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A Brief History of Marzocchi - Part II
Z1
 | Marzocchi entered the international market at the beginning of the 1990's, producing suspension components for every kind of motorbike and bicycle... |
Without further ado.
The history of mountain-biking, or MTB, can be traced back to the end of 1800's, but its more popular (somewhat contemporary) renaissance begins in late 1960's - in, interestingly, United Kindgom. Shortly after, the concept of a rough terrain trail bicycle emerged - by Gwynn from Oregon, who called his bike a mountain bicycle.
...But it was in 1990's when MTB, still in the dark, started gaining momentum and becoming mainstream. And as it did, Marzocchi took the leap of faith - and entered the MTB market.
The history of mountain-biking, or MTB, can be traced back to the end of 1800's, but its more popular (somewhat contemporary) renaissance begins in late 1960's - in, interestingly, United Kindgom. Shortly after, the concept of a rough terrain trail bicycle emerged - by Gwynn from Oregon, who called his bike a mountain bicycle.
...But it was in 1990's when MTB, still in the dark, started gaining momentum and becoming mainstream. And as it did, Marzocchi took the leap of faith - and entered the MTB market.
Storia di una Officina Meccanica Bolongese (1999)
| Spurred by an increasing demand for mountain bike forks and rear shocks, especially on the American market, Marzocchi decided to create their own customer service center in the United States. The new models for the mountain bike market which were being developed benefited from Marzocchi's 40-years of experience in the motorcycle field. |
Marzocchi STAR fork (1990), Zokes (1993), XC 500 (1994), XC 600 (1995); Z1 prototype (1996), Monster Triple (1999), Z2 Atom 80 (2000), Z2 X-Fly (2000)
| The first production fork, the STAR FORK, was followed by the various XC models, which in 1996 were replaced by the BOMBER models - new in materials, function and design. |
Things went quickly. In 1990, Marzocchi introduced their first mountain bicycle fork, the STAR fork - with 50mm of travel and 24mm stanchions. Then came the PF1, TT10 and MX100... then, in 1992, came the XC100, XC200, and XC300... then, year following, came the XC 50, XC50H, XC150 and XC400... then came the Zokes.
In 1992, the Marzocchi Suspension Center was opened in West Covina, California. It was later moved to Valencia, California (Marzocchi, 1999).
In 1992, the Marzocchi Suspension Center was opened in West Covina, California. It was later moved to Valencia, California (Marzocchi, 1999).
Marzocchi STAR fork - by Matt Wragg (2013)
| Once again exploiting the experience of making large motorbikes suspensions, Marzocchi started widening their range of products. At the beginning of 1990's, a new fork model design, MAGNUM, was completed for the off-road motorbike. The MAGNUM was used by a lot of riders who obtained a lot of victories in the World Championship of both Cross and Enduro categories through the success of Hansson on Honda (1994 500cc. Cross World Champion) and Giovanni Sala on KTM (1994 and 1995 250 Enduro World Champion). |
Marzocchi Catalogue (1995)
| Well before Boost spacing, dropper posts, and even mountain bike specific 10-speed drivetrains, a motorcycle suspension company dabbling in mountain bikes pioneered suspension as we know it. They replaced elastomers with coil springs and open bath dampers, 26-28mm diameter stanchions with 30mm, and nearly doubled the industry standard travel for single crowns. The weapon that housed these changes was called Z1. |
So what was so special about the Z1?
Well, Z1 changed how people rode their bikes.
The Bomber line forever changed bicycle suspension; changed people's fundamental expectations about suspension.
It was the ultimate moment of incorporation of decades of motorcycle suspension research into the bicycle world (Marzocchi, 1999).
The result? Revolutionary.
Pre-production model had polished steel stanchions; production fork received hard-anodized 30mm Easton tubes (Jones, 2013); and sold from autumn 1996 to summer 1997. The later model, Z1 BAM, used Bomber Aerospace Material for brace, and stanchions - this meant more refined machine reliefs and lighter stanchions, a weight reduction by around half a pound (Dave the Equipment Whore, 1999). Significant.
Furthermore, Marzocchi claimed to have significantly improved stanchion surface treatment of the now aluminum stanchions, the Easton 30mm's - as claimed by Marzocchi (1997) for increased durability, decreased weight and friction.
Well, Z1 changed how people rode their bikes.
The Bomber line forever changed bicycle suspension; changed people's fundamental expectations about suspension.
