Chain Reaction have some great easter bargains including the Marczocchi 55 ATA 2009 forks with a whopping 40% off!! RRP £549.99 but over the easter break they are offering it for an egg smashing price of just £330!

Marzocchi’s built the ultimate all-around performer. It’s more than just an all-mountain fork. This is the fork for uphill, downhills and even light freeride. Just point it and it will go. The 55 series has as much technology as a NASA rocket and it’s probably just as fast.

TST 2 is the basic version of the TST system: the lower black-coloured knob allows adjusting the rebound. The top red-coloured knob sets the lockout, assuring a pleasant ride on all terrain. Can be activated by means of the remote control on the handlebars.

The Air Travel Adjust integrated a dual rate air spring to create the most coil spring alike compression curve and a super smooth 40mm infinite travel adjustment. Using one Schrader air valve on the top of the stroke for a perfect tuning of the positive and negative air chambers. At the bottom of the leg a second Schrader air valve allow to modify the progression curve and to control the bottom out.

Carbon mountain bike forks are becoming an ever increasing commodity both on aftermarket bikes and production bicycles. Part of the reason is that they average around half of the weight of a bonded aluminum fork and one third of the weight of a steel fork. This difference in weight could have a significant impact on the performance of a mountain bike.

Mountain bike forks may have to be replaced at one time or another. It is important to note that when you need to replace a fork it should be the same length as the fork that is being replaced. There are different kinds of carbon mountain bike forks to be aware of. 100 percent carbon forks may be a bit more expensive, but they have greater resistance to being damaged than other types of forks and are around 40 percent lighter. This type of mountain bike fork is normally constructed in a single, uninterrupted moulding. A carbon fork blade and steerer tube that is bonded to an aluminum crown is known as a carbon/aluminum/carbon fork. A carbon/aluminum fork has carbon fork blades that are bonded to an aluminum steerer tube and crown. This is the cheapest type of carbon mountain bike fork you will find.

One of the best selling carbon mountain bike forks is the Ritchey WCS Carbon Cyclo-X Fork. The 2010 Cyclo-X model mountain bike fork has a 1 and 1/8 aluminum threadless steerer and carbon legs. You will notice that your bike will have better singletrack handling and improved barrier jumping by using the Comp Carbon Cross Fork. The blades are specially formed to provide top notch vibration damping as well as precision handling. These mountain bike forks can be used to upgrade any bike, as they are designed to work with either standard headsets or integrated headsets.

The length of the steerer on the Ritchey WCS Carbon Cyclo-X Fork is 300mm, and it also presents 45mm of rake. It is specifically designed for 700c wheels. It is also very light in weight, weighing only 685 grams. This Ritchey mountain bike fork has carbon blades, while the crown, steerer, dropouts, and brake bosses are made of alloy.

Carbon mountain bike forks are something that every cyclist with “the need for speed” should seriously consider. With the added performance that can be provided by this type of mountain bike fork, it is easy to see why both production bikes and aftermarket bikes are predominantly becoming equipped with this type of mountain bike fork.

Now in stock for 2010 is one for the dirt jump, street and BMX crowd – the Fly Bikes Agua Fork.  The Agura sports integrated dropouts that create a stronger and more solid dropout leg junction.  The legs are tripple butted and taped.  The steer tube is also internally and externally CNC machined.

Madison is pleased to announce an agreement to distribute front and rear DT Swiss suspension products in the UK. DT Swiss and Madison will launch their 2010 products to the UK market at IceBike* 2010.

DT Swiss rear suspension was originally introduced in 2001, followed 5 years later by a range of front suspension products after the acquisition of the suspension fork business from Pace Cycles Ltd. With this acquisition in 2006 DT Swiss became a full scale, high end suspension product manufacturer. To this day all suspension products are hand assembled in Biel, Switzerland.

DT Swiss has quickly become the XC race fork of choice for professional, recreational, and serious cyclists. In 2009 DT Swiss proved itself as the fork of champions when Nino Schurter piloted the XRC100 Race fork to become UCI World champion.
2010 marks a huge step for DT Swiss suspension with not one but two completely new technology dampers; in fact all fork internals are completely revised for 2010 and represent a significant advance in suspension fork capability and functionality. There will also be the introduction of a range of magnesium-lower forks using the patented ‘Torsion Box Technology’ to create a magnesium lower stiffer than any other on the market. The use of magnesium lowers will allow lower price points and will complement the higher end flagship carbon fibre models.

Dominic Langan, CEO of Madison said “DT Swiss front suspension is a great fit into our existing portfolio, and we are excited to be launching the forks at a time when DT Swiss is introducing some innovative new technologies across the range.

Frank Boeckmann, Sales Director of DT Swiss AG explains, “Our 2010 range of suspension products is the culmination of several years spent developing new technology, and we are very pleased to be working with Madison to launch these new platforms in the UK. I am sure that a highly professional company like Madison will make our new class leading products a great success in the UK marketplace”.

Shop for DT Swiss Mountain Bike Forks at MountainBikeForks.org.uk

About Marzocchi

Marzocchi was founded by brothers Stefano and Guglielmo Marzocchi in 1949.  They initially manufactured motorcycle forks but have also been manufacturing mountain bike forks for over twenty years.

The aim of the Marzocchi brand is to create a “Fit and Forget” fork where little, or no maintenance is required.

Their forks feature a famous open bath system which they transferred over to mountain biking from their highly successful motorcycle forks range.  The company policy is not to cut corners to reach a weight advantage whilst compromising quality so whilst these forks may be slightly heavier than their competitors, the quality makes it worth it.

The Dirt Jumper Series

The Dirt Jumper series of mountain bike forks from Marzocchi is arguably one of their most famous offerings, becoming one of the most widley used forks in the dirt jump and park mountain bike scenes.

The 4X Series

4x is a relatively new format of mountain bike racing.  Whilst riders previously had made do with existing forks such as those used for dirt jumping, Marzocchi have now extended their range to include a custom 4x fork.




The TXC Series

New for 2010 is the TXC series from Marzocchi designed for trekking.  The versatile TXC range from Marzocchi is designed to cater for a large group of people and do it well from those who commute daily on their bikes to those who train and those who travel long distances.

The TXC features precision steering, mounting points for racks and fenders and extreme comfort.  Not forgetting the excellent build quality we have come to expect from the Marzocchi brand.

The 22 Series

The 22 series is an entry level cross country or trail fork suited for full suspension or hardtail frames.  The fork features reload Adjustment which allows tge rider to adjust the spring feel (hard/soft) according to riders’ weight, ride preference or trail conditions.

The 33 Series

The 33 series is a cross country fork developed out of years racing in events such as the Trans Alps.  The 33 offers the lightest most durable fork of the cross country series and shows the commitment Marzocchi have to cross country.

These forks can stand up to the rough aggressive slopes and obstacles required by all mountain riders whilst also catering for those cross country courses due to extreme versatility and lightweight build.

The 44 Series

The 44 is designed to cater for the all mountain concept and perfectly demonstrates the excellent quality, durability and flexibility of the Marzocchi product range.  The forks are made from materials such as magnesium, titanium and alloy to keep the weight to a minimum whilst not cutting corners on design and build quality.  The 44 range also offers a massive 100-14mm of suspension travel which can be changed with differing hydraulic cartridges in order to suit the style and needs of any rider.