This is the 120mm fork you’ve been waiting for

MARZOCCHI BOMBER Z2 | R9 995 | OMNICO.CO.ZA

You might recognise the name Marzocchi – their Bomber Z1 was a legendary fork that arrived on the scene in 1997, and changed the game. In a world of lightweight, spaghetti-stanchioned forks with short, teeth-jarring travel, it was the total opposite: super-plush, and built to soak up big hits. It was heavy, sure; but it foreshadowed the suspension of the future.

However, despite attaining instant cult status with the Z1, Marzocchi never enjoyed the success of fellow suspension pioneers RockShox, Manitou and Fox. They faded from the scene, and so did the Bomber…

Now, more than two decades later, the Bomber is back – and it’s better than ever. We tested the new 120mm Z2, and it’s a brilliantly uncomplicated piece of engineering that harks back to the glory days of that original Z1.

A bit of background to Marzocchi’s resurrection: Fox acquired a stake in the company in 2015, and Marzocchi has since become a sister brand. The Z2 shares bushings, seals, air piston assembly and a chassis with the Fox 34, but the aluminium used for the stanchions is of a lower grade (to keep costs down), and the top caps are plastic. It’s hefty, it’s got plastic bits… you might be tempted to run a mile. But just wait until you see how it performs. Oh boy, it’s smooth. The burlier stanchions actually help to improve stiffness, and there’s almost zero flex. It softens out medium bumps and eats up big drops. Your bike will handle better, and you’ll feel more confident to ride faster.

The 120mm travel hits the sweet spot between cross-country and trail – it’s a smile-inducing upgrade from 100mm that will make you reassess how capable your bike really is. There’s a compression lever on the crown that allows you to tweak the damping from soft to firm. There’s also a rebound knob, and the fork ships with extra volume spacers – you can add or remove spacers if it feels as if you’re bottoming out too easily, or if you’re not using all of the travel.

As with most modern forks, the Bomber has a short offset (44mm), designed for a frame with long, slack geometry and paired with a short stem and wide bars. If that description matches your bike, it’s a fit-and-forget fork that just works.

It’s obviously not as lightweight as a Fox 34 Step-Cast, but it costs half as much; and it gives you plenty of bang for your buck in areas that actually matter, such as plushness and handling. Unless you’re in the top 5% of your age category and you lie awake at night worrying about grams, you’ll be very happy with this new Bomber taking care of things upfront.