It was the ultimate moment of incorporation of decades of motorcycle suspension research into the bicycle world (Marzocchi, 1999).
The result? Revolutionary.
Pre-production model had polished steel stanchions; production fork received hard-anodized 30mm Easton tubes (Jones, 2013); and sold from autumn 1996 to summer 1997. The later model, Z1 BAM, used Bomber Aerospace Material for brace, and stanchions - this meant more refined machine reliefs and lighter stanchions, a weight reduction by around half a pound (Dave the Equipment Whore, 1999). Significant.
Furthermore, Marzocchi claimed to have significantly improved stanchion surface treatment of the now aluminum stanchions, the Easton 30mm's - as claimed by Marzocchi (1997) for increased durability, decreased weight and friction.
Marzocchi Z1 brochure (1996)
| Pre-production models featured STEEL stanchions and were very heavy and were given to a select few to race on, including Rob Warner. Check out Rob Warner in Kaprun, 1996, Britain's and Marzocchi's first world up win on the Bomber Z1. |
Fork test data acquisition; Dave Cullinan (1993); Christian Taillefer (1994), Gunn-Rita Dahle (1999); Karim Amour (1999). Marzocchi S.P.A. technical department test bench, Marzocchi Z1 (1996)
| 'The Z1 was a game changer,' recalls Richie Schley. 'Before the Z1, you kind of bounced down the trail—pogoing off things. But with the Z1, you’d go through these technical sections so smooth and fast. Suddenly, we could push bikes so much harder. It opened up the horizons on what was even possible on a bike. |
(Schley continues) "It may sound like I’m exaggerating here, but that fork
changed how fast and hard you could ride a bike.
The Z1 also raised the stakes for all kinds of suspension. The fork worked so well, that you immediately noticed that your rear suspension wasn’t actually working as well as you had thought it was. The Z1 made riders realize how proper suspension should feel—for both ends of your bike. It pushed everyone to design better products..." (Felton, 2014)
And, almost immediately, Z1 received overwhelmingly positive reviews, won numerous awards. Suddenly, in a world of sloppy TWO inches of travel forks, there now was one with FOUR inches of: trapped air/coil spring design; huge open bath cartridge that dealt with damping fade; speed-sensitive, highly responsive to adjustments and tuning, travel.
It wasn't temperature sensitive. It came with 3 different spring rates, too (Jones, 2013). And it had conveniently placed and beautiful anodized adjustment caps. Oh, and it had preload adjustment. Oh, and it had dual disk brake mounts.
changed how fast and hard you could ride a bike.
The Z1 also raised the stakes for all kinds of suspension. The fork worked so well, that you immediately noticed that your rear suspension wasn’t actually working as well as you had thought it was. The Z1 made riders realize how proper suspension should feel—for both ends of your bike. It pushed everyone to design better products..." (Felton, 2014)
And, almost immediately, Z1 received overwhelmingly positive reviews, won numerous awards. Suddenly, in a world of sloppy TWO inches of travel forks, there now was one with FOUR inches of: trapped air/coil spring design; huge open bath cartridge that dealt with damping fade; speed-sensitive, highly responsive to adjustments and tuning, travel.
It wasn't temperature sensitive. It came with 3 different spring rates, too (Jones, 2013). And it had conveniently placed and beautiful anodized adjustment caps. Oh, and it had preload adjustment. Oh, and it had dual disk brake mounts.
