Marzocchi

Within the industry, there have been countless products which have altered the way we perceive mountain biking. 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. Fast-forward two decades and the Z1 has been reborn. The goal for the new...

If you’ve been riding bikes for over a two decades or ask your seasoned shop guy (you know, the only mechanic who can setup cantilever brakes within a reasonable amount of time) which fork changed suspension as we know it, one product will come to mind: Z1. Well before the year 2000 and the frantic Y2K computer-crash scare, mountain bike forks consisted of slim tubes containing rubber-like chunks of plastic known as elastomers. Riding with dampers at the time was like playing a spontaneous game of Russian Roulette, but replace the bullet with a shower of fork fluid. Anything offering over 2.5...