Mountain Biking - Is this worth it?

I recently found a 2001 Marzocchi bomber Z.4 on ebay. I just wanted to get some opnions if this is a worthy upgrade to my 2001 Rock Shox Judy C that came stock on my Trek 6700. I have heard good things about Marzocchi shocks but not sure if this one is better than what I already have. Let me know what you guys/gals think.

Thanks.

Price?

And to be honest I don't think I would consider that an upgrade.

I dont know much about the z-4 your looking at but i do know getting rid of the judy C will be one of your best upgrades.i have the same bike you do and got a rockshox duke XC from www.supergo.com for $139 and it has changed my whole bike and the way i ride.my other great upgarde was getting rid of the bontrager crank and bb and getting LX.

Price would be about $100 bucks. Didn't know if it would be a good upgrade either. Thats why I asked. Thanks, that was exactly what I needed to know. Any suggestions for a good fork in the $100-$200 range?

Originally posted by LaZy
Price would be about $100 bucks. Didn't know if it would be a good upgrade either. Thats why I asked. Thanks, that was exactly what I needed to know. Any suggestions for a good fork in the $100-$200 range?

you will have to stick to used to Marzocchi or year end. Rock Shox may be what you get again.

Marzocchi makes an aggro xc fork called the exr which is better than what you have but it will be 219 I believe. Good fork for the price.

you also should think about getting a new headset when you change out the fork.i didnt think mine was in bad shape untill i took it apart and found a lot of water and funk in it.i got a wtb momentum cb headset from www.jensonusa.com for $35 it looks good and feels great. i also had my lbs install everything which cost $50 bucks but i think it was worth to know it was done right.

This from the Zoch site. Is the one you are looking at the coil or air model? It will be much better then what you have now and will work great for you if you are doing xc/trail riding. If you plan on alot jumps and drops then you would want to save some more cash and get a freeride style fork.


Our new air system will suit just about any riding style! Look for this fork as original equipment on a number of popular manufacturers bikes this year.

Available in COIL or AIR - 80/100mm or 130mm

80mm/100mm travel
Open Bath Adjustable SSV Valving
Coil Springs or Lo-pressure Air
Cryofit Boltless Crown
MAG Powerwrap M-Arch - External Preload Internal
Rebound Adjusters
30mm Alloy Stanchions
Weight: 4.0lbs [incl. Easton steertube]

" 2001 MARZOCCHI BOMBER SHOCK. LIKE NEW CONDITION HARDLY USED. OIL BATH, ADJUSTABLE DAMPING, COIL SYSTEM, 80-100 MM"

What would be a better fork then the bomber or the 02 duke xc?

Thanks for the links jrafter. It looks like there out of the 100mm travel xc and only have blue 80mm left. Any other places have em for this price?

you can look at www.pricepoint.com do you want a 100mm fork? if you really want the 100mm you should look at the duke SL for $169, it was the fork i wanted but in 80mm.i didnt want to change the geo of my bike.

Pretty sure I want the extra travel. I bottom out the Judy C pretty often. I don't think it will be much different. Possibly a little less responsive steering.

are you going to make any other changes?i have avid disks,flak jacket cables and mavic 317 wheels coming next week...i cant wait.

I'm not sure how I got subscribed to this thread, but I will give my .02

You realize that an '01 fork could have 2 full seasons of use? If you know the seller it might be worth a chance but I've been known to cause quite a bit of grief to a fork in just one season.

I'd pretty much agree with Mike here.

If you buy a fork thats been used a season for the price you stated above, you're probably going to want to have it serviced before you really use it. With that being the case, the price of purchase plus a rebuild or whatever will be nearing the cost of a brand new, even better fork.
Keep your eyes open for sales on RockShox Psylos. They go around $220 usually, they last, they're relatively light, and they can handle anything from XC to light freeride.

jrafter, this will be my fist major upgrade other than a new saddle since I bought the bike new

MikeOK and BurlySurly, I have decided against buying a used fork for the obvious reasons that you both pointed out. But the particular one I was looking at had only been ridden a few times and it showed.

I also stopped by my LBS today to see what deals they could give me. They were out of 02 models but offered me 15-20% off if I wanted to buy the 03 duke XC with u-turn which was a feature I REALLY liked. They quoted me $325-$350 for both the fork and a new headset installed. You guys think this would be the best idea overall? It's more than I wanted to spend but do not mind throwing down the extra cash if it's worth it.

Thanks everyone for being so helpful.

I'll look later, not sure what a good price on the Duke is, but you can get a really nice sealed bearing Cane Creek headset for $30.