| 'The Z1 was years ahead of its time,' says Gideon Gibson, Marzocchi USA’s tech support manager. 'Four inches of travel? People thought that was crazy. Downhill forks had just 3 inches of travel back then. But look at forks today—cross-country forks now have 4 inches of travel. The Z1 predicted what suspension forks would evolve into. |
Marzocchi girls with Marzocchi Bombers (2000)
| 'It was never a strictly downhill fork. Marzocchi just believed that suspension—lots of well-controlled suspension—was a good thing for everyone. The Z1 was the first real stab at that. It was risky,' Gibson admits, 'but Marzocchi was a company with deep motocross roots. They’d tried to build really lightweight forks with their ealier Zokes models, but they just weren’t happy with the product. |
Marzocchi Catalogue (1997)
| (Gibson continues) They knew they could make a fork with real motorcycle technology that would blow people away. It came down to this: If people actually rode the Z1, they’d forget all about its weight. They’d learn to live with the bobbing. The fork would speak for itself. And it did.' |
Marzocchi Catalogue (199eight)
| You can talk today about how much you prefer, say a Fox 32 to a RockShox Revelation or, conversely, that you like the RockShox Pike more than the Fox 34, but the variation in performance between any of today’s forks is miniscule when compared to the gulf that existed between the Marzoccchi Z1 and the rest of the pack. |
Fuel pump project for BMW F1; 3D CAD designing at Marzocchi S.P.A. Note the Marzocchi RAC on the table! Upside down fork Shiver (1999); Marzocchi S.P.A. staff, Marzocchi Pumps staff, Marzocchi Suspension Center in Valencia, California. TRW Marzocchi Plant, Ostellato, Ferrara (1999)
| Simply building the Z1 was a risky move for Marzocchi, but the company’s approach to selling the masses on its new fork was just as unconventional. If you wanted to sell products back in the mid-90s, you needed to get famous racers to pilot those products. While that was true for everything from bar-ends to rear derailleurs, it was definitely the case on big-ticket items such as forks. |
| Marzocchi, however, seemed to also ignore that part of the memo that mandated how you marketed products. Sure, a few prominent downhillers (such as Rob Warner) rode the forks, but Marzocchi put a lot of its eggs in one crazy-ass basket: free riders. |
The froriders (1999)
| While most of the world gravitated around what was happening between the tape at the latest UCI race, Marzocchi reached out to three, relatively unknown riders from British Columbia: Richie Schley, Wade Simmons and Brett Tippie. The three riders were sponsored by Rocky Mountain Bicycles and Marzocchi and, since Cannondale had trademarked the term “freeride,” the three Canadians were dubbed ‘the Fro-Riders.’ Their job was to ride dangerous things and look good doing it. |
Eric Berger (2017). Christian Begin filming Kranked I in 1997
| ...Firing up the Purple Bus, Bjorn and Christian started a journey that continues today. This seminal journey took them to Rossland where Dave Swetland and Chris Lawrence lived. It took them to Kamloops to meet up with Brett Tippie and Richie Schley. It took them to Vancouver where Wade Simmons and Dangerous Dan resided. This historic trip resulted in the creation of the first Kranked film released in April of 1998. 'Kranked – Live to Ride'. It burst onto the scene like a breathe of fresh air and exposed the bike industry to an exciting action/lifestyle way of riding that was termed 'freeriding"... |
Photos by Eric Berger and Sterling Lorence (2017). Brett Tippie, Dan Cowan, Richie Schley. Filming Kranked I (?)
| As with many things, there's an ethical - and predictably contentious - side to radical free-riding. In Kamloops, 'free' means just that. No restrictions. No rules. No worries. |
Wade Simmons, filming of Kranked (2001) - by Sterling Lorence
| 'It wasn’t really all about how big or sick we could go, but where we could take these bikes, and what we could ride on them that wasn’t normal.' said Wade. These three have been inducted for the joint venture and strength it took to be who they wanted to be and stand up in the face of the unknown to pioneer a new way of biking. An old interview sums the trio up probably the best; Richie the Professional, Wade the Natural, and Tippie the Rockstar. They were the first to travel abroad and film unknown gems, to ride unimaginable terrain, and take it completely to the next level. Perhaps it can be best summed up as this: TEQUILA TONIGHT, TOMORROW WE RIDE!!! |
The reunion of Richie Schley, Brett Tippie, Wade Simmons, Bjorn Enga, and Christian Begin. Filming of the Moment. By Danielle Baker (2017)
