Marzocchi XC600 review

Marzocchi’s advantages and character comes from simple, smooth internals, so it stands to reason that their basic forks are some of our favourites. For a start, these are super smooth within a few hours of riding. As long as you at least halve the recommended pressures then you can’t fault the seamless control over all hit sizes, either. Just make sure you keep enough air in to stop them bottoming too easily, though. While the big ETA remote lever is a bit of an eyesore on your bars, being able to drop travel right down ‘on the fl y’ is a real bonus if you suddenly have to hit a short, steep climb.

The trademark gurgle and squelch of oil sloshing around the fork, mean they’ll stay super smooth for the foreseeable future, too. Self servicing is also simple and easy if they do ever play up, but we’d be very surprised if they do.

A coil spring on one side and all that oil inside add weight, which knocks their XC suitability, but they feel good and solid on the trail, with reliable tracking and excellent braking traction. We reckon their ‘fit and forget’ friendliness, outstandingly smooth action and useful features make them a real bargain, too.