Opinion: Is coil suspension dead?

Recently I was asked by Singletrack magazine to contibute to a feature entitled "are coil springs dead?" this is what I said...
Dan Jones, marketing manager at Marzocchi importers Windwave.
“Absolutely not! In terms of outright suspension performance a coil shock or fork will outperform its air counterpart hands down; of course the answer can never be as simple as that.
Air forks and shocks are now well developed, easy to set up, lightweight and, most importantly for bike manufacturers, any bike supplied with an air shock requires no additional springs to get the bike performing correctly. Coil shocks and forks can be made lighter with the addition of titanium coils, however this adds cost and with the simplicity of an air spring set up you can clearly see why air has become so popular, especially as OEM fitment.
Coil shocks and forks for the aftermarket make a lot of sense, riders looking for higher quality suspension that will give a genuine performance benefit need to try coil – air will feel almost blunted in comparison.
Coils are more active, almost fluid-like in feel and take out pretty much everything, air forks work hard but feel dead in comparison, like sitting on your hands waiting for them to go numb then trying to type; you can type, but it’s all just a little vague…
The benefits are obvious, you are better isolated from the terrain so suffer less fatigue in your hands and forearms, get greater traction and more confidence. Stick a GoPro looking at a coil fork and an air fork and do the same run, the coil fork will look hyperactive; it’s not hyperactive, it’s just doing what suspension should do.”

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Road Race Festival by the Olympic races 2012

On the weekend of the Olympic road races we attended the Surrey hills Road Race Festival. Set in Denbies vineyard the festival offered a free expo plus a BBC big screen for those who wanted to watch the Olympic races but didn’t have the Box Hill ticket...

Public attendance to the expo was quite incredible, being able to watch our cycling hero's ride past ensured lots of foot traffic. We gave away 1000 Colnago caps and around 300 FSA goodie bags, I would suggest at least 75% of these went to cycling enthusiasts. On our stand we had Tommy Voecklers 2011 yellow TDF bike, most people recognized it, which was a good sign of the type of people we had visit.

On display we had the new Colnago C59 Disc, not only is this bike the first road bike with hydraulic disc brakes, it is the first and only machine currently in the UK making it a real expo highlight! 

We also had another first, the Colnago K Zero, this machine is the first wind tunnel developed Colnago and was used in this year’s TDF time trails. Other colnago models were the 2013 M10, CLX 3.0 and World Cup Cross (disc).

Yet another exclusive was the Vision Metron groupset, although still a prototype rear mech its production ready.

All in all a great weekend, sunshine on Saturday with lots of visitors even if it did rain a little on Sunday… My only negative would be the lack of journalists having a sniff for new stuff and because it was set up to run alongside the Olympics there probably won’t be another one…

See the full gallery on Posterous

For product information please visit:
 www.colnago.com
www.fullspeedahead.com
www.visiontechusa.com
www.windwave.co.uk

Marzocchi’s Open bath – the key to performance and long service intervals!

Marzocchi have always been advocates of the open bath system as it has many advantages over a closed damper, in fact I would go as far to say that the only negative this design has is ultimately its biggest positive!

Benefits: Since suspension forks need to rapidly telescope, moving up and down thousands of times a ride, bushings should be coated in a bath of oil allowing friction free movement. The only deign that truly accomplishes stiction-less performance is Marzocchi’s proven "Open Bath" technology. Since oil completely bathes the internal bushings, seals and cartridges all the moving parts glide smoothly; this eliminates friction that causes forks to feel harsh and unresponsive. Because of the larger oil volume it takes longer for the oil to get dirty, which in turn reduces seal and bushing wear. The higher oil volume keeps temperatures under control. Closed cartridges (or rear shocks for example) work very hard in confined spaces, friction causes heat, heat causes damping fade, so a higher volume of oil will give a more consistent level of performance over extended runs.

Lastly the performance remains at a consistently higher level for longer. With low oil/ closed systems the performance drop can be huge if the fork isn’t correctly maintained. This can also contribute to worn stanchions as the fork dries out.
To hold all this oil in the fork you need a good seal, fortunately Marzocchi  is a motorcycle suspension company with over 60 years of experience and they use the highest quality seals from Japanese manufacture NOK. NOK are OE suppliers to all the big motorcycle manufacturers and are considered the best. http://www.nok.com.sg/nok.aspx

Negatives: the only down side for using increased oil volume is weight, BUT... With the advent of optimised stations, titanium springs and Ti bolts featured in Marzocchi’s latest fork line the weight difference can be as marginal as a packet of biscuits...