| Who were these guys? Sure, Simmons raced DH, but he wasn’t landing atop World Cup podiums… and what exactly was he doing with Tippie and Schley? Riding for fun? FOR FUN? Flash forward 17 years, and the guys at Rocky Mountain and Marzocchi now look like marketing geniuses. |
Ritchey Schley, some guy who had his best day ever, and Wade Simmons (2003)
| When Radical Films’ “Kranked” I came out on VHS, it blew peoples’ minds. The three riders hardly invented the style of riding that became known as ‘free riding,’ but the scenes of them shredding impossibly steep and technical terrain helped bring freeriding to the masses and, in doing so, changed the way many of us ride. |
Thomas Vanderham, Kyle Ritchey, Mike Wilson, Josh Bender; Red Bull Rampage - by Russday (2003)
| They also helped change the bike industry’s dogmatic faith in the belief that the only way to sell a product was to tell consumers that they too could win races with it. |
| And up front—leading the charge—was that Z1 fork. |
Marzocchi Catalogue (1999)
| The constant improving of these models led to many accomplishments, among which was the Downhill World Cup won by Corrado Herin on the 1997 Monster T, a downhill fork with 40mm diameter aluminum stanchion tubes. 1998 witnessed the birth of the SHIVER Upside-Down fork, which immediately won the 125cc. Cross World Championship with Chicco Chiodi on Husqvarna... |
Danielle Pontoni (1999), Giovanni Bonazzi, Corrado Herin (1997)
| The moment of celebrations, memories and emotions has now come. Adriano and Paolo Marzocchi talk about the companies' highlights, and former employees, one after the other, are called to the stage. |
18th of June 1999: the 50th anniversary of Marzocchi in Palazzo Albergati in Zola Predosa. It's in villa's huge park, where Paolo and Adriano Marzocchi welcome guests: authorities, customers, journalists, current and former employees; motorbike riders, and friends. Inside are countless displays with items from the past and the present: original forks and pumps, motorcycles with Marzocchi forks - among which is a 49cc. GRILLO, engine of which was designed and built in basement on Via Zannoni 64. Videos and pictures run. It's emotional and touching (Marzocchi, 1999).
Marzocchi: Storia di una Officina Meccanica Bolongese by Maria Pace Marzocchi (1999), the book from Part I and the book above pictured, was published shortly after the 50th Anniversary.
| Athos Pierantoni, Arturo Ferri, Gastone Franchi, Alfeo Gamberini, Oscar Maccaferri, Martino Marchi, Riziero Rossi, Antonio Folesani, Luigi Sandrolini, Dino Pellegrini, Sostegno Giacomelli, Ermanno Monti, Guiseppe Corsini, Giuliana Vegetti. A letter by Bruno Cavalieri Ducati is read during the ceremony. |
50th anniversary of Marzocchi (1999): Adriano Marzocchi and his daughters, Barbara and Rebecca; Tarquinio Provini and 127cc Mondial; the Gala dinner; Paolo Marzocchi and Mauro Forghieri; Mariano Roman of Aprilia, Emanuela Marzocchi, Markus Porschner and Lothar Hemmer of BMW.
| Finally, the cake of this important anniversary is served, followed by the congratulations and cheers of the guest. All are invited, coworkers of the present and past, and the entire Marzocchi family. The ceremony is to honor Stefano and Guglielmo for their creativity, initiatives, consistance and the Mechanical Workshop, which since 1949 has been the story of their lives. |
Josh Bender interviewing Bryson Martin at Interbike (2005)
BRYSON MARTIN
| We call our forks Bomber for a simple reason: they are just that. Our in-house test facility utilizes state-of-the-art, mega-computer controlled data acquisition, finite element analysis, finite element modeling, material testing systems, and good old fashioned drum testing to precisely torture forks to death, in ways no human could hope to. |
Bike Magazine at Interbike (2004)
| The material testing system tests flexion, torsional ridigity, spring rates and damping curves. Drum testing puts forks through years of hard use in just a few days. Data acquisition tests stress loads, impact levels in addition to damping and spring impact reactions. All this technology and time is utilized to build forks that you can hammer with total peace of mind. |
...Back in 1990s, the resistance to a newly developing culture of freeride, both from community and industry, was fierce. The pioneering freeriders received the same treatment the snowboarders in 1980s did - as if they are about to ruin the sport. There were, however, notable exceptions; those who believed. Those were partially in end credits of the original Kranked: Mike Foley from Bike Magazine, Bryson Martin from Marzocchi, Tess Sewell and Mike Caroll from Rocky Mountain, Greg Shapleigh from Giro, and Rick Bald from SRAM (Garage, 2005).
