Marzocchi Suspension FULL Seal Support 1998-2018 👀😱💯
Do you now, that Marzocchi is the ONLY Vintage Suspension Fork Brand which offers FULL SEAL SUPPORT for the older rock solid XC & BOMBER Forks, from the very early StarFork in 1989 up to 2018 !?😱
This are sceleted Seals which have been created in the same form and precision as MARZOCCHI did in the glorious days in the past.
Not speaking about old seal-kits lying in the shelves for years being hard and bricked, but NEW SEALS built with modern production techniques and up-to-date XNBR material.🖐🥇
Even more we have collected all Marzocchi DOCUMENTS and are continously building needed SPARE PARTS for our believed Marzocchi Forks.👻
IndiBike / Lucy Higgins and Dr-Zocchi are teaming up to re-create as many Marzocchi fork decals as possible.
And it all starts here to make a one stop for everything Marzocchi.
From fork seals and parts to reproduction or custom fork graphics.
Keeping the Marzocchi dream alive!🤙 #indibike#drzocchi#marzocchi#retro#midschool
Long Story :
It was not the 1st time when I bought that sticker lot in December 2024 from AUS, because I wanted to keep as much as possible sticker master samples. I did for example buying off the parts and stickers from CosmicsSport, when they sold a lot about the older parts (pre Bomber) and some others.
But buying such lots is not about making good business for sure.
O.k., if possible you can sell some double ones, but only if they are in good condition, but that will not cover the costs.
Doing stickers from pictures/scans etc. is time and cost intensive. You have to re-engineer the sticker vectors from scratch and if you are not graphician you have to pay someone to do it – what I have done for a lot of older Marzocchi’s up to Bomber’s Z1.
Once you have the graphic files you need to print them in batches. Means you need to print 10, 20 or even 50 pieces because printing only one is nonsens in costs.
And printing in batches you have to finance. You understand : that’s a problem you can’t solve.
Print it Yourself?? No, you can’t buy a printer for this low customer demands.😱👀
It took me years until I have realized the fact, that this sticker making is cool and for sure it is the finest and best think if you made a Marzocchi Fork Rebuild!
But I’m not the right one to do it. And I got that vision that I need to partner up with a sticker shop and graphics professional owning all that knowledge, printers and foils!
We all bikers know Lucy from Indiprint as a very smart person, active in several groups @ Facebook and I think most of us have been in here online shop searching for nice stickers. Indibikes does a lot of different stickers and they are not that expensive than others.
The idea is easy : Move all my stickers and sticker templates to Indiprint, support in details like fork names, years etc. and let them simply do their professional job.✨🥇
This is simply what we have done and agreed about. Further more I will send all stickers I will get to Lucy to let that Sticker Center growing. Lucy will set up templates for all stickers – even there is no master sticker but some nice photos – to be able to print them on customers demand.
Let’s concentrate in sticker making for Marzocchi Fork in one point @ IndiPrint!!💝💯🚀
Let’s sum up the points we have reached to far for our Marzocchi Community:
We have solved the Seal-Kit Problem : All Marzocchi Seal-Kit are available, new!, HQ produced in up-to-date production processes.
TOP fact : The Marzocchi brand is the only one having lifetime seals support (and it is not Fox who did this).
Now with Lucy / IndiPrint and all the sticker collections we have a growing sticker base for Marzocchi Fork Stickers
I’m constantly producing spare parts which are needed to be able to repair and service our Marzocchi forks. In 2025 I will concentrate on some bigger parts like Stanchions and Fork crowns.
We have a huge community working active in various Facebook groups etc. supporting each other
Short : NO !!💯 =▶ Alu 7075 T6 milled Crowns are MUCH stronger‼🚀
Long : I was asked about the strength of the Marzocchi Crowns I already did (all >=1997 : Jr. T Top Crown, Monster Full Flat Top Crown), the ones I had already created 3D models for (Monster’s, Shiver DC, some 888, etc.) and the ones are in progress (some other 888’s + 2. Gen Monster’s).
A comparison of the strength between a 7075-T6 aluminum part and the same part made using the die casting process reveals significant differences in mechanical properties.
Let’s look at the details:
1. 7075-T6 Aluminum (forged or rolled)
Alloy: 7075 is one of the strongest aluminum alloys, commonly used in aerospace applications. In the T6 condition (solution heat-treated and artificially aged), it reaches its highest strength.
