Marzocchi returns to suspension
market with revamped DH line A
fter a yearlong hiatus, Italian suspension supplier Marzocchi (Booth 525) is back in
full swing, unveiling a new downhill fork and shock line at Sea Otter. For each component, Marzocchi went back to the drawing board. A downhill 29er coil/hydraulic fork and rear
shock have already been shown to a select few distributors at March’s Taipei International Cycle Show in Taiwan, and they are set for public debut here at the Sea Otter expo. Around this time last year, Marzocchi assembler SR Suntour was poised to buy the brand. But the deal fell through, leaving Marzoc- chi without 2013 OE product. The company, under the umbrella of U.S.-
based Tenneco, switched over to Hodaka in Taiwan for assembly. A year later, Marzocchi is set to return, with new aftermarket products for 2013 and a complete OE line ready for the 2014 model year. For the 29er fork, the company remains
focused on a coil-hydraulic system with a titanium spring on one side. It will also feature low- and high-speed compression and rebound adjustments, as well as the ability to tune medium-speed compression, on top of an inno- vative hydraulic system, according to Marzocchi
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representatives. “It’s a completely new philoso- phy on developing cartridges,” the company’s Simone Bassi said. Bassi expects the new product will be the
lightest coil downhill fork available. “As a complete package we will also show
a new downhill rear shock, and once again we think it will be the lightest coil rear shock for downhill purposes,” Bassi explained. Additionally, an electronic fork that Marzoc- chi has been developing for a year and a half will be on display at its booth. Despite the fact that the brand didn’t bring
out product last year, research and development never slowed, according to Bassi. “I really would like to use Sea Otter this
year as the new voice, the new face of the new Marzocchi projects,” said Bassi, “and show to the market that the R&D brain is running, that we have ideas, we have products, we have new stuff ready to be sold to the market.” Thanks to the labors of the same engineer-
3/18/13 9:46 AM
ing team in Bologna that Marzocchi has had since 1989, the company was able to come back with in- novative products in a short time, losing only one year of OEM sales and getting back into the 2013 aftermarket by July without losing a full season.
“From outside it would appear that we
didn’t do anything in the last year. But looking at it internally we did a miracle,” said Marzocchi marketing director Andrea Pierantoni. “All of the knowledge, all of the capability and the process knowledge is in Marzocchi Italy. We moved the production to Taiwan in 2006, but 100 percent of R&D creation, innovation, prototyping, test- ing was—and is—done in Italy. Thanks to this we are able to come back to the market in a very short time.” The hiccup ended up being a blessing in
disguise, because switching assembly lines and suppliers forced the company to comb through every aspect of the process, refining both pro- duction and components as a result. “Up to now, all tests are better than past
production,” Pierantoni said. “The final word will come from the market.” Product development will continue with
feedback from the MS Mondraker DH Team, which is racing on the 2013 line and training on the 2014 models, as well as from reigning marathon world champion Ilias Periklis. Marzocchi next targets the burgeoning 650b
market, with new product to be unveiled at Eurobike in August.
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