Marzocchi - FOX - Rock Shox Fork Reviews

My riding has also changed over this time. I started out riding the weekends then racing cross country and then some marathon events and then moved onto riding the Cape Epic a few times.      

The fork rotation started in five years ago in 2003 when I got a Scott comp racing hardtail fitted with a Rockshox Pilot. This was a pretty puny looking fork that definitely didn’t fit with the look of the bike. It was however relatively light so it fitted well with the light racing mtb package. The performance of the fork for general trail riding was pretty poor for that level of bike, as the fork flexed quite a bit , bottomed out often with only 80mm of travel and had no lockout features

Marzocchi Bomber MX PRO
So by chance I stumbled upon a newish second hand Marzocchi Bomber MX Pro. I jumped at the opportunity and have never regretted it. It looks really cool with the gold chunky 32mm stanchions, has lockout and rebound control. My favourite feature though is the ETA travel reduction that you get when it is locked out. Since the fork sits quite high, the reduced travel on lockout lowers the fork and changes the bike geometry for climbing. I have never had any major issues with this fork and it just seems to keep on going. Only service I ever did was to change the oil which was a very simple process. After 4 years I still have this fork, it has done thousands of kilometres and now serves its time on the front of the MTB tandem for occasional weekend outings.

FOX F100 RL
When it came time to upgrade bikes one of my dilemmas was how would I live without the Bomber and was there someway that I could still ride it on my new bike or get something else similar. The biggest problem was that the Bomber was too heavy, as are most Marzocchis. I was upgrading to a full suspension mountain bike so I had to look at keeping bike weight as low as possible to at least stay in the ball park with my Scot comp racing. At this time FOX forks were everywhere and so my new Raleigh RDS 9 came with a FOX F100 RL. This fork also looked the part, as all Fox forks do with 32mm stanchions and great colour co-ordination and paint job. It didn’t have the required travel lockout feature, but it did have lockout and re-bound control. These FOX forks are some of the lightest that you can get, noticeably lighter than the Marzocchi. The FOX really did have a light racy feel to it versus the chunky industrial feel of the Bomber. Then of course there was the soft smooth action that FOX does so well, they are definitely some of the smoothest feeling forks around. Throughout the range of suspension travel they feel great. Setting up the FOX was also really easy, one valve, check the sag, set the rebound and off you go, this counted for a lot. So it was bliss for a while, that was until the tell tale signs of the oil weep began to emerge. It is a lubrication feature of FOX forks I was told, but it just kept on increasing, and then after a bit of research it became evident that this was pretty normal. I was not impressed, after just over 6 months the fork was due for a major service to sort out the leaking seals. When I realised that this would be an ongoing story I decided it was not for me. Subsequently I have found out that fitting stronger aftermarket seals (Enduro seals) at a cost was a solution to the problem. But I was hankering back to my maintenance free Marzocchi days so I had to make a change.

Rock Shox Reba Team with U-lock
I looked the Marzocchi way but there was nothing really that fitted my weight requirements as well as the new need for a remote lockout. The Rock Shox Reba Team was the best candidate. It was reasonably priced (via online retailer of course) as I could sell the FOX in need of a service and buy the brand new Reba with only a small cost penalty. So the deal was done. The Reba team is one up on the Rockshox Reba Race, reviewed previously. The Reba once again looked and performed the part. The U-turn travel adjustment was really nifty to adjust the travel between 90-110mm with the turn of a dial on top of the left leg. Setting up the Reba was a little more complicated than the FOX, but the manual was well laid out so it was doable. The Reba has positive pressure on top of the fork leg and negative pressure at the bottom. So this is setup to adjust your preferred damping of the fork. Then you also set sag and adjust rebound with the rebound adjuster. This fork was great, while not as smooth as the FOX it was quite acceptable. It lasted well even although it was the fork that I did the least amount of mileage. No lockout?

Rock Shox Reba World Cup
When I had an opportunity to upgrade bikes again I was quite happy to go with the Reba world cup version that was lighter with a carbon crown and steerer tube and remote lockout. It was virtually the same as the Reba team so there was no new action to get used to. I had this fork for a while and it worked hard and had a pretty rough time. It was not until I had a demo bike with a new FOX on that I realised that my Reba was not working the way it should or could. So obviously it was service time, which was done and there was an improvement so things seemed better. But a couple weeks later and after another spin on the demo bike it was evident that the Reba was really not in the same class as the FOX when it came to suspension action.

Marzocchi Corsa Marathon LT
So there I was 5 years and 5 forks later and there was just one option for me. I decided to choose affordability, reliability and durability so I went back to Marzocchi. They have just upgraded their Marathon forks. The top of the range being the Corsa World Cup SL, but with a hefty price tag and a weight saving of only 300g over the LT, I decided to get the LT version. I was pleased to find a shiny, sturdy and well finished looking fork when I opened the box. This is when I came face to face with the confusing technology used by Marzocchi. It appears as if no two fork models share the same combinations of technology, and they all seem to be quite different. Anyway the Corsa LT comes with TST5, a clever dial adjustment with 5 different positions for varying fork compression, the hardest being full lockout , via the shiny remote lockout. Otherwise there is positive air for setting the sag effectively and rebound lockout. The manual although in several languages seems to speak a language of its own, confusion. I have not quite worked out exactly how to setup this fork, but I am getting there. What I do know is that I am now riding a sturdy piece of suspension upfront that I hope will give me many long years of service, just like the first one that I am still riding.

Conclusions

Marzocchi Bomber MX Pro – Simple, strong, reliable and durable fork - Buy this fork if you are on a budget and don't need lots of features

FOX F100 RL – The best suspension action, the lightest but also the most expensive to buy and to keep going with regular servicing of leaky seals. - Buy this fork if you are a race snake who wants light and smooth like butter.

Rock Shox Reba Team with U-lock – Great combination of features, light weight and affordability. - Buy this fork if you want value for money with lots of features and tuning options

Rock Shox Reba World Cup – Light, nice carbon crown, suspension performance seemed to decrease progressively requiring a major service to get back to new. - Buy this fork to make a statement and pimp your ride, and go fast.

Marzocchi Corsa Marathon LT – On the heavy side (Get the World Cup SL if light weight is important). Needs a bit of trial and error to setup. - Buy this fork if you want good solid features and reliability.

Marzocchi Suspension
FOX Racing Shox
RockShox