# 2010 Marzocchi 888 evo initial review



## giantsaam (Dec 10, 2006)

Initial thoughts
Ok so after the demise of my first fork Marzocchi 888 evo I got another 888 evo in my grubby little paws. So after thrashing this fork a couple of days and getting it dialed in I decided to give you my initial views. Ok so this fork has a few knobs which to a novice can be a little overwhelming it has rebound and air volume on top left and compression on the bottom of the left leg and the spring preload is located on the top right. The one thing I did not like is the compression, preload, and air volume labels just say "hard - soft" and don't explain what they do individually.

Damping
Marzocchi said with the stock spring it could accomodate most users and bieng 200lbs of human wrecking ball figured I could put it to the test. The first thing I noticed on this fork was how much better small bump compliance this fork had over my 2009 Totem it felt very similar to the initial stroke of my 2004 888 works. The second was that with the use of the air volume knob I could control the progressiveness of this fork to match the rear which is not easy due to the bike bieng it's super compliant and then ramps up towards the middle of the stroke.

Ride
The ride of this fork is amazing it is so smooth and progressive all without dropping a ton of coin on custom tuning. I first let it rip on some fast single track with big flowy turns and nice water bars this fork stuck to the ground letting you easily breach the 30mph mark without blinking. The second part of my test was Colorado rock gardens which are very chunky with lots of loose rock trying to plow my way down the middle of chutes. I initially had to much compression and preload and not enough ramping that it made the bike a little uncomfortable at first but then with a few turns of the knobs and a trip back to the top I had this fork dialed. It took square edge hits very well without hard spiking and took some smaller 1-3ft rock drops at high speed with ease. I will further push this fork over time and hopefully after my foot is 100% I will get some 5-15ft drops in.

I will update long term testing as I ride but my initial thoughts are this is a solid fork with good tuning options without having to get it custom tuned.

Thanks to Mike and Chris at Marzocchi for getting me out so fast you guys are great.


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## giantsaam (Dec 10, 2006)

Ohh yeah here are my settings and I am 205lbs with gear

preload 17 clicks from soft
air volume 8 clicks from soft
compression 4 clicks from soft
Rebound 10 clicks from slow


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## bxxer rider (Jun 7, 2008)

nice write up, sounds like marz are sorting them self's out thank god, hopefully they will be a fees able again. good to hear  look forward to a long term view


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## KillingtonVT (Apr 1, 2004)

That's good news for sure!!! I just sold my 08 888wc and I am about ready to pull the trigger on a Evo Ti... 

Congrats and it's good to see a sick Lucky... I miss mine from time to time!!!


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## aenema (Apr 17, 2006)

"Ok so after the demise of my first fork Marzocchi 888 evo I got another 888 evo in my grubby little paws"

Could you clarify what happened with your first 888 evo please. We are all wary of manufacturing issues and it would be nice to hear the details.

thanks


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## giantsaam (Dec 10, 2006)

aenema said:


> "Ok so after the demise of my first fork Marzocchi 888 evo I got another 888 evo in my grubby little paws"
> 
> Could you clarify what happened with your first 888 evo please. We are all wary of manufacturing issues and it would be nice to hear the details.
> 
> thanks


I have a whole thread called 2010 marzocchi carnage that goes over what happened but here's the short I punctured the lowers after plowing into a rock at over 20mph it was not a defect it was bad luck.


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## aenema (Apr 17, 2006)

I found it: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=564082

So from your description, any fork would have suffered similar consequences and the lowers are not too thin? You made it seem like a lot of energy was transmitted to that spot. But being the internet, it is hard to know things like how fast or how hard from another person's perspective.

I think we are all tracking the '10s with a lot of interest. Hope to see them perform well and reliably myself but am cautious to think they are there yet.


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## giantsaam (Dec 10, 2006)

aenema said:


> I found it: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=564082
> 
> So from your description, any fork would have suffered similar consequences and the lowers are not too thin? You made it seem like a lot of energy was transmitted to that spot. But being the internet, it is hard to know things like how fast or how hard from another person's perspective.
> 
> I think we are all tracking the '10s with a lot of interest. Hope to see them perform well and reliably myself but am cautious to think they are there yet.


Yes I am hard on everything and to give you a little background I was on totem number 4 or 5, and I have also smashed a 2004 888rc into a tree and bent the uppers. Well I will be your guinnea pig because after all it is mountain bike review.


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## aenema (Apr 17, 2006)

How very noble of you . and by the way, nice cankle. Get healed and ride the heck out of that fork. 

I love Lucky's as well. I own a Balance and a Jedi. Balance is a little Lucky and I don't ride it that much any more but I will never sell it. One of my favorite bikes I have ever owned.


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## DHidiot (Aug 5, 2004)

The coolest thing about that bike is the chainring. That thing just looks ill.

How do the bushings feel on the fork? If you jam your finger between the arch and the stanchion can you feel any rocking around?


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

very cool to here about the new fork....


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## craigstr (Sep 19, 2003)

*Bike stand in the kitchen*

Love it.