You can also successfully argue that the marginal weight saving gained by using a closed damper is also a negative. By using less oil (as low as 5cc) the fork becomes very service sensitive. Service intervals become every 10hrs, 1 week, 1 month or 1 year...  Also consider the service costs; how many services do you need to make to preserve your warranty? If to save 100g you have to spend £100 per service per year, it’s starting to look like not such a great deal...?
With an open bath system the fork is always under constant lubrication, there are no funny service routines and no hidden service charges and to top it off you also get a THREE year warranty as well and you do not have to get your fork serviced to keep the warranty valid...  All of this is only possible with the Open Bath Damper...
Introducing the Marzocchi 55 RC 3 TI 2010 from chris smith on Vimeo.

Press Release: Marzocchi announces new fork production for 2013

MARZOCCHI ANNOUNCES FORK PRODUCTION AGREEMENT WITH TAIWAN HODAKA INDUSTRIAL CO.
Hodaka to produce 2013 model year mountain bike forks, beginning in October Marzocchi takes steps to further improve customer service.
Bologna, Italy, July 12, 2012 – Tenneco Inc. (NYSE: TEN) today announced that Taiwanese mountain bike and component manufacturer Hodaka will manufacture Marzocchi mountain bike forks, beginning in October of this year. Hodaka currently manufactures rear shocks for Marzocchi.
“I am delighted with this agreement that further strengthens our successful business relationship with Hodaka,” said Pablo Perez Perseo, general manager, Marzocchi. “The decision to continue fork assembly in Taiwan enables us to increase our presence in this key manufacturing region and maintain proximity with critical component suppliers. This decision is part of our ongoing strategies to improve manufacturing efficiency, flexibility and quality with the goal of growing the mountain bike business and continuing Marzocchi’s position as a leading provider of high performance forks and shocks.”
Marzocchi will share its Tenneco world-class business processes in supply chain management, industrialization and distribution with Hodaka to help flex production according to market requirements.and shorten time to market as part of its commitment to product quality, availability and reliability.
The company also announced the appointment of Anthony Trujillo as sales and product manager for the U.S., Canada and South America as part of a reorganization of its commercial operations in these critically important markets. Trujillo joins Marzocchi from X-Fusion where he was engineering and product manager. He brings more than 14 years experience in the mountain bike industry, nine years of which were spent as a suspension engineer at Fox Racing Shox.
“The addition of Trujillo to our global team aligns with our philosophy of designing, developing and testing the most innovative, state-of-the-art, reliable and high-performance forks available on the mountain bike market,” Perseo Perez added. “Marzocchi has some very exciting products for MY2013 that respond to evolving customer needs and market trends.”
About Marzocchi: Marzocchi was founded in 1949 in Bologna, Italy and designs and manufactures motor bike and mountain bike suspensions. The company was acquired by Tenneco in 2008.
About Tenneco: Tenneco is a $7.2 billion global manufacturing company with headquarters in Lake Forest, Illinois and approximately 24,000 employees worldwide. Tenneco is one of the world’s largest designers, manufacturers and marketers of emission control and ride control products and systems for the automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment markets and the aftermarket. Tenneco markets its products principally under the Monroe®, Walker® and Clevite® Elastomer brand names.

Marzocchi UK teams 2012

Here is a full list of our UK Marzocchi team riders -
Team: Ride.io -  http://ride.io/
Style: downhill
Riders: Will Soffe, Tom Evans, Guy Gibbs, Sam Boardman, Jim Davage
Fork: 888RC3 Evo V2 Ti

Team Gannicott Racing
Style: downhill
Riders: Arran & George Gannicott
Fork: 888RC3 Evo V2 Ti

Team: Identiti
Style: Downhill
Riders: Pat Campbell-Jenner, Matt Jones, Tom Knight
Fork: 888RC3 Evo V2 Ti

Team: Continental Tyres/ Orange
Style: Gravity Enduro
Riders: Aled Gritiths, Mike Inman, Rob Scullion, Brodie Gardias
Fork: 55RC3 Evo Ti

