Marzocchi Bomber CR Coil Shock [Rider Review]

Our "Rider Review" article series features the honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for. 

 Marzocchi is a name that comes to mind when looking for suspension that can take hard hits and gnarly tracks. The Bomber CR will take anything you throw at it. Our friend, Giancarlo has been running the Bomber CR. See what they think!

Overview

I have been coil curious for a while. Upon researching various options, Marzocchi’s CR Coil Shock received amazing reviews. I took the leap and ordered it. At first, I bought 2 Fox steel springs and ran the spring closest to all the various calculations I was given which ranged from 585-625. I ran the 600# spring. The shock felt good the first 2 rides with this setup. It was everything you read about coil shocks, supple on the chunk, and stable on landings. But I lost all pop which took some adjusting to. The bike was also very dull through chunk. It was the most magic carpet ride experience I’ve ever had. But again, bunnyhopping was almost impossible with this spring.

I started researching springs and came across Cane Creek’s VALT progressive coil (550-670#). I threw that on and the bike is totally transformed. It is almost as poppy as it was with the DPX2 that came stock on the bike. It is way more lively and less dull in chunky terrain, but just as stable on drops and jump landings. It is the most amazing setup. I will run this shock and spring as long as I have this bike.

I ride the frontside of Mt. Wilson in Los Angeles. We have a high alpine single track that is very technical with lots of sharp rocks and small drops. What I have noticed is that the bike is more stable at speed. I am able to pump the bike on flowy sections to gain speed. The bike is also much less twitchy in switchbacks. Riding into rock gardens at speed is so smooth. Landing into rock gardens from drops is also much more effortless.

As far as adjustments go, it has a knob for compression which controls LSC, and a knob for rebound. There are about 8-10 clicks on both knobs. Each click really changes the behavior of the shock. I have settled on the middle for compression and 1-2 clicks faster from the middle on the rebound. I run the rebound faster to make the bike more lively and the compression has felt good in all settings from slow flow, fast flow, and all chunky terrain. The preload should only be torqued by hand without a tool to set sag properly. It’s hard to measure sag, but you need to go by feel compared to your sag on your previous shock.

I ride a V2 Pivot Switchblade. The bike lives up to the hype of being one of the best climbing trail/enduro bikes ever.

And here’s the kicker, the bike climbs better with the Marzocchi and cane creek VALT progressive spring.

It doesn’t even have a climb switch, but more power is driven to the rear end of the bike compared to the DPX2 in climb mode.

Final Thoughts

The white spring on this shock looks stunning as well. Fox/Marzocchi is just amazing suspension. This shock is by far the best performance upgrade for the money that I have ever experienced in almost a decade of riding.

Do not hesitate. Get this shock with the Cane Creek progressive VALT. You will not regret it.