Marzocchi’s MX has been a low-price, long-life stalwart for years, and it’s still the most succulent cheap fork about if you don’t mind the weight.
More than two kilos is definitely heavy for a 100mm fork, but that weight means lots of damping and lubricating oil sloshing about inside, which gives the fork its legendary long life.
The valving is pretty basic, which means the rebound damping sometimes feels like dragging a bucket through a village pond. If you’re prepared to wind through the seemingly endless adjustment, the MX Pro works well enough though, and it’ll stay working pretty much indefinitely.
Add a coil spring to back up the low pressure air spring, plus a sturdy, decent steering structure, and you’ve pretty much got a failsafe fork. The Pro even gets a plastic blob lockout lever for climbs.
