Marzocchi 55 RC3 Ti Fork - 2011

(discontinued)

Let's be honest, price is a concern for most of us when making a bike purchase. The fact that this fork was much less than the competition when I bought it (online blowout a couple of years ago) was a big factor in me choosing it over other brands.  Having said that, I was really impressed with it once it was installed on the bike.  The strong 35mm stanctions were enough to keep things from being noodly in rough terrain and the feel of the coil spring was nice and buttery smooth.  The weight of a coil fork is usually a bit of a penalty, but in this case Marzocchi has done a good job of keeping it relatively close to other air forks with the same travel.

The only gripe I have is that it is hard to dial in air pressure. The fork can be aired up with a regular shock pump but it requires a special sensitive kind to be able to read the small pressures they recommend using to add to the coil spring.  Instead, I've found that you just have to memorize your preferred setting that goes something like this: from zero air in the fork, I will pump 7 strokes using my regular shock pump. Once you have it dialed then you're good.

BTW, I'm reviewing the 2011 model which is 160mm of travel and I believe the newest 55 RC3 has 170mm of travel.

For what I paid, this fork has been terrific and no major issues have come up.