Typical strength (T6 condition):
Tensile strength: approx. 570–640 MPa
Yield strength: approx. 480–510 MPa
Hardness: Very high, suitable for applications with high mechanical stresses.
Structure: Parts made from 7075-T6 through forging or rolling have a dense and homogeneous microstructure, leading to very high strength.
2. Aluminum part made using the die casting process
Manufacturing process: Die casting allows for the production of complex shapes and high-volume output. In die casting, molten aluminum is injected into a mold under pressure, which can result in some structural weaknesses.
Alloys: Commonly used die-cast alloys are typically aluminum-silicon alloys like AlSi10Mg or AlSi12, which have lower mechanical
properties compared to 7075.
Typical strength of die-cast parts:
Tensile strength: approx. 250–350 MPa
Yield strength: approx. 150–250 MPa
Defects: Die-cast parts can have internal defects like porosity and shrinkage, which further reduce strength.
Strength comparison:
7075-T6 (forged/rolled): This alloy has much higher strength values compared to a typical die-cast part. The tensile and yield strengths of 7075-T6 are significantly superior because the microstructure is denser and more uniform due to the forging or rolling process.
Die-casted parts: These generally have lower strength due to casting defects and the fact that less high-strength alloys are often used. Even if 7075 were used in die casting, its strength would still be lower due to the inherent defects in the casting process.
There is also a huge difference because of the geometry I have optimized, because:
– the die-casted parts need to have some kind of hollow areas from the bottom, because the process needs to have almost the same wall thickness for the parts to avoid cracks in cooling down.
– the milled fork crowns have been changed + optimized : I filled some of this hollow areas you can see from the bottom which will result in better strengrth overall!💯 (-> picture)
Conclusion:
A 7075-T6 aluminum part (forged or rolled) is significantly stronger than the same part made using the die casting process. The difference in strength is particularly notable because the forging or rolling process produces a much more homogeneous and defect-free microstructure.💯🙏🚀
I like to show you, how Steerers have been developed in the last ~35 years. Marzocchi starting in 1989 made rock solid HQ CroMo steerers in 3 sizes (1″, 1 1/8″, 1 1/4″) for all the XC forks (you know : StarFork, … XC500, XC600 etc.).
And when evolution of suspension forks continued, forks got more weight and users demand was about some weight tuning in steerers.
You know when bullet-proof Bomber’s appeared on the market 1997+ and following Marzocchi developed in weight optimizing modells like BAM, Alloy and others.
Over the year Marzocchi continoued developing different geometries – keep in mind it was a company of developers, not such wtf-buy-it-only-and-don’t-care-get+make_more_money-companies we have today.
The 3D geometry of a steerer needs to handle various level and vectors of forces. In the beginning this have resulted in ‘simple’ straight tubes, the later it became some optimized conical design – btw. same happened with Marzocchi stanchions!
Aluminium 7075 T6 is a fascinating material – heavy used in Aero Industry, Rocket Science and more. It’s high quality variants like ‘T6’ are best choice to repro such steerers.
I’m doing now length up to 280mm, that’s just to save some production costs. The original have been >=300mm.
The marked green one but black is the one which is in production now.👀🖐
FYI : There is one strong Marzocchi CroMO Steerer missing in the picture, I show you somewhen later. It is a variant with another additional inner CroMo core which is pressed into the steerer to avoid dynamic distorsions which results in cracking in all other modern brands, but not for the time Marzocchi rulez the world.
Seen 1st in a Marzocchi 66.🙏🤗.
SKF Dual Component Seal Fail!
or
Why Marzocchi’ Sealing is about High Quality & Sustainability!!🤙
This is what SKF is calling ‘Dual Component’ seal. And it is a single seal system means one seal ring seals the inner oil/air from the outside AND from the dust + water from the outer environment.
As you know I have analysed all Marzocchi seals, from the very early beginning with 24mm seals starting with StarFork all the way up 26, 28, 30, 32, 35, 38 and 40mm Seal kits. I did this by buying dozens of seal kits from all brands, I compared materials, flexibility, cutted seals to understand the inside metal sceletons & sealing lips and I put them on stanhions to view and test sealing and friction.
So the question is : What is the Probem with this Dual Component single Seal made by SKF?
1st : Single Seal System??
_ALL_ seal kits developed by Marzocchi have separated outer dust wipers & inner oil seals. Fact.
=> And do you know why????
Because Marzocchi knows as it best from moto forks what is best in sealing.
