Review: NSMB - Marzocchi Super Z Fork

If you remember the heady days of mountain biking around the turn of the millennium, then you’ll certainly remember the classic Z1, the Shiver, and of course - the undisputed heavyweight champion of bicycle suspension, the Monster T. The Marzocchi brand holds a special place in my heart - it was the late 90s when the original Z1 fork came along and absolutely blew the doors off everything else on the market. Weight be damned, it didn’t take much convincing to chuck my elastomer-sprung, temperature dependent 50mm travel Judy XC in favour of the coil-sprung, open-bath damped 100mm travel of pillowy plushness that the glorious orange fork offered. Marzocchi was absolutely changing the game in those days, and it’s safe to say that the sport of mountain biking would look very different now without the early innovations from the folks at Zokes.

The recently released Marzocchi Super Z marks a departure from anything the brand has offered to date. For starters, it’s the first time a 38mm single crown chassis has graced the Marzocchi lineup. Coincidentally, my last Marzocchi fork had 38mm stanchions, albeit with an extra crown. As has been the case for some time now in the Marzocchi lineup, the damper is a Fox* unit - GRIP X to be exact. Fox recently updated the dampers across their upper crust forks, and the Super Z also benefits from the update. If you’re familiar with the outgoing GRIP and GRIP 2 Fox dampers, the new “X” series marks a ground-up redesign. While GRIP 2 gets replaced by GRIP X2 as Fox’s premiere gravity focused damper, the GRIP X found in the Super Z (as well as Fox 36 forks) is somewhat of a “middle ground” approach - offering one less rebound knob, and saving some cost and weight over the GRIP X2.

It’s no secret that the Marzocchi brand is being soft sold as the budget-friendly but shred-ready alternative to premium Fox products, and the inclusion of the GRIP X damper in the Super Z allows for some cost savings over the Fox 38 Factory. A less obvious difference between the Super Z and the 38 lies in the air spring architecture. The 38 features a reduced diameter “sleeve-within-a-sleeve” air spring that helps reduce piston friction due to stanchion flex under load, a design that adds cost and weight. The Super Z features a standard air spring, where the piston rides directly inside the 38mm stanchion - a design which is more in line with industry standards across brands.

Ok, but how does it ride?

This being my first time spent on a Marzocchi product since Fox acquired the brand, I started out with assumptions that were to be expected, if a little unfair. It wouldn’t be a surprise to hear that the Super Z was a less polished, less adjustable and less capable version of the Fox 38 - a conclusion that couldn’t be farther from the truth. At the risk of getting ahead of myself, I’m trying to figure out how the Super Z performed so damn well. My Zeb Ultimate is the benchmark against which I judge every other fork - it’s reliable, rides great, and is relatively easy to set up for my weight and riding style. The Zeb is a fork that seems to work better the harder you push it, and my only minor gripe is its small bump sensitivity leaves a little to be desired. Right out of the box, the Super Z exhibited incredible suppleness in the beginning stroke, developing velcro like traction when bombing across slippery, off-camber terrain. Without the bells and whistles of a floating axle, or a sleeve-within-a-sleeve air spring, this fork was still able to deliver class-leading traction in nearly any situation. Even when leaning the bike over at high speeds in rough terrain, the Super Z remained eager to slide into its travel. No doubt the new and improved lower leg bushings from Fox, and stout construction helped in this regard.

I’ve spent enough time on the Super Z to realize that this is a suspension product that may not get the attention it deserves. When cash-flush mountain bikers are staring down labels like “Factory-this” and “Ultimate-that”, it’s unfortunate that this fantastic fork might get lost in the noise. That said, the new top-of-the-line Fox 38 Factory is $1669 CAD - $330 more than the Super Z. While not exactly chump change, $330 isn’t going to hold much sway over anyone about to drop well north of a thousand dollars on a bicycle toy. At $1339, it’s hard to say with a straight face that the Super Z is “budget-friendly”, and it begs the question: If the Super Z is that good, what will another $330 get you? Maybe a lot? Maybe nothing? Maybe there’s something special going on in the sum of parts that is the Super Z that can’t be replicated in another fork? Whatever it is, my nostalgic self is glad to see Marzocchi come out swinging again.