Marzocchi

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Marzocchi Bomber MX Comp mountain bike fork.

Marzocchi is an Italian manufacturer founded in 1949 by the two brothers Stefano and Guglielmo Marzocchi. The company profile includes hydraulic industrial pumps and suspension components for motorcycles and bicycles.

[edit] Bicycle suspension

Marzocchi is one of the four high profile bicycle suspension manufacturers (the others are Rock Shox - SRAM, Fox Racing Shox, and Manitou - Answer Products). Marzocchi makes mountain bike suspension on bikes that start about $500 and go up from there. All the forks and rear shocks Marzocchi makes are specifically made to excel on a variety of terrain from cross country (XC) to downhill. The fork they made with the most travel was the 'Super Monster T' (T for Triple Clamp, or Dual crown setup) with 300mm of travel. The lowest is 60mm which is on the TXC series. Forks start at $250 and go up to $1800.

Marzocchi forks are generally known for their supple suspension characteristics, high reliability, low maintenance requirements, but on the other hand usually are considered being heavy compared to the other three firms' comparable offerings. This weight penalty partly comes from their famous open bath system, which the firm brought over from their successful motorbike suspension technology. The other factor is that the company policy is not to cut corners to reach a weight advantage while compromising reliability. It is a question of personal preference, but it's no surprise that Marzocchi is very well received in the freeride and downhill branches of mountain biking, quite popular among the enduro and all mountain crowd, while it's much less likely to see a Marzocchi fork on an XC racing bike.

Until 2007, fork production was based in Italy (apart from the entry level OEM parts, which are produced by the Japanese SunTour in Taiwan). From 2008 on, all forks will be made in Taiwan.

Marzocchi sponsors dozens of high caliber bike racers, among them are Brian Lopes, Wade Simmons and Cedric Gracia.