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White Brothers' superlight twin crown Groove Race downhill fork is a great alternative race option for the money.The multi-piece, slim brace construction of the Groove might look old-skool, but its bolted axle stiffness is up there with the bigger legged forks.The step-up crown with a direct-fit four-bolt stem option is a really neat piece too, although steering lock is limited by the narrow stance.White Brothers have stuck to their own nitrogen separated twin chamber damping for years, and while ride quality isn't outstanding it is consistent.Full compression and rebound tweaking, plus positive/negative air springs make it easily tuneable. But it's the superlight weight that really makes it stand out for riders who prize agility.
Old-skool looks hide a superlight yet surprisingly stiff and tuneable race fork
This review relates to the almost identical 2011 model.
It's no secret that the Marzocchi forks had been struggling to compete with the might of Fox and Rockshox in recent years. In an attempt to 'sex up' its forks, Marzocchi had added feature upon feature until you needed to adjust and balance three different air pressures just to go for a ride.Wit new company owners, though, Marzocchi was forced to reconsider its whole fork line and take it back to a simpler, more reliable range – back to the days when the Bomber forks earned Marzocchi a rightful place on bikes and podiums everywhere.The 140mm 44 RC3 forks are just such a move to a more reliable, supple fork. The forks are sprung with a titanium coil, assisted by low-pressure air to give it some ramp-up. In addition, the fork uses the same style of damping cartridge as the 'everybody loves them' Marzocchi 888 forks. Down below, the fork takes 15mm hubs, using Marzocchi's very simple quick release, operable with one hand. The stanchion tubes are slippery nickel coated alloy. The controls are suitably simple too: just a rebound and a compression dial at either end of the right leg, with an air top-up valve in the middle of the rebound dial.How do they ride? It's a real return to form for Marzocchi. The forks have many of the (good) aspects of the old, orange Bombers: super supple suspension action and simple set up, only now with the benefits of a decent thru-axle and Post-mount brake. The ride can be tuned with the compression and rebound dials, along with topping up the low pressure air chamber to give a little more ramp-up to the fork.If you're used to lockout and platform forks and shocks, then the Marzocchi's are an eye opener as they're very active and there's no easy way to dampen them down. Dialling the compression will help, but that knob is annoyingly at the bottom of the fork leg, so it's more of a fit and forget thing. If you can live with a fork that's very active on the climbs, then you'll love how supple it is on the descents. It's not particularly a fork for riders who like their forks firm, only giving on the biggest of hits, it's more for riders who feel cheated if they don't get lots of travel out of their forks. Say that, though, the air assist stops the forks feeling too linear and they're still hard to completely bottom out.
This review related to the almost identical 2011 model.
With their buttery smooth performance these 170mm travel 55's provide on amazing level of grip, sticking to the ground at every possible opportunity. Because they are so smooth your body also gets for less of a working-over compared to many other forks, and you can really notice the benefit of this on longer descents and multiple days of riding. They also offer a great level of control and adjustability thanks to the RC3 Evo damping, which has been taken from the 888's. The only difference is that these only feature a fully interchangeable compression shim stack rather than the rebound as well, but to be honest with the range of external adjustments on offer we doubt many riders will ever need to dip inside. Just like the 888's these forks are also incredibly reliable and rarely require a service, plus despite being a coil sprung fork they still manage to rival air sprung forks for weight. These are becoming as much a classic as the original Bomber.
Marzocchi 55 RC3 Evo TitaniumWith their buttery smooth performance these 170mm travel 55's provide on amazing level of grip, sticking to the ground at every possible opportunity. Because they are so smooth your body also gets for less of a working-over compared to many other forks, and you can really notice the benefit of this on longer descents and multiple days of riding. They also offer a great level of control and adjustability thanks to the RC3 Evo damping, which has been taken from the 888's. The only difference is that these only feature a fully interchangeable compression shim stack rather than the rebound as well, but to be honest with the range of external adjustments on offer we doubt many riders will ever need to dip inside. Just like the 888's these forks are also incredibly reliable and rarely require a service, plus despite being a coil sprung fork they still manage to rival air sprung forks for weight. These are becoming as much a classic as the original Bomber.
Review of the 2011 model. Similar spec, differences mainly in colour/graphics.