If you check in detail you will see this seals have different geometries for different tasks they have been made for. E.g. the inner Oil Seal has to hold back Oil and needs to hold Air Pressure up to ~15bar during vertical stanchions moving. So obviously it is for sure a very difficult and risky decission to drop a 2nd seal and make both main important tasks in sealing into one seal ring only!!??
Nowadays stupid money making Fork Company’s without deep understanding of technics + simple physics try to maximize their fkg $$$$$ earns in making parts cheaper.
E.g. they reduced the seal kits into only _one_ seal!?
This will lower the production costs of lowers and the seal costs. Muha.
But most of this forks have a huge problems in quality of sealing. Fact.
You can read & view a lot of this cases @ Instagramm where superdupper Bike Mechanics in real life showing the bad forks results by showing the use of such seals.
2nd : Dual Lip System Missing in SKF Seal??
I don’t understand why-the-fuck SKF also dropped the ‘Double Lip System’ for the outer wiper!? This brand SKF new seal with it’s huge marketing efforts & blinkyblinky coloured thing is a big fail at all.
Check this photo and I can tell you from talking about in this and other postings and I know this from talks with many bike mechanics & suspension centers.
The problem is : Yes, the single lip system reduces a little friction, BUT it does not seal a ‘normal’ Suspension Fork in normal conditions like simple rain!!
I know about when I analysed the 35mm Seal SKF had created for Tenneco for Shiver DC / 66 / 888 and others. Yes : friction was o.k., but seal was such weak with the outer single lip that the sealing all over was bad as mud get’s under the out dust seal and following damages the oil seal. Wtf and what a huge nonsens!!!
What’s up now?
For the user this means they have to lower the service intervall times and if you read the manuals for modern forks you will find out that some fork brand are telling you to exchange seals (or minium clean sealing areas) in <= 50h only!!!! 50h??? WTK??!??
=> I had weeks where I rode 50h, so I have to do a service every week??? Hell, NO!!
I can ride my bikes a hole season and more with only _one_ seal kit for sure and I’m doing this since I own by 1st XC600 from 1994!
To sum this up : You understand in case of quality of sealing and of course sustainability why we all can be very, very happy to ride such rock-solid older Marzocchi Forks and I’m realy proud & happy to support all this 500-1000 different Marzocchi Forks which new seals in all sizes (1989-2018)!
(btw: Marzocchi is the only brand which get’s support for ‘older’ forks with a complete series of new seal sizes and you know the creator and seller is surely notFOX!)🤣🤙
As I have several Fox Alps shocks (check blogs’s title picture) and need a backup shock for my daily Verlicchi/Sintesi Bromont Bike I’m going to do my own very best Spare Parts Kits for Fox Alps Shocks now.🙏🤙
If you read here you know about Fox Alps v4 & v5 and you know the ‘R’ versions have cool adjustable dials. so Foc Alps Shocks have lots of version and details. We need to become specialists now in this – business as usual if you do ‘Retro Parts Reproduction‘⚡🖐🧩👊.
When you scan the market and offers or you ask for a service in detail, this will probably result into the knowledge, that none is doing a correct Full Service because of missing parts!! WTF!!😱😵
Even well known B2B (only) spare supplier like Dämpfer-Klinik only provide some very simple ‘base’ kits including only parts you can find online if you know about the technical & dimensions, but in detail not the money & price worth.
As you probably know lota of this Fox Alp’s have cracked shafts, not sure what the real problem is. This shafts are 38mm diameter.
I think this is the most serious problem, so I started here. But lucky me by thinking about it one can use 38mm stanchions from suspensions forks. This can be very nice solved using Kashima or golden coated stanchions from Marzocchi/Fox from 888’s or 380’s.
All you need to do is to cut it to the correct lengthead an edge and a thread M36x1 on each side. Easy.✨🤣👊
Lucky my I solved this, because a very good friend’s bike shop sold me 12 pcs from their spares boxes. Cost me some $$$, but it is a good start for this project to do replacement shafts very simple on a lathe.🙏⚡
Afaik there have been Fox Alps shafts with different lengths available : some of them I own myself, some data is from Risse website & some other from the net.
Fox Alps 4/5 (R) Shafts lengths (I think this has to be checked later in detail) from what I know :
57,65mm – 2.270″
65,40mm
66,04mm – 2,600″
66,68mm
72,90mm – 2.870″
85,70mm
86,36mm – 3,400″
86,40mm
This are shaft lengths only, I don’t now the corresponding eye-to-eye shaft length in the moment – will also do later.
