[Closed] Marzocchi Bomber Z2

The new or the old one?

Current model

I've got some on the front of my ariel. Seem to work well, not much adjustment, but they're not noticeable which I guess is a good compliment

Absolutely brilliant for the money if you can still find them around £300ish but weigh a tonne. Heavier than my Rockshox 35 Gold which I didn't think would be possible. Slightly more compliant though.

For the current £550ish price point, unless they come on the bike I would spend a bit more for Pike selects which are notably better.

Ok, how do the 35 Golds come up @sync? These are also on the maybe list. The bombers are just over budget. Not needed for anything overly gnarr but reliable enough to feel comfortable dropping and jumping on

I have a set of 130mm/29 on my Kona Honzo and have been really pleased with their performance.
They just keep getting smoother with use and are plenty stiff - I guess that bit of extra weight helps in that regard.
Highly recommended...

@danmac in normal use, I don't notice any real substantive difference with the 35s over a pike select. Decently stiff and pretty compliant on bumps. They just weigh 2.5kg compared to the pikes 1.9kg.

The 35s had a bit of stiction at first but a strip down, re lube and fresh oil sorted it.

The pikes are better forks but as always value and cost comes into it.

These guys liked it:

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/review-marzocchi-bomber-z2-fork-is-impressive.html

I have some. They are plenty stiff.
I was expecting them to be more buttery but I Suspect that was false hope as I was remembering old coil spring Bombers from the 2000s.

I have Z1 airs and it’s exactly the same.

For what it’s worth I can’t really tell the difference between the Z1 and Z2

Any idea what the 29er 140mm Z2 weighs ? How would it come up against a 140mm Rockshox Recon, weight wise ? I have googeld and tired Marzoochi website but can't find any weight measurements.

I found the answer: The 140mm Marzocchi Z2 is 2030gms, I don't consider that to be a particularly "heavy" fork, sure it's no feather weight either. The Rockshox Recon comes in around 2350gms.

Z2s I tried (loan bike) were 2.65kg.

Poss diff between oem and retail?

So where have they added/lost 600g along the way? 🤔

Time to drop a stealth wanted ad then for a 140mm 29er Z2... 🙄😏

The pinkbike review said 150mm 29 are 2000g

Both these reviews have the 140mm/29er at 2020 to 2030gms.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/review-marzocchi-bomber-z2-fork-is-impressive.html

https://flowmountainbike.com/post-all/first-look-2020-marzocchi-bomber-z2-fork/

From the review:

"So It’s Heavier, Right?

Not as much as you might think. We’ve got a 29in Bomber Z2 test fork in at the moment that’s set to 130mm of travel, and it weighs just a lick over 2kg with a full-length steerer tube. That’s about 100g more than Fox’s Performance Series 34, and about 70g more than the Revelation."

.

Mine are back with Fox under warranty. Only 2 rides old and noticeable play / rattle in them. Several other examples of this on various forums, related to bushings wear. Silverfish are quoting 3-4 turnaround which is awful on a brand new product. Apparently Fox have redesigned the bushings to avoid it recurring- time will tell. BTW the bushings aren't replaceable so if they wear it requires a new lower leg assembly! Bonkers. I wouldn't have them again based on my experience but plenty of others seem to like them.

if they wear you’ve gotta replace the entire lower leg assembly!

Think that is pretty standard now.

Weight differences between OEM and retail is not really a surprise. OEM is notorious for things like steel steerer/stanchions instead of alloy which kills the weight.

I beleive the Z2 is quite similar to the Fox 34 Rhythm - simpler, heavier tubing.

However I found the original 'Grip' damper (Grip 1, i guess) was really quite good, nad I really like the infinitely adjustable 'sweep' compression damper (much more than the Fit4 on my newer fork with its distinct settings, actually!).

I reckon the Z2 is a great option for the money, its probably what I'd go for on a more affordable trail type bike build.

Mine are back with Fox under warranty. Only 2 rides old and noticeable play / rattle in them

Had similar issue with mine, out of warranty now so had to pay for a service and rattle came back after only a few rides, it's just annoying enough to put you off as otherwise they feel ok.

I like my z2s. I don't like the fact that they are 5 months old and that the graphics are peeling off. Why????? Washed by hand and hosed off.

Thats good to know. Of all the ebikes ive considered, and thinking of HT's as a maybe. Orbea has specced the Z2 on one of their £3K WILD HT 30 29(or 27er). Seems a considerably better choice that something suntour.

Delighted with my pair, set to 120mm on an On-one Big Dog frame that gets used as my 'local' trail bike. So it's had a heck of a lot of use this last year, what with pre-work commute rides and plenty of local bimbling. Sure, not quite as plush as the old coil ones that I have fond memories of but so far, they have been reliable and simply live up to their name. I'm the sort of rider to value quality damping over travel; these are very well controlled by the Marzocchi open system that replaced the Fox guts; having never ridden a 34 I cannot really comment but reviewers generally highlight the clear step change that the Z2 manages over the fox original.
If there was ever a Z2 coil conversion kit on the market, like the one for the Z1, I'd be very tempted indeed to go with that upgrade.

anyone got a 150mm air shaft they want rid of? Running 130mm at the moment, wondering what a 64deg head angle trail bike would be like 😀

Glad I bought Pikes instead now 🤣

I have a set on my 29" Sherpa. Run the bike as a XC/mile bike rather than on anything interesting so set them up hard. They seem reliable. Not sure on damping compared to my pikes because of what I ride it on. This is probably no use to you