After hammering Marzocchi's vastly improved 2010 888 RC3 EVO Ti fork for some time, we thought it was about time we put its little brother, the 66 RC3 Ti, through the same sort of punishment.The 66 fork is crammed with all the essentials to make it into a hard hitting, freeride or downhill-friendly single-crown fork. Damping is taken care of by the impressive open bath RC3 cartridge, which features both high and low speed compression adjusters and plenty of effective rebound adjustment. The titanium coil spring does a good job of keeping weight down and has air-assisted preload to aid tuning.To give you some idea of where the 180mm (7in) travel 66 is at in terms of weight, it sits slap bang in-between two other top end performers – the new Fox 36 TALAS 180mm (7in) travel fork (2.45kg) and big-hitter BOS N'Dee, which has 180mm (7in) travel and weighs 2.95kg – at 2.74kg. It's light enough to be pedalled about between sessions in the bike park or DH runs.The axle has changed for the better. It's still a 20mm through-axle but its now far easier to operate with the quick-release lever mechanism – similar to that of the RockShox Maxle. No more tightening the axle to find the level handle in a dangerous position when you've reached the correct tension.As is synonymous with Marzocchi, the fork is ridiculously supple in action, partly thanks to the slippery 38mm nickel-plated stanchions. This sensitivity makes for a real ground-hugging ride where the wheel will track the ground well and keep traction on your side, even when the conditions are grim. It doesn't take much to get these burly grey beasts to move which is great when you're mixing it up on loose, choppy terrain.When it comes to taking the bigger hits, the 66 is more than happy to lap them up. The chassis maintains its poise and grace even through the ugliest terrain and the fork will take hit after hit with composure and control. We've really given these a beating on a variety of different terrain ranging from rough downhill runs to big jumps and drops. Over long continuous stretches of bumps and roots they offer support and sit up well in their travel without making things unnecessarily harsh. They were only once unsettled after a huge overshoot on a jump where we were met with a bottom-out clunk but this can be tamed with a few tweaks.If you're looking for a big hitting downhill or freeride fork, these stiction-free ground-hugging could be the ones for you – but this quality comes at a price.
This review relates to almost identical 2011 model.
Review relates to almost identical 2011 model.
Spot the difference? Well there's not much that gives it away, really. A couple of caps, the odd logo, the forks are pretty identical. We're about to bolt next year's Bomber onto a bike, but before we do, how have the past six months been on Italy's finest 2010 suspender?Two things bother me (and others) about Marzocchi. Coming from a motorcycle background I feel it strange that there has not been more Marzocchi prescence on World podiums given that they have twice won the Worlds in the past decade under the guidance of Fabien Barel. The second is their role of apparent bridesmaid to other fork companies in terms of paddock prescence at the races.You could look at this several ways. Either they don't have the riders, and therefore don't need the service capability, or they do and the riders are not coming up to scratch. Maybe the forks are so bloody reliable and consistent that they don't need the workforce that other fork manufacturers do. Or is it that Marzocchi simply do not sign up to the highly-strung, hyperactive and seemingly high maintenance race based values of the competition?It's really difficult not to get wrapped up in all that nonsense. Beg, borrow or steal a pair of 888's and you will immediately realise what you have been missing. Or have forgotten. The old small bump sensitivity with smooth transition through progression. Yes that old chestnut still works wonders, particularly in the wet and on the upper body at speed.The Bomber has been around for over fifteen years now. It started at four inches, now it's double. In terms of this the 888 downhill form, there has never been any major boasting of any really significant lighter, faster, stronger mods over the past six years, just a steady tweak of an already well proven, well-designed, super reliable product that works straight from the word go. They're a modest bunch down in Bologna. I went to visit them in the summer. I even met the man who designed that original fork.But they've been in a transition and now with new multinational owners Tenneco we might just be about to witness a big change. Still, no major change with this fork for 2011 however, and as I hand over the new version to test rider Chris Morris he is reluctant to let go of the 2010 version. They've not missed a beat, and he's hard on products. OK they took a bit more time to bed-in than those early forks, but like I said, small steps. The Bomber is all about oil, stacks of oil, well that's what makes things move as Marzocchi themselves point out – to damp, to lube and keep things cool. They don't forget something so important.Easy on the arms, great on the grip, free of workshop hours, but capable of the highest performance, Marzocchi have a philosophy that is very different from the competition. This fork is true to its word and apart from its very expensive French neighbour BOS, we think it's the best downhill fork you can currently buy.
Review relates to almost identiacl 2011 model.