Marzocchi are famous for a buttery action, and developed the Roco shock specifically to maintain small bump sensitivity while still having big bump capability.
With no platform/ low speed adjustment, the ride is lively, especially as the rebound and compression adjustments are high speed. In other words, the shock feels super supple on the smaller stuff that warrants a quicker rebound, and absorbs the big hits very effectively as the damping kicks in properly. To get the same supple ride on another shock, you'd be lacking rebound for the bigger hits.
The other design specific that Marzocchi had was to make the shock serviceable by a good mechanic - although it's best left to the experts unless you're a grease monkey who knows their way around a shock unit. Using a shim stack system, the Roco can be tuned effectively, but as standard it's a very good shock indeed.
© BikeRadar 2007