"The time was 1996. Our US team was doing a lot of riding in British Columbia and felt the need to have better suspension in this harsh environment. That was the 'birth thought' for the Bomber Program. Christian Begin and Bjorn Enga really got us motivated to help promote the 'sport' called freeriding, we all brain-stormed together and thought we needed a film to showcase this movement and products to go with it, the Bomber Program was born..." (Jones, 2011)
"The time was 1996. Our US team was doing a lot of riding in British Columbia and felt the need to have better suspension in this harsh environment. That was the 'birth thought' for the Bomber Program. Christian Begin and Bjorn Enga really got us motivated to help promote the 'sport' called freeriding, we all brain-stormed together and thought we needed a film to showcase this movement and products to go with it, the Bomber Program was born..." (Jones, 2011)
Marzocchi (2002)
| I knew of them through motocross, and I think I had couple Marzocchi forks... so I saw these Marzocchi guys kind of walking around the trade show (in late 1980s - from author). I was like 'Marzocchi!' - I go 'What are you guys doing here?' |
Allison Mairesonne (2004)
| We kept in touch, and then I went to Italy... I told Mr. Marzocchi, you know, being kind of young and arrogant: 'I'll make mountain-biking suspension division BIGGER than motorcycle!' Mr. Marzocchi started laughing. 'I like your arrogance. Let's try to do something.' |
...Once upon a time, few years earlier than 1996, in fact; back when MTB suspension was literally just taking off, - Bryson Martin, today's owner of DVO Suspension) stumbled across people of Marzocchi at a bike trade show (he was there with Brave Cycles). He, having years of MTB business experience behind his back, immediately and enthusiastically expressed his sincere interest in assisting Marzocchi in their upcoming bicycle suspension endeavors (Martin, 2019).
In years to come, he curated Marzocchi's whole mountain bike program; handled the setup and distribution in North America; oversaw development, and design (Martin, 2019).
Marzocchi, being a proud Italian company, having rich history and decades of experience in suspension and hydraulics, wanted to do things their way - but Martin knew that MTB was different. "Mountain bike is not like moto. Very unique, it's self-powered, the forces are different, so it took Marzocchi a while to understand that. We had to go through some ups and downs," he explained.
But, after the few ups and downs, after some years of trial and error, the golden days came: the Bomber arrived. "It was the perfect timing, the perfect storm. It was huge" (Martin, 2019).
In years to come, he curated Marzocchi's whole mountain bike program; handled the setup and distribution in North America; oversaw development, and design (Martin, 2019).
Marzocchi, being a proud Italian company, having rich history and decades of experience in suspension and hydraulics, wanted to do things their way - but Martin knew that MTB was different. "Mountain bike is not like moto. Very unique, it's self-powered, the forces are different, so it took Marzocchi a while to understand that. We had to go through some ups and downs," he explained.
But, after the few ups and downs, after some years of trial and error, the golden days came: the Bomber arrived. "It was the perfect timing, the perfect storm. It was huge" (Martin, 2019).
Marzocchi girls (2002)
| ...He comes up to me from a current suspension company back in the day, and he comes up to me, goes: 'Bryson, what you are doing is IRRESPONSIBLE! There is no way you can make a single crown fork with 4 inches of travel! |
From Marzocchi Catalogue (1999)
| ...When I first did the drawings and the prototypes, like, we were kind of struggling with out current product line, I think we had a recall with crowns breaking and things like that. And so I was like: 'I am gonna make this big, beefy fork... I literally did drawings on my kitchen table, like, hand sketches of the way I wanted the fork to look. |
Sandro Musiani and Marzocchi forks throughout the years (2013)
| And when I went to Italy we made sand-casted samples. It was before molds and all that stuff... the mold is actually made from sand; and it has a wax chemical to kind of hold the a shape, and then you shoot the aluminum into it, and then you can get what's for me is like pre-days 3D printing. But you can actually ride it for a little while, so... |
Marzocchi Z1 - by Matt Wragg (2013)
| ...but I remember getting it, and looking at it, going: 'oh, shit... this thing is HUGE.' And I remember Mr. Marzocchi going: 'well, it better be successful. Or you're fired.' |
It's easier to see in retrospective, but back then it wasn't clear whether it will be successful. In fact, Martin first thought he was going to get fired - until the forks were taken out for a ride. The prototypes, he recalls, felt and rode amazing.
He threw everything he had into his Toyota 4Runner and he rode to Canada, to where the riding was more progressive and demanding; to visit Norco, Rocky Mountain, and Kona. He stopped at Specialized along the way: they didn't like it.
"Bryson, you're a good friend -but you're from outer space if you think anyone's going to buy this" (Martin, 2019). Bryson's decision to go to Canada, in other words, was the right decision.
The first stop was at Norco Bikes. He and the guys from Norco, like Jim Jameson and Peter Stace-Smith, took them to the local trails. They were seriously impressed, and they got it right away - as they knew rather well how under-performing the older suspension was (Martin, 2019).
