TOM’S MARIN EL ROY £2,375

Fit and forget – the ultimate accolade for any bike component

One of the biggest compliments a tester can give a bike part is that they forget it’s there while they’re riding. This is the case with the Marzocchi Bomber Z1 fork on the front of the El Roy. I think that, other than in passing, I’ve yet to talk about it in my long-term reports. So, I guess this is its big chance to have a bit of time in the limelight.

With 140mm of travel and the Marin’s slack 63-degree head angle pointing it out ahead of the bike, the Z1 swallows oncoming rocks and roots with ease, for the most part. Of course, it can’t compete with the priciest of forks, being basically a mid-range Fox 36 Rhythm in disguise. It’s slightly less than supple at the start of its travel and fairly happy to gobble through its mid stroke at times, but – especially on a hardtail, where the back end affords little in the way of comfort – it’s reassuring to know you can pummel its stout chassis into just about anything.

The fork works best on bigger square-edged obstacles and harsh hits, which is perfect when I’m holding on and letting the chunky tyres and stretched-out geometry do the hard work of finding a way down the hill, rather than trying to lug the 15-ish kilos of bike nimbly between lines.

Other than the way it simply cracks on with the job, one of the reasons the Z1 hasn’t diverted too much of my brain’s processing power is that I’ve been spending all my rides on the El Roy in recent months testing brakes and wheels. In last issue’s disc brake grouptest, I awarded SRAM’s Code RSCs both the Winner and Most Wanted awards – they’re some seriously powerful stoppers. However, it’s Magura’s MT Trail SLs that have remained on the Marin. I feel there’s some unfinished business here, and I’d like to spend more time playing with them, swapping levers and rotors around. They’ve got a ton of power and I like their feel, but they’re let down by the lever’s build quality.

As for the wheels, be sure to check out next month’s grouptest, where we’ll be giving our verdicts on the dozen pairs that the rest of the tech team and I have been putting through the wringer. www.marinbikes.com