Team: CNP Orbea
Style: XC
Riders: John Whittington, Oil Holmes, Matt Sumpton, Cameron Balfour, Darren alexander
Fork: Corsa Superleggera

Team: Dartmoor Bikes
Style: DJ + 4X
Riders: Luke Limbrick, Rich Lane, Marcel Hunt, Alfie Stephens, Ryan Nangle
Fork: DJ1, 4X

Rider: Chris Smith
Style: Freeride
Fork: 888RC3 Evo V2 Ti, 66RC3 Evo Ti, Roco RC Coil

Rider: Elbry Sanland
Style: Freeride/ XC/ blogger/ coach
Fork: 888RC3 Evo Ti, Corsa Superleggera

Rider: Tony Doyle - http://www.ukbikeskills.co.uk/
Style: Jedi
Fork: 55RC3 Evo Ti, 44 Micro Ti, Roco Lo

Happy Birthday Marzocchi Dirt Jumper - 2002-2012

Back in 2001 there was no such thing as a Dirt Jump fork. At the time dirt jumpers used a XC fork, mostly they just used the fork already fitted to the bike regardless of the quality... Marzocchi, already heavily in to the freeride scene, spotted this gap in the market and developed a DJ specific fork that could withstand the unique stresses this riding style placed the bike under. Moreover Marzocchi made Dirt Jumpers affordable, meaning you needn't use a fork just because it was cheap, you could use the correct fork for your riding style.

There are not many products that can claim to of helped define a riding style, the Marzocchi Dirt Jumper definately did that.

Marzocchi's original text:

Mountain Biking has taken on a whole new look. Before freeriding came along there was just skinny guys dressed in anatomically correct lycra looking for the next hill to hammer up. Now, we have young ballzy baggy pant urban assault riders with big air BMX backgrounds looking for the next 10 foot vertical lip and 30 foot stair gap to launch. dirt Jumping MTB style is about big air, big jumps, rhythm sections, and urban assault, all of which demands a certain type of equipment. Bikes are stronger, frames are hefty, wheels are indestructible, cranks are solid, and now the Dirt Jumper 1 and 2 by Marzocchi complete the package. We combine the thicker walled stanchion tubes and stiffer spring rates as used in the Super and Jnr T forks with the beefiness of our single crown freeride forks to deliver the strongest single crown forks ever made. If you're going DJ big, do it on a Dirt jumper Series, don't risk it on other forks designed to be light, it's not worth the penalty, be safe not sorry.

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From the archives: The Stone Age is over for mountain bikers, introducing the Marzocchi Star Fork

During the late 1980s, the mountain bike industry began to take off and Marzocchi responded. Consumers began asking for suspension on the front end of their mountain bikes. As a result, Marzocchi introduced its first prototype MTB suspension fork in 1989.

Where it all began, exert taken from Pinkbike:

"This is where it all began - the Marzocchi STAR fork. In 1989, Marzocchi already had forty years of experience making suspension for everything from motorcycles to the Ferrari Formula One cars, but this was the first time they turned their attention to mountain bikes. It had 50mm of travel and you might be surprised to know that although Marzocchi are best known for pioneering oil and coil suspension, this first fork was air-sprung. At that time Marzocchi worked with an aftermarket company called LARM. One of their agents, Peter Eversdjeke, was in the USA and saw the very first RockShox forks in the market. At the 1989 EICMA Show he showed Andrea Pierantoni the fork. That year the motorcycle business was very slow, so he started to design this fork. Both legs had an independent airspring and there was no external adjustment."

Introducing the Marzocchi Star Fork;

That’s right. The Stone Age is over for mountain bikers. You’ll no longer have to rein in your ebullient enthusiasm. And no more coming second because of a stupid stone.
Now there’s StarFork, the revolutionary Marzocchi fork that takes you smoothly over the holes, allowing you to concentrate on brakes and pedals.
Try StarFork and you’ll think you’re really flying down hills that before knocked all the fun out of speed cycling. And uphill too, where the rigidity of the forks is just what you need to beat the roughness of the terrain. Marzocchi StarFork will unleash its superb strength, solidity and manageability to prevent you having to break your rhythm.
Now all you lovers of woods and winding tracks will discover a surer, faster, more enjoyable rhythm. The Stone Age is over at last. Now you can really fly.