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.

Windwave/ Marzocchi riders and teams 2011

Here is a full round up of all the Windwave sponsored athletes currently using Marzocchi's 2011 product.
 

Team: Kinesis Morvelo 

Riders: Oli Pepper, Frazer Clifford, Katy Winton, Rob Lee, Julie Greengrass, Rab Wardell, Jenn Hopkins, Phil Moore, Paddy Blake, Dom Mason, Lea Denison, Paul Hudson

Products: Marzocchi Corsa Super Leggera

Web:  http://www.kinesismorvelo.com

Note: Image of Katy Winton riding the 2012 Olympic XC Course!  

Team: Bike Soup/ Gravity

Riders: Arran Gannicott & George Gannicott .

Products: Marzocchi 888 RC3 Evo Ti, Gravity, A2Z

web:http://www.bikesoupracing.com/

Team: Identiti DH

Riders: Pat Campbell-Jenner, Tom Knight, Matt Jones

Products: Marzocchi RC3 Evo Ti 

Team: Windwave/ Corsair

Rider: Chris Smith

Products: Marzocchi 888 RC3 Evo Ti, 55 RC3 Ti, DJ1, Gravity, Corsiar bikes 

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/169428/

Team: Windwave/ Corsair

Rider: Olli Fielder

Products: Marzocchi 55 Micro Ti, Marzocchi 4X, Corsair bikes 

Team: Mountain Cycle

Rider: Elbry Sandland

Products: Marzocchi 55RC3 Ti, 44 Micro Ti, DJ1

Blog: http://elbry.blogspot.com/

Team: Cranked365.com

Riders: Ryan Nangle, Toby Ware, Matt Cooper

Products: Marzocchi DJ1 - dual valve 

Web: http://www.cranked365.com/drupal/

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/189407/

Team: Cranked365.com

Riders: Jason Egan, James Wilson 

Products: Marzocchi 4X 

http://www.cranked365.com/drupal/

EXCLUSIVE Colnago C59 with a gloss MTBK finish

The raw MTBK colour scheme makes for a great looking frame - very technical and very modern looking, however we have had some requests of a gloss finish as opposed to a matt finish. One of the most popular colours over the last couple of years on the C50, Extreme C, Power and EPS series was the simple gloss carbon scheme, EITA gave a neutral classic carbon look that suited almost any build kit.
We have been pushing for some samples of a gloss MTBK for some time and Colnago have kindly produced two frames for us to test the finish with view of a small production run. We currently only have two frames in the UK, one of which has been sent up to the Colnago concept store in Sigma Sport in Hampton Wick, Surrey (see pics here).
What do you think?
For more information about the current Colnago range and where you can find a dealer please visit our Colnago web page

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Marzocchi tech - Making adjustments Micro TST Adjuster

A Little more Marzocchi tech, this time I want to talk about how the Micro adjuster works on the TST Micro cartridge.

The Micro Cartridge is Marzocchi’s top-of-range closed cartridge used on XC/ trail forks. The cartridge has evolved over the years of its production and is now made completely of alloy parts and is fully user serviceable.

The cartridge is adjustable for rebound and lock out, the lock-out has the addition of a threshold adjuster (the gold knob in the centre of the lock out switch) so that you can dial in the amount of lock out you wish to ride with.

For example if you like a pure 100% compression lock all you need to do is turn the Micro adjuster to maximum, then when you activate the lock out lever the fork will go from fully active (open) to full lock (lever closed).

If you would prefer to have a semi active fork in certain situations rather than a fully rigid fork you can set the micro adjuster at a half way setting, then when you activate the lock out lever the fork will go from fully active (open) to semi active (lever closed).

*graph image shown for visualization purposes only

Adjusting the Hi-Lo compression adjuster on the RC3 damper

A little tech today; one of the most frequently asked questions I receive is for set up help with the compression adjuster on the RC3 damper.

The first thing to understand is the compression adjuster will affect both high and low speed damping, simply put if you set the adjuster all the way to “+” it will give you maximum low speed damping, set the adjuster all the way to “-“ will give you maximum high speed damping.

Both high and low speed damping curves cross in the middle so the adjusters neutral position is in the middle (count the clicks/ turns). Adjusting out from the middle with give you a varying combination of both high and low speed damping, so in theory you have all the combinations of damping you would normally have in two separate adjusters, but in one easy-to-use adjuster.

About Compression DampingCompression damping is the oil flow resistance felt when compressing the fork. Compression damping is categorized in two ways: low speed compression and high-speed compression. Low speed compression refers to when the fork is compressed slowly and gradually, for example during rolling impacts and rounded bumps. High-speed compression refers to the resistance felt during multiple, hard impacts and square-edged bumps.

Too much compression damping creates a harsh ride because the suspension cannot compress rapidly enough to absorb large impacts. Compression damping is not a substitute for proper spring rate and should not be adjusted until the fork has the proper spring set-up for the rider.

Low speed damping is typically used to dial out excessive fork dive or rider induced movement. High speed is typically used to make the forks action more progressive and resist bottoming out.

*graph image shown for visualization purposes only

Marzocchi 2012; factory visit March 2011

We have just been out to Marzocchi in Bologna to sure up the 2012 aftermarket line – sorry, no product info just yet, however I did take some photo’s of the factory so you can see where it all happens.
Marzocchi is still based in the Zola Predosa district of Bologna where many famous Italian brands are based – it fact Ducati are just round the corner and had a big Moto GP party in the town square on Friday night.

The Marzocchi factory still produces motorcycle forks for the likes of Ducati, MV Augusta and BMW and are current Enduro world champions with GAS GAS. All of the MTB forks engineering is done here from concept to prototype and Marzocchi has a pool of talented engineers that work closely with racers and consumers to perfect their designs.

Apologies for the quality of the images... courtesy of Apple’s finest.                                

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