He threw everything he had into his Toyota 4Runner and he rode to Canada, to where the riding was more progressive and demanding; to visit Norco, Rocky Mountain, and Kona. He stopped at Specialized along the way: they didn't like it.
"Bryson, you're a good friend -but you're from outer space if you think anyone's going to buy this" (Martin, 2019). Bryson's decision to go to Canada, in other words, was the right decision.
The first stop was at Norco Bikes. He and the guys from Norco, like Jim Jameson and Peter Stace-Smith, took them to the local trails. They were seriously impressed, and they got it right away - as they knew rather well how under-performing the older suspension was (Martin, 2019).
From Marzocchi Catalogue (1999)
| ...And they were like: 'oh, man. This is amazing. Yup. We are putting this on our bikes. We are putting this on ALL of our bikes.' And I was sitting there, going: 'we gotta get them in production. Same response from Kona, same with Rocky Mountain. |
Norco 4hun, Shore (2002)
| But that's kind of an embodiment of the whole movement too, right? Against the main stream, kind of doing the counter-culture thing that people are not really getting? The Marzocchi as a brand, building the suspension that people didn't really know they need? |
Marzocchi Interbike Junior T Pro, Shiver SC, Super T Pro (2002)
| ...I really took a lot of the attitude from growing up in Redondo Beach, which is next to Santa Monica, during those dog town days of skateboarding. I hanged out with all those hooligans when I was younger. That was really heavy influence on how I did Marzocchi, just how the whole freeride then came about. |
Rocky Mountain RM7 DH, RM7 FR, and RM9 (2002)
| Cause, a lot of magazines, like: 'oh freeriders - they wear baggy shorts and are tearing up the trails, they gonna ruin the sport,' and I remember reading these heavyweight publications, just going: 'these guys have no clue, like, how big... this is going to happen: that there's going be bike parks, and we're going to push the development of bikes through freeride.' |
Martin (2019) continues: "It was so crazy. The mountain biking was huge. I think it was much bigger than where it kind of is now".
The pie is now divided into the smaller pieces for everyone: in 2019 there were 600 brands in Germany alone, but there's less brands in America now, for sure (Martin, 2019). The market is very consolidated. "With e-bikes, however, they've reached another group of people that were previously weren't so-called 'mountain bikers', who weren't part of that pie where everyone's taking slices out of. I mean Marzocchi alone, we were doing almost 200 million in sales. Yeah. We were pumping out, in a course of few years, a million or two of forks."
The pie is now divided into the smaller pieces for everyone: in 2019 there were 600 brands in Germany alone, but there's less brands in America now, for sure (Martin, 2019). The market is very consolidated. "With e-bikes, however, they've reached another group of people that were previously weren't so-called 'mountain bikers', who weren't part of that pie where everyone's taking slices out of. I mean Marzocchi alone, we were doing almost 200 million in sales. Yeah. We were pumping out, in a course of few years, a million or two of forks."
Marzocchi lineup and Brooke Taylor (2001)
| Probably it was demographics, too - cause it was new back then; a lot of people just jumped in and bought bikes, and probably never really rode them. There is a big barrier to actually going out and enjoying yourself on a mountain bike. You got to be fit, and you got to have some skill - or you gonna get hurt. |
Kona Stinky, Stinky Nine, Stab Primo (2003)
| Kids nowadays don't ride bikes. Kids just play videogames. It sounds really weird, but I've met kids who never ridden a bicycle before. I kind of look at them, you know, and go: 'wow, what happened?' Kids just... skip the whole bike riding thing. |
| Going back to freeride movement: what was it like working with those guys when they started pushing the limits, and big freeride became a thing? Was it exciting from a product development standpoint, or was it stressful, or?... |
Bender's Karpiel Armageddon, Eurobike (2004)
| All of the above. I mean, if we were to do a 12 inch Monster *now*, I'd be like: 'man, how stupid is that? What's that guy smoking?' But back then we never really WANTED to make it - I just made it, and I made it for Bender. |
Bender, Red Bull Rampage qualitifying - by Russday (2003)
| We never expected to sell any - but the day after he was seen on it we had, like, five, six, seven hundred orders in the system. So I call Italy: 'we gonna make this *thing*.' |
Marzocchi Super Monster prototype (2002)
| And they are going: 'oh, Bryson, Bryson... this is very stupid.' |
Note how different the prototype is from the production model.
