Mountain Biking - Which fork is better deal? Marz Marathon vs Fox Float

So I've narrowed my decision to two forks, now I need some help.
I like the Marzocchi Marathon SL 105mm and the Fox Float 100 RLC.
Both are air sprung and have lockout features, are about the same weight- I think the Float is slightly lighter.
Pricewise they are nearly equal, I've seen the Fox as low as $520 and the Marz is $549 PLUS a free King headset and free shipping.
Anybody use these forks and love/hate them? Right now I'm leaning toward the Marz since I need a headset anyway and I love getting free stuff!

549 for the chris king and free shipping. If you can get that deal grab it. Otherwise either are acceptable (I would get marz out of loyalty and my initial impressions with fox customer service is pretty low)

fox all the way, a headset is a headset if it still spins smoothly

i'm going with the fox, have had the float rlc, and vanilla rlc, both are like butter and stiff. never had an ounce of problem with either. i had a zoke Z1FR i traded it in for a Vanilla and never looked back, it was plush but not worth the extra weight plush

Get the Marzocchi, my boss, the lbs owner just sent his fox float in for warranty for the 3rd time in 8 months.

I had notone but two Marathons that were nothing but trouble. An 80 on the hardtail and a 100 on the FS. Both were issue laden. And Marzocchi was never able to effectively deal with the situation.

Since then the hardtail has been graced with a Manitou Black Super. No problems.

The FS has a Fox TALAS. Again, zero problems.

a

what kind of problems did you have with the marathon? a couple of the mtbr.com reviews mentioned air loss. is that what happened with your marz forks?

Nope, the seals would gank up in a particular way that allowed foamy oil to creep into the negative chamber, which would cause the fork to "pack down", meaning that the fork would gradually work down to almost full compression and stay there.

One fork went back to Marzocchi three times for the problem,theo other twice. The problem was never solved. That in itself was a bummer, but Marzocchi never seemed to really care all that much about the issue.

well I hope the problem you speak of is fixed on the '04s cause I just bought it. keeping my fingers crossed for now.

i love my vanilla 125r on my "play" hardtail even though you already bought your fork. i have heard nothing but good things for all my friends that ride 4x/urban/ds on their fox's. hope you enjoy your new fork!