Early Marzocchi Bomber Z2 + Z1 upgrade possibilities?

[Tizumo]

Has anybody changed the springs of the 1997 model (65mm travel) to 1998 model (70+5mm travel)? I was going through the manuals and only difference I found is that the rebound stop rubber (part number 12 in the 1997 manuals) is replaced with a short spring (to get that 5mm degative travel). & of course the main springs are longer. Are the stanchions equally long on both models?

 

[andrewl]

All Z2s prior to the 2000 model year are 65mm of travel and there is nothing you can do to make them longer travel due to the stanchion length and the internal machining of the lowers.

The only internal change (excluding the air Superfly) was the change to a steel rebound spring from a rebound rubber which happened very early in the life of the Z2 (and Z1).

 

[Tizumo]

I got confused because of the negative travel.. Travel upgrade kits were made by Mountain Speed (Speedsprings) and R-Tech (here in Scandinavia) though and using those you could add 10mm of travel.

 

[andrewl]

with a shorter negative spring and slightly longer main spring you could get an extra 10mm but you'll have less overlap on the stanchion and bushing at the top part of the travel.

lowering a Z1 is a sounder option than try to get more from a Z2.

 

[Tizumo]

In this case (my El Kaboing project) I just need that extra 10mm to be able to compare it with a dh3 with 77mm of travel. I can't use a Z1 because of Salsa's 1" headtube, otherwise it would be the best option visually and functionally , but El Kaboing wasn't that much freeride oriented..

Still I think an upgraded Z2 could be more stable than the older dh3. Both forks were basically available at the same time as the frame, and it will depend on the other pieces as well fi it's going to be more '96 or '97. Hmm..

 

[Rumble]

Another option may be to upgrade some dh3s? Back in the 90s I had some springs put in mine (i think they were z2 spings) as an upgrade. I don't remember if it was a dedicated upgrade kit or more of a diy job but the ended up feeling very close to bombers.

 

[suburbanreuben]

I got an extra 10mm of travel out of my 97 Z2s by using a "Woody's Stiff Parts" travel kit, that basically involved removing the rebound spring and replacing with summat else It worked, but topped out with a helluva thunk.

 

[andrewl]

In this case (my El Kaboing project) I just need that extra 10mm to be able to compare it with a dh3 with 77mm of travel.

A Z2 in 65mm form is a much nicer fork than the DH3.

I'll have to check the axle to crown for the DH3 tonight but from memory the Z2 is almost the same length as the DH3 (ie less than the travel difference) so the need for the extra travel may not be required to retain the geometry - not that 12mm makes a massive difference.

 

[Tizumo]

Just in case somebody else is looking for information about the same topic I changed the heading a bit and post a couple of pics concerning the early Bomber fork spring change in hope for more travel .

Here's a stanchion tube which has an aluminium part at the bottom & inside the tube.



By replacing it with a shorter one here (+ longer springs provided with them), you'll get that crucial 5mm more travel . I wouldn't recommend taking off the negative spring/bumper as the effect is undesirable.