Marzocci atom bombs... I know nothing.

therealboz

Retro Newbie
Hello fellow retro warriors... I bought a lovely 99 kona kula here last year, its great,but the first bike with any kind of suspension I have owned...the trek 930 I had in 1995 ( and still have ) was not down with all this bouncing rubbish. the problem is this; the forks seem to just compress too easily and the damping/ preload dont have much effect , theyre just pumping like crazy on the hills. I have downloaded a manual but I have no idea what the problem is.

Any Advice gratefully recieved.

(This is just confiming what I always thought: suspension is for weekend warrior stormtoopers pootling round trails at 5mph on £3000 bikes before putting them back on the roof of their audi 4x4s and driving home.) :facepalm:
 
Your description is kinda vague but if you're ridding a Marzocchi it's expected to be very plush indeed. That can be adjusted though...

...which model is it?
 
It's a Z2 Atom Bomb . It just seems to go with whatever force is applied to it, theres no damping effect really. I can compress them almost all the way down with my weight on them. Its plush enough, but I think its just not returning like its supposed to. My friends old manitous are very firm and controlled comparatively.

Thanks for the reply. I'm considering getting the spanners out...
 
Something is very wrong with it i reckon. Get it properly serviced with a bike mechanic or consider getting a new one. I guarantee you that Marzocchi is a solid fork requiring very little maintenance though!

Old models are difficult to service due to availability of spare parts. This online store that still has spares available for many discontinued models:

Petra Cycles - Marzocchi Fork Spares
UK Bike Store - Marzocchi Misc Spares

See if it's economically viable to service the fork beforehand (e.g. i bought my 2004 Marzocchi Junior-T on ebay for ~150€ (126.78 British Pound Sterling))

Since 2009 that i haven't serviced it and it still works well!*

*i know that i'm a cheap sod for not doing it... :oops:
 
Service manual should you decide to have a tinker:

http://www.marzocchi.com/Template/listM ... =UK&idC=-1

Possibly the previous owner put in a soft spring as a lighter rider if you arent a spring chicken like some? That would explain the lack of return, even the pre-load wouldnt be enough. Damping will only supress the fork from bouncing relentlesly up and down which yours doesnt sound like it is doing - its just compressing and not returning under normal riding and bouncing easily when pedalling out the saddle under force? My money is on you needing a harder spring.

Either that or if they are leaking check the oil level as that might lead to a soft fork. Top up/change and replace seals as necessary. I second that bombers are tough as old boots so should be readily fixable.
 
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