Tuesday 15 December 2015

From the archive: 1998 Marzocchi Mr T

MR T
No, not that one!
The Mr T was Marzocchi's first full production dual crown fork for a mountain bike. The Mr T was in effect a stop gap model that basically used a Z1 fork with stanchion extensions on the top to create the dual crown look, while the works riders got the hand made Super T.

The Mr T also used a new forging for the lower leg that utilised a 20mm through axle design and an I.S. disc brake mount that were both excepted standards for years. The lower legs were also used in the Z1 Duel model.

The lower crown was the same as a Z2 with the lips machined of and was placed over the stanchion join, with the crown fitted with the join at the top. The upper crown was an all-new CNC design that lived on for years on both the Super T and Jnr T models. The upper extensions had cut marks on the outer stanchion and also the inner rods so that the fork could be trimmed down to suit frames with smaller head tubes.

To service the fork was easy, the upper stanchion piece would just unscrew leaving in effect a Z1, with the only difference being 8mm allen key foot nuts opposed to the 15mm foot nuts of the Z1.

Catalogue spec:
Travel: 105mm + 5mm negative travel design.
Spring Type: Cr-Si coil spring in each leg. 3 different rates available.
Damping: Dual hydraulic Bomber cartridges with adjustable rebound.
Crowns: Forged alloy lower, CNC alloy upper.
Adjustments: 15mm preload, infinite rebound.
Stanchions: 30mm Easton alloy with butter smooth finish. Two piece design.
Steerer tube: Easton alloy.
Sliders: Aluminium gravity die cast. Special drop outs for through axle.
Disc brake mount: New 98 standard mount.
Brake Arch: Alloy, forged, CNC machined with optional cable hanger

Mr T
Lower legs
MR T!
pre-load and rebound adjuster
on the work bench, with a stanchion separated
On the cover of DIRT with Tim Ponting
Tim Ponting
exploded diagram MR T 1998
brochure page

Thursday 3 December 2015

from the archives: The Marzocchi DH3

The 1995 Marzocchi DH3 was a 3" travel air sprung and oil damped down hill monster in a world full of rubber sprung and rubber damped suspension forks.


In a pre-Z1 world the DH3 was the most aggressive fork Marzocchi produced and was raced around the world by racers such as Rob Warner.


By today's standards, it very heavy and with just 26mm stanchions it is very spindly, but the ride quality is still very good, especially with the coil spring upgrade fitted.

Some DH3's had a compression knock, this was due to the build up of internal pressure when the fork initially moves. The simple solution was to drill a relief hole on the side of the damper rod about 7mm under the head.

We made a service guide which you can follow here, however the 26mm genuine forks are no longer available.

This is what Marzocchi said about it at the time:

DH3

The DH3 fork is designed specifically for downhill biking. The forged, reinforced crown, the forged T6 stanchions and the extremely rigid brake arch, combined with extended travel and controlled damping, absorb every type of shock without undermining stability.

The oversized tubes make the DH3 one of the most rigid forks on the market. As on the other models, the practical 6-position adjuster knob means the MTB can be adapted to any kind of terrain.

The DH3 was developed with disc brakes in mind, and consequently various adaptors are available

brochure page

exploded diagram

brodhure
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