Yes I know : Risse has done some spare part shafts also, but that are simple ones using cheap black eloxal, shafts are very expensive and getting parcel from Risse will take >1/2 year.
And sure, you can ask Dougal from Shockcraft Suspension from NZ to lathe another stainless steel, from my point this works better than the anodized black ones. The ones from Shockcraft are very special, they do customs hard-chromed hydraulic shafting with CNC threads in each end and a honed centre! WTF. Wouh!👍🙃
Other HARDWARE problems : Screws, Valves, Bushings & rebound-end Spring & Tools.
The Deflating Screw does unfortunataly not have a DIN/Metrix inbus, but it’s ‘zöllig’.
Using such screw formats in Europe results in damaged screw & rounded inbus most of the time. The valve has the same problem, the allen hex key it getting round and afaik it is glued sometimes and will be ’rounded’ by user action 🤔.
So both this parts are easy cheap ones, I like to have that new in the service kit. There is a rebound spring inside the shock (not all Fox Alp’s), which has broken in a lot of cases and the very serious problem about this is : when this happens, it will shredder & destroy your shock from the inside. OMG!😵
And in the end you need a 38mm round Clamp for you wise or a key to be able to handle disassembling and re-assemble the shaft from it’s parts without damaging the parts. On top you need a Tool to strip the bigger dustseal on top over the shaft.
In the end Bushings, Eye-Screws and Kits will make it round. But this depends on the frame’s dimensions and user can buy it himself – so not sure what this will be in the end.
Other missing ‘SOFTWARE‘ – means several Seals & Rings are missing!
Big outer Dust Seal (2 versions 4 vs. 5), the green Teflon Gliding Ring on the inner piston and the important white Rebound Polyurethan Ring!! WTF!!?
As I have best connections in seals of all kind of sorts I will go to replacements 1st to create a fkg good sealkit. Simply the best.👊🖐🤙
You see the problem? You are paying for a full service and all one can do is cleaning a little and do new oil in + take the old parts, but in detail the shock can not be repaired and important parts will not be replaced!??😪😱
Something else missing?
Sure, a technical drawing & most important a parts list. How do you want to communicate if you don’t know parts numbers and it’s names?? wtf!
Sources
There are some cool sources on the net, but such a cool Service Manual like Marzocchi did for older suspensions forks is unfortunately not available. But check this :
YT vids from Risse and other
Gebla
Fox Alps * Animation @ Insta
Known Manuals from Internet
…
I received a Package with my custom made SHIVER DC and MONSTER BUSHINGS – including the rare/expensive bottom bushings with outer PTFE/Teflon coating (both in the middle)!
Picture both left : MONSTER’s bushings, right : SHIVER DC bushings (1 Pair).
Production has been in time and shipping was fast – sometimes it is so easy if you have found a good contact and know how to do.🥇💝
In fact any bushing size can be done with inner or outer coating.🖐👍
Bushings Sizes :
SHIVER DC 35mm :
4x 35 * 38 * 15
MONSTER 40mm 1998 – 2006+ :
2x 40 * 44 * 15
2x 38 * 40 * 15
I will for sure do some more order for other bushing sizes for other Marzocchi Forks after analysing the result of this test project – this was about minimum quantity 300 pcs.
The SHIVER DC bushings I can test myself, but for the MONSTER’s I need some help. Someone in DE can support here and do a test, please??
Drop me a note if you like to do the test and we can discuss the test use-case & details.
Have a nice day – go for a ride with you Marzocchi!!
This are probably this world’s only source to buy such a spare!!😱🙏🤙
This project has just finished with great results as you can see. It was a difficult one because of geometry and anodizing colour and some other details.
After some tests the axles colour matched by multi bath anodizing in several steps. Also screws outer edge has been a little expanded, because it is known this is a weak point. Needless so say material is optimized.
You probably know that Marzocchi presented this optimized Axle for the 2014/2015 great Products Shows for the legendary Marzocchi Fork 380!!
Marzocchi 380 Fork is the legendary successor of the 888 Fork.
Arrived today : The next batch of all 30mm Seals for Marzocchi Forks using 30mm Stanchions – all 3 types : Oil-, Dustseal ‘classic’, Dustseal ‘m-arch’!!
The 30mm Seals have been sold best in the last 2 years. I’d like to show you all the pictures I have received from all you happy Marzocchi Owners but I simply can’t do that because of that huge amount.
Unbelievable that there are still sooooooo many Marzocchi Forks out there still moving in the world on streets, trails and DH!
This is a very productive week in incommings – more to come
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