town. I have been
> >looking to upgrade the forks (under 100 mm travel) that came stock on my Trek, and was wondering

100 mm travel, eh?

> The 2001 Z1 is an EXCELLENT fork!
>
> >2. Also do you think $279 cdn (taxes included) is a good deal for an older fork?
>
> For that fork, new old stock, it's an excellent price.
>
> Keep in mind that increasing the fork travel may have some ill effects, such as slower steering,
> poor f-r weight distribution (especially on steep climbs), and higher stresses on the head tube.
> If you're increasing the travel to better deal with drops, also keep in mind that some frames were
> never designed with big drops in mind, and they may fail.

Barry's right, but a few things:

1) the Z1 is a freeride fork. This means it is designed for drops and such. The 2001 has
110/130mm of travel, which is a lot. Even though it's only a fork, expect some pedal bob on
your sprints now.

2) what model Trek? I doubt there's a Trek freeride bike that came with a sub-100mm fork, so you're
probably converting some perfectly nice XC bike (or maybe one of Trek's cheaper hardtail models)
into a slightly compromised trailbike. This could be a good thing: if you're not racing or
interested in climbing as fast as possible, you probably won't care. On the other hand, if you
attempt what the fork is capable of, the rest of the bike might not survive.

3) that does sound like a decent price, though. You probably won't find as much fork anywhere else,
and there are some good reasons to buy a fork new.

-RjC.
--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Greg Smith]

Ryan You we're correct. I'm butchering/upgrading a 2001 Trek 4300 as I brake parts,or see fit to do
so. i.e. crank, and BB, handle bars, and saddle, rear derailleur, the list is long. Very little
left on my bike is stock and I was looking at the wheelset and upgrading to disc brakes next "until
I found the Z1's". I'm more about freeriding than racing so I'm not overly concerned about pedal
bob, and hill climbing speed. The frame is gusseted at the head set so I'm hoping it will hold out.
Do you think upgrading the Headset to a Chris knig. or Race Face will help insure I dont snap my
frame "Their"?

Thanks for the advice.

Greg

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>, "Greg Smith"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Ryan You we're correct. I'm butchering/upgrading a 2001 Trek 4300 as I brake parts,or see fit to
> do so. i.e. crank, and BB, handle bars, and saddle, rear derailleur, the list is long. Very little
> left on my bike is stock and I was looking at the wheelset and upgrading to disc brakes next
> "until I found the Z1's". I'm more about freeriding than racing so I'm not overly concerned about
> pedal bob, and hill climbing speed. The frame is gusseted at the head set so I'm hoping it will
> hold out. Do you think upgrading the Headset to a Chris knig. or Race Face will help insure I dont
> snap my frame "Their"?
>
> Thanks for the advice.

This would be a better question for the alt.mountain-bikes crowd, because I don't know. I
suppose, if the frame will take it, a deep-seat steel headset would help, but you may have to
make a choice here:

Option 1: build a "freeride" bike with an XC/recreational frame and a freeride fork. You won't be
able to do drops commesurate with the front fork, but it will not handle like before. This is
probably still a better option than your current fork for the riding you are doing: the fork will be
nice, if it doesn't wreck your head tube. Realistically, the new fork will probably not increase the
chance of wrecking your frame unless you start doing bigger stuff than you are now.

Option 2: buy a frame to go with that fork. Frames, relative to other components, are pretty cheap.
And you already have a bike to build onto the frame. A suitable freeride hardtail frame should be
fairly easy to come by. At worst, I would recommend this as your next upgrade after the fork.

-RjC.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club