[Closed] Fork recommendations - Pikes/Marzocchi's

Nope....at that price get the Marz'

If they were similar prices I'd get the Pike but £200 is a big difference, put that £200 to something else on your bike instead and smile at the saving.

Put the 200 quid towards sending the marzocchi for warranty replacements when the stanchions wear . Or so I've heard

howsyourdad1 - Member
Put the 200 quid towards sending the marzocchi for warranty replacements when the stanchions wear . Or so I've heard

Source?

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/marzocchi-350-cr-worn-stanchions

Put me off getting some second hand for obvious reasons ,they may well have sorted by now and they are supposed to be very good, but ...

Go in the middle with a lovely [url= http://www.bike-discount.de/en/praesenz/search?q=mattoc ]Mattoc Pro[/url]? They're ace.

You could equally say put some money away when you buy the Pikes for the inevitable journey to TFtuned to get them working properly, learn how to strip them yourself because you're going to end up playing around with bottomless tokens to get them working properly, bare in mind you'll be without them when they go back to have the top out 'clunk' sorted, factor in postage costs and time off the bike for when they go back to have the creaking crown steerer unit fixed etc etc....Pikes can (and do) come with their problems too.

I believe Marz' have sorted the stanchion problem with new seals, best to check the ones you're buying have the up to date ones.

woodster - Member
Go in the middle with a lovely Mattoc Pro? They're ace.

I'd like to, however can't help that buying from non-UK would lead to me being up the creek when it comes to getting them warrantied.

I may be way off here, but are the 350s coils rather than air spring? A vague recollection of something I read.

@deviant yep tru dat

I'd go for the Marz, not used them but had Pikes. Pikes are very good but have some problems too and that is a lot of price difference.

Had to throw a spanner in the works with the mattoc pro!

Can I ask where the 350s are £300?

+1 for the Mattoc, I absolutely love my forks by far the best damped forks I've tried.

There are many people here who have bought forks and components from the european sites and haven't had any trouble with after sales support.

I'd take a punt on the Mattocs, unlikely to go wrong based on user reports. Did I mention they also come in a gorgeous red and ride better than Pikes?

I had last year's 350CRs, and have ended up with a pair'o'Pikes as the 350CRs are (amazingly, nearly 2 months on) still with Windwave allegedly waiting on replacement damper parts.

Until the damper exploded, the 350CRs were very good. The Pikes are slightly better, but I'd certainly not say GBP200 better.

🙂

Tom_W1987 - Member
I'd take a punt on the Mattocs, unlikely to go wrong based on user reports. Did I mention they also come in a gorgeous red and ride better than Pikes?

I'm sure they'll look beautiful on my bright yellow Meta.

I had the same dilemma the other week between a £300 pair of Fox 34's and the £500+ Pikes. Went Fox even though I know they won't perform as well due to that being a big old saving and me having better places to spend £200 atm.

Planning on getting a fancy pants bike for my 40th in a few years so will get the market leader then if I can afford it.

[quote> http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/marzocchi-350-cr-worn-stanchions

Put me off getting some second hand for obvious reasons ,they may well have sorted by now and they are supposed to be very good, but ...

that was just Hora being unlucky again!! he sent them off to windwave who changed the lowers and the stanchions and got them back a few days later. then he sold them and bought some pikes and then regretted selling the marzocchis!!
i've had my 55Crs for 2 years now and not had a single problem with them.

Hora had issues with the 55CR I had issues with two sets of 2014 350cr now have a third 2015 350 Cr all seems fine with this one.

My Pikes are as plush as both sets of 55s I own. Been faultless for over a year, with a lot of riding done, all year round. They were £320 online from France. Basic model.

Link for 350's 🙂

On a side note, what is the warranty situation if you buy forks from a company that goes out of business (shop not manufacturer)

I bought some 350CRs at a similar price, but there are stories of woe all over the internet so I passed them on (unused) and got some pikes.
I don't regret that decision.

+1 for Mattocs are excellent.

I'm sure they'll look beautiful on my bright yellow Meta.

Well, they also come in black. I'd still have them in red though!

[img] ?1395038138[/img]

They also come in White which looks pretty good on my almost luminous yellow Bandit.

Are we finally moving away from all black forks then? Hope so.

Are we finally moving away from all black forks then? Hope so.

[url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/white-forks-urgghh/page/2 ]+1[/url]

I've got some 350 ncr's, cost me £500 and are way better than any pikes I've used, admittedly they did need to go back for new uppers due to creaking crowns but this took less than a week and the service from Windwave has been really good.
I've had fox's and rockshox with creaking crowns and my old marz 55's did it too (all replaced under warranty) so I'm not that surprised the 350's started creaking.

The big plus for me with marzocchi is the 2 year warranty and the ability to send the forks direct to Windwave rather than going through a dealer like you do with rockshox. As I think no matter what you buy there's a pretty good chance it'll need some warranty work at some point

Yes I regretted selling them. Mine had incorrectly sized(?) bushes fitted. Funnily when sorted they felt waaay better too. The Pikes- I bet with alot of know-how fettling they'd be great. However they come with issues along the way for some owners.

I still think there are great other forks out there but sadly I wont risk a Mazzorchi until I know its all good quality/longevitywise.

Manitou? Hmmmmm would you gamble £400+ of your money on a couple of reviews?!

