It goes over the highlights of Marzocchi’s 2008 fork introductions. I will cover a few products, some new features and changes, and then at the end of the article you’ll find links to specific fork images and specs. There’s always so much information and it’s hard to process and deliver it all. Hopefully, doing it in three articles and having separate pages for each fork will cover it all adequately. Some products are being left out and some will be glossed over. But I am doing my best to make sure I cover all of the stuff I know most mountain bikers are interested in.

The biggest fork announcement Marzocchi made for the 2008 lineup was actually made at Sea Otter. That is the new Fifty-Five (above), which showcases all of Marzocchi’s most high performance technology in a light freeride / trail fork. Apparently, the 55 replaces the whole AM line, since the AM forks are notably absent from the 2008 lineup. And that’s even with the enthusiastic thumbs-up I gave the AM 1 ATA last year. I guess I’m not as influential as I thought. But the Fifty-Five is a more than worthy replacement. It’s stiffer, lighter, has better damping, and was described as a lighter version of the 66. In fact, it’s actually better than last year’s 66, with a stiffer casting, better adjustability, and lots more.

The other big product news is the all-new XC Series lineup, with four new forks, and 140mm of travel. That may seem like a lot of travel for a XC fork, but Marzocchi believes there’s a trend in that direction – even for pure cross-country riders and racers. And even though it might appear that the XC Series is more of a value proposition, the top-of-the-line XC 700 ATA says otherwise. It’s got all of Marzocchi’s best technology, with ATA travel adjustment from 100-140mm, 32mm nickel-coated stanchions, sophisticated damping adjustment, and three air chambers for maximum tuneability. It’s telling that in the photo above, the XC 700 ATA fork is mounted on a Santa Cruz Heckler. It’s not a downhill bike, but it’s not a feather-weight cross-country race bike, either.

The most important new features on the 2008 forks are the new casting, with stiffer arch, and a brand new 20mm quick release axel. We were assured that this year’s new 20mm axel won’t mysteriously disappear like last years. I didn’t really play with it, but it looks good and evidently operates something like a torque wrench and allows you to place the QR lever anywhere you want it. The new casting is on most of the 2008 forks, including the XC Series, the Fifty-Five, the Sixty-Six, and the Triple Eight Series forks. It retains a bit of the “M-Arch” style, but it’s not as sculpted. On the other hand, looking at the way the new arch is engineered, there’s no doubt that it’s stiffer and they claim it’s lighter.