Marzocchi Bomber Z2 Fork [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 back in full effect and offering some of the best suspension products at a more affordable price. It's clear that Fox and RockShox rule the market but the prices they demand are hard for many riders to justify. Marzocchi decided to offer a competitive fork at the fraction of the price. The Bomber Z2 is a direct competitor with Fox's 34 Fork and Rockshox's Pike fork. Let's see what our buddy Andy thought of his recent upgrade to the Bomber Z2:

Andy's Review

I want a new bike, I need a new bike, my 5-year-old Giant Stance is getting worn out, but I can’t have a new bike, there are no bikes...Covid-19.

Oh oh, my bearings in my front wheel are shot, I keep having to tighten the cones (remember those folks?) every few rides, otherwise, it feels like I’m riding through sand, the front wheel randomly wandering around. So, I need a new bike...but there are none unless I mortgage the house. Okay then, next year I’ll get a new bike. But what if I plan on buying a frame in the spring? This year can buy a fork and a wheel with a rock-solid through axle, yeah that might work... Time to research… Marzocchi Bomber Z2 gets good reviews from GMBN and Worldwide Cyclery, and if I want to I could increase travel. Woah the price is good, for the price of most other forks, I can get the wheel too. Worldwide Cyclery website here I come. Oh, poop they don’t have them.

A few days later an email drops in my box from Worldwide Cyclery, was I still interested in the Marzocchi Bomber Z2? To my disappointment when I immediately clicked on the link, the fork is still sold out and back-ordered. I was so disappointed I wrote an email expressing my dismay and disappointment, and annoyance at getting a misleading link to follow, and that I wouldn’t be buying anything from Worldwide Cyclery again unless they happened to have the fork I wanted, and then all would be forgiven. A reply came back explaining “algorithms made us do it”, or something, which of course I knew. A week or so passed and suddenly Marzocchi Bomber Z2 was back in stock, 2 left. Bam! In my cart, together with a new wheel, and Worldwide Cyclery is forgiven. I know; Covid-19, supply chains, shipping backlogs, people working in difficult conditions to supply us nonessential toys like this, but I don’t want a randomly wandering front wheel anymore.

Of course, I traced every move of the fork's journey from California to Maine. My wife texted a photo when they arrived, so I wrapped up work early and went home. Plush, what does that even mean? I hear reviews of bikes and forks and rear shocks, and they are described as “plush”. I put the fork on my bike, adjusted it to the suggested settings, put in the new wheel, and in fading daylight rolled down my driveway and pedaled back up, Oh, that’s what they mean! I could tell instantly that I had a wholly different bike now. The next day we hit the trails. My wife is fitter than me, so she leads going uphill, being kind, and not getting too far ahead. “Is everything Okay?” I asked about halfway up the hill, she was going slower than usual and I was catching up, which never happens. Apparently, she couldn’t hear me behind her and thought I was way behind, instead of being a foot or so off her rear tire. I guess she noticed the difference in my new fork too. “Small bump” sensitivity, ah! Another of the reviewers must use phrases, check, now I know what it means, and how much quieter my bike is, even on rooty climbs. “Ramping up” and ‘bottoming out”, I’m slow going uphill, but faster (dumber?) going down,

all I can say is I have a lot more confidence hitting bigger roots, bigger drop-offs, and more jumbly rocks, I don’t think I have managed to bottom out this fork, but then again I obviously haven’t tried hard enough because my imagination and medical insurance co-pays keep my wheels close to the ground.

Maybe I’d send it harder if we get a single-payer medical insurance system.

Conclusion

"I bet people want to know really about the tech stuff, but screw that, the fork is rugged, it works, simple. I love the 4mm Allen key adjustment to the QR trough axle so it sits just right. My wife has a fox fork with a fiddly weird, I don’t know why they did that, adjustment. The only minor quibble might be the plastic dial, so just don’t smash it. If you need a fork, and you are not an EWS racer, or hitting Rampage, and most of us aren’t, why not buy this fork? You will get a great fork. For $500 I basically got a new bike, so I didn’t spend $500, I saved $2500.

Now I’m noticing my rear end is choppy and noisy and is nowhere near as plush and sensitive as my front end. Sigh!, I need a new bike, but I can live with this one for a while longer, and really, I’ve started my new bike build, I just need frames to come in…….. Worldwide Cyclery, I’ll be watching……and buying bits for it :-)" - Andy