Based on the manitou towers I've had on my other bike I'd get the Mattocs in a flash

Tom_W1987 - Member
I'm sure they'll look beautiful on my bright yellow Meta.
Well, they also come in black. I'd still have them in red though!

You've got me there....

I've swayed towards the 350CR as it seems that if I do need anything doing then I'm going to be able to warranty them. They seem to be the best option for the price point too.

Manitou? Hmmmmm would you gamble £400+ of your money on a couple of reviews?!

Loads of people running them over on mtbr and pinkbike.

Never see many issues with Dorados or Towers either!

Manitou are very underrated, they left the manipoo days in the early noughties a long time ago. They deserve to have a much larger market share than they actually do. People seem to be willing to take a punt on new X-fusion products for 400 quid and they don't have the best history of reliability - but when it's manitou - "oh noes...that old school brand from the 90's?".

I'm going to be swapping my Pikes for a pair, Pikes are great - when they work.

Still don't know where these £300 marzocchis are! 🙂

Sam, bit more expensive, but check out the MRP Stage.

Getting rave reviews in the US right now, they're saying it's better than the Pike and the reliability on them seems 2nd to none! Will have a set on my new bike by the weekend if you wanted to pop up and have a look at them. We've signed up as a dealer now too... (y)

There were a lot of manitous in the EWS last weekend, nice to see them coming back.

^ I have the Stage, it's very good. Small bump sensitivity is far better than the Pikes I had before and the ramp control is very useful. I do seem to have an air leak though, seem to lose 10 psi over a week or so.

I've had Marzocchi 55CRs and now a set of 29er Pikes...

I hate to spoil the party, but my 55s were surprisingly good straight out of the box. I had to chock them down to 160mm (by sawing the 10mm out of the spacer and supergluing it back together) and had to add some oil to the air spring to ramp up the compression. It's a little linear and divey, getting the right air pressure takes time, but you're rewarded with a lovely fork that feels very active. I had no issues with stanchions or bushings. Mine just worked (after a fettle).

I sold the bike they were fitted to, so I reluctantly eBayed my 55s as I has no other bike to fit them (I did contemplate chocking them down to 130mm and fitting them to my Camber, but that would have been a little silly).

I bought a set of Pikes to fit to my 29er Stumpy and they've been superb. The damping is excellent, as is the spring curve. I can get full travel out of them without wallowing for 90% of my ride. As for creaking and setup issues...none to report so far. They feel fantastic straight out of the box. All for a smidge over £430 (thank you Alltricks) complete with a shock pump, service kit and 51mm offset.

Both forks felt flexier than I had imagined (the 55s replaced a set of Wotans, which were astoundingly stiff, even in straight steerer form), the 29er Pikes can't hide the flex inherent in the long lowers, but it's far from obtrusive and the damping more than makes up for it. Both are a league above any 32mm fork out there (including old skool Pikes).

So there you have it. I know that the 350s use the damping/spring circuit from the most recent 55s, so my experience of the damping is relevent but I cannot comment on their stiffness. It's fair to say they're probably "more than adequate".

So there you have it. I know that the 350s use the damping/spring circuit from the most recent 55s, so my experience of the damping is relevent but I cannot comment on their stiffness. It's fair to say they're probably "more than adequate".

No they don't, the 350's use a considerably different cartridge.

No they don't, the 350's use a considerably different cartridge.

Ah, apologies - I stand corrected.

350cr user here, bought them new off here.

They were very notchy at the start so I removed the lowers to find no oil or grease in there. Once I'd put grease on the seals and oil in the lowers they felt better, after being left upside down overnight they were pretty good, halfway round the first ride they felt superb.

The seals still need properly bedding in so they don't sag when seated, leaving the front a bit high on steep climbs but once driving some weight through them they deal with everything perfectly, and I haven't got them fettled to perfection yet either!

In de stickered stealth black with espresso stanchions they look pretty good too.

The stanchion wear issues and stiction could be caused by the lack of lube in some cases, so check them before use! That way you can get an o ring on the stanchion for sag while you're at it

Just to throw a spanner in the works....i bought some X-Fusion Sweeps (160mm length, 34mm stanchions etc) based on reviews of reliability, long service intervals etc and love them, they require less pressure for my weight than the equivalent Fox or RS units and just this week i've ditched my Monarch shock and gone over to an X-Fusion O2 back end to match...perfectly plush yet doesnt bottom out with my 90kg on the bike, highly recommended.

Ive read somewhere that less pressure for your weight means more hysteresis.

Tge O2 shock has been getting pretty shite reviews as well, eg the new intense review on bikeradar.

Tom_W1987 - Member
Ive read somewhere that less pressure for your weight means more hysteresis.

Tge O2 shock has been getting pretty shite reviews as well, eg the new intense review on bikeradar.

I think this has been touched on recently on other threads about how subjective suspension performance can be....i cant get on with Fox forks, seemingly having to run them rock hard at barely 20% sag to stop them blowing through travel and bottoming out on big hits (admittedly i havent tried the new 36 though)....Rockshox is always a good choice for me with the last set of Revs i had matching my coil spring Sektors on feel but with X-Fusion at the moment i'm loving the plushness without sacrificing the ability to take an unexpected decent hit or clumsy landing.

If i had the money i'd like to try some of the new Marzocchi and Manitou stuff too but it just gets silly swapping between stuff for the sake of it....find a fork (or shock) that works and cherish it!

Yeah you are right, I think a lot of it is down to the fact that different manufacturers tunes suit different riders weights straight out of the box.