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## giantsaam (Dec 10, 2006)

DHidiot said:


> The coolest thing about that bike is the chainring. That thing just looks ill.
> 
> How do the bushings feel on the fork? If you jam your finger between the arch and the stanchion can you feel any rocking around?


nope not yet very stiff, did they have bushing play out the box?


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## DHidiot (Aug 5, 2004)

A lot of them did, some developed it quickly. If they're 100% tight to begin with, they should stay that way for a long time.

A good test is taking the fork out of the crowns entirely and seeing what the play is between the stanchion and the lowers without any additional support. All forks will have some.


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## 8664 (Oct 17, 2005)

good news, sold my boxxer 10" and the 888 rc3 evo ti is on the way!!


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## DHidiot (Aug 5, 2004)

Ahhhh those words have a nice ring to them: "sold my boxxer"


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## 8664 (Oct 17, 2005)

DHidiot said:


> Ahhhh those words have a nice ring to them: "sold my boxxer"


i ride since 2004 all 888 have never a problem, only the 3800kg was a referenz to go boxxer but in funktion is the 888 top!


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## Swissam (Apr 8, 2008)

Well its been almost a year now since the initial review. How are they 11 months later?


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## Bikesair (Feb 20, 2006)

Swissam said:


> Well its been almost a year now since the initial review. How are they 11 months later?


Ya this is a good bump Swissam. I'm interested too (even though I already know the answer  )


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## giantsaam (Dec 10, 2006)

Ok so after a year of riding hard everything from jump trails to the uber-gnar backwoods trails here are some of my thoughts. No I don't work for Marzocchi but I am in the industry and I have ridden most of the new products out.
Pros:
Very supple and smooth through the whole travel range
Bushings are showing no signs of wear
Oil/spring changes are a snap with the simplicity of open bath
Uses full range of travel and tracks through the rough really well
Cons:
A little heavy but you can flip the extra coin for the WC version
Sometimes the smoothness through the stroke can cause wallowing if your heavy on the brakes.
Knobs are a little confusing at first but once it's dialed you are gold.


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## Swissam (Apr 8, 2008)

giantsaam said:


> Ok so after a year of riding hard everything from jump trails to the uber-gnar backwoods trails here are some of my thoughts. No I don't work for Marzocchi but I am in the industry and I have ridden most of the new products out.
> Pros:
> Very supple and smooth through the whole travel range
> Bushings are showing no signs of wear
> ...


Thanks for the write up. So basically Zoke is Back! Does it come with instructions on how to adjust the compression shim stack as this is an internal adj? I haven't seen anything on their web site about taking this thing apart and adjusting the internals other than "customizable compression shim stack" no info on how to.
As far as the wallowing is concerned, if you know your going down a trail where your going to be on your brakes wouldn't running more compression fix this problem?
I like heavy parts, they break less.


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## Sethimus (Apr 3, 2006)

nope, still comes only with the plain old shitty marzocchi manual (one manual fits all models)


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## Swissam (Apr 8, 2008)

Sethimus said:


> nope, still comes only with the plain old shitty marzocchi manual (one manual fits all models)


This is one reason I may go with boxxers, just for the simple fact that RS encouages you to take it apart and tune it yourself, BUT boxxers also have paper thin lowers. I am sure I can figure it out with the 888, I just dont want to break anything during that trial and error period. Come on Marzocchi, put out some youtube vids already. :madman: 
Like Fox they are trying to protect thier technicians jobs because cash rules.


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## giantsaam (Dec 10, 2006)

Swissam said:


> This is one reason I may go with boxxers, just for the simple fact that RS encouages you to take it apart and tune it yourself, BUT boxxers also have paper thin lowers. I am sure I can figure it out with the 888, I just dont want to break anything during that trial and error period. Come on Marzocchi, put out some youtube vids already. :madman:
> Like Fox they are trying to protect thier technicians jobs because cash rules.


I completely agree with you on they are trying to protect their jobs but I think that the inconvienence of having to learn the tuning is well worth the payoff. I think that someone should start a tuning database for the new evo cartridges.


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## DHidiot (Aug 5, 2004)

I don't think their technicians are looking for more work to do. They usually have their hands full.

The plain truth is that you really shouldn't need instructions to do a competent overhaul on an open bath Marzocchi fork. If you possess a couple wrenches and sockets, have at it. If you need instructions for them, you probably shouldn't be working on them.

The 2010 stuff is incredibly solid. Perfect bushings, greatly improved damper that can be revalved, still open bath so nothing to blow up, and still THE best seals on the market. They can go a LONG time between servicing too.

Tuning on them is stupid easy too - preload for fine tuning ride height, compression for brake dive, progression/volume for bottoming control, rebound is rebound. Not much to it other than that.

As far as tuning the shim stack, the stock tune is very versatile and effective over most spring ranges and weights. Only in very specific cases do you really need to mess with it, in which case you could just call them and get some assistance over the phone. Writing a "quick manual" on tuning compression shim stacks is asking a lot - there is no succinct way to put it and teach someone with no knowledge of the subject.


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