Is Marzocchi 350R good?

chrisrahi9

Hello!
I am planning to buy a commencal bike. I saw two: one with a marzocchi 350R fork with 160mm of travel and one with a rock shox lyrik rc fork with 160 mm travel. Marzocchi has a coil spring while the lyrik has an air spring. I have read that the coil spring is better for downhill and more reliable. Personally I want a fork that require little maintenance (considering that i won't be riding like daily), reliable, and very stiff that can take up big jumps with moderate ease. Which of these two is then better? The marzocchi or the lyrik? Is one of them stiffer than the other?
PS: don't want to buy a downhill fork, just want to know which of these two is better in the area that i talked about.
Thanks!

The Rookie

For your priorities there is little in it, they need similar level of servicing and are similarly stiff.

The advantages of coil are
1/ Less stiction so less input required for the initial movement
2/ Heat has no effect on spring rate
It's these that make a coil preferable for more gravity orientated riding

Air has the benefit that its more easily tweaked to rider weight (you don't need to swap the spring) and that it's lighter.

chrisrahi9

The Rookie wrote:

For your priorities there is little in it, they need similar level of servicing and are similarly stiff.

The advantages of coil are
1/ Less stiction so less input required for the initial movement
2/ Heat has no effect on spring rate
It's these that make a coil preferable for more gravity orientated riding

Air has the benefit that its more easily tweaked to rider weight (you don't need to swap the spring) and that it's lighter.

Thanks for the answer!
Wondering though if you know which one of these is more durable?

cubedean

Are the 350s not coil with air preload?

chrisrahi9

cubedean wrote:

Are the 350s not coil with air preload?

The 350R has a coil spring but i think that the higher end models have an air spring

rockmonkeysc

The Marzocchi is coil with air preload and rides much more like an air spring. It also has a pretty nasty damper which left me feeling like I'd broken both wrists after two days in the Alps. Replacing the lower oil seal with a Rockshox Pike foam seal reduces stiction by a huge amount and improves the ride quite a lot but it does lose oil with this set up.

The Lyrik is better damped but still a bit crude by modern standards. Fit the mission control cartridge and a coil spring and it's one of the best forks I've ever ridden. It is quite a heavy fork and if it's got any sort of travel adjust (2 step or U turn) then don't touch it. The dual air spring can cause issues as well, the bottom circlip can pop off which will lose all air.

Having had both, I'd go for the Lyrik and uprate the damper and fit a coil. I wouldn't want either as standard.