The prototype inherited the 4-bolt (each side) axle mount caps from the ultra-lux, handmade 1997's Mr. T produced for Sintesi and Orange teams - that essentially happened to be a dual crown Z1 with 150mm of travel. Super Monster T was the first MTB fork to implement leading axle technology, the Perno Avanzato, as Marzocchi called it.
The prototype came with the upper dropper crown, as well as the lower dropper crown; the production model only got the upper dropper crown, which is a shame: with a dropper lower crown the Super Monster T would be less picky and discriminative towards frames. Presumably, to not produce two different sets of lowers, the 2003 and later Monster T's simply inherited the Super Monster T lowers.
The brace design was changed, and the 2003 and later Monster T's came with the beautiful, elegant M-arch. The stickers stretched to cover the lowers.
The prototype inherited the 4-bolt (each side) axle mount caps from the ultra-lux, handmade 1997's Mr. T produced for Sintesi and Orange teams - that essentially happened to be a dual crown Z1 with 150mm of travel. Super Monster T was the first MTB fork to implement leading axle technology, the Perno Avanzato, as Marzocchi called it.
The prototype came with the upper dropper crown, as well as the lower dropper crown; the production model only got the upper dropper crown, which is a shame: with a dropper lower crown the Super Monster T would be less picky and discriminative towards frames. Presumably, to not produce two different sets of lowers, the 2003 and later Monster T's simply inherited the Super Monster T lowers.
The brace design was changed, and the 2003 and later Monster T's came with the beautiful, elegant M-arch. The stickers stretched to cover the lowers.
Marzocchi Super Monster T prototype (2002)
| And I go: 'I don't care, people want them.' |
Marzocchi Super Monster Prototype (2002)
| Was that thing a modified moto fork? |
"Well, the Super Monster was its own thing, but how the Monster came about originally... continued Martin (2019), "I was walking behind the warehouse, the factory in Italy, just kind of looking at molds. And, just of the fascination - cause there are these big, steel plates, and also I only had certain budgets to create new molds back then, 'what mold is that from?' So I was looking at this one mold - and it was just the fork leg at that time, looking at this mold, going: 'oh, that's pretty big. What diameter is that?' He goes: '40."
"And the engineer starts shaking his head - he knows where this is going.
And I am like: 'can we make a mountain bike fork out of it?" (Martin, 2019)
And I am like: 'can we make a mountain bike fork out of it?" (Martin, 2019)
| ...So we did some modifications to the mold. Basically, it was a trials fork, for Gas Gas, or Bultaco, or something at that time. An old mold. Back then they didn't have aluminum stanchion tubes, so you had to use steel tubes. Which, can you imagine, the thing weight like 20 pounds? So fast forward a few months. We made a Monster T. And, uh, it's steel stanchions, so you couldn't even pick the front end of the bike up. |
Kranked 4: In Search of Holey Trail (2005)
| I was in Italy and we were shuttling, and I hit the first jump - and immediately I was going over the bars. And I remember I hit the nose down, just lean backwardly far, and saved it. And then I hit this other rock, and then I hit this other thing... and I think: 'this thing is a Monster. Alright, this thing is amazing. We're going to make it. We got to get aluminum stanchions.' |
| As freeriding continues to grow in popularity across the world, and riders continue to push the limits, Marzocchi have decided to expand their Monster range to three models. There’s a basic, no-frills, Monster T2, along with two, more sophisticated models; the Monster T and Super Monster T... |
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”The prototype inherited the 4-bolt (each side) axle mount caps from the ultra-lux, handmade 1997's Mr. T - which essentially happened to be a dual crown Z1 with 150mm of travel. ” - not exactly.
The Mr. T had 110 mm travel and didn't have the 4-bolt plates. That was the pretty rare Super T that was raced in 1998 by Sintesi, Orange and other teams and sold briefly. Wade Simmons kept riding one when the Monster was already available. I think it appears in Kranked 2. I have one of those and recall them pretty well when they were new.
Also: the Monster with red vinyl stickers is from 2000. The 1999 had black ones.
Also: the BAM versions appeared in 1998 and had slightly different lowers than the normal Z1's and Z2's, but fact is that the first Z1, that popped up in 1996 were definitely not BAM's. There was no BAM in 1996 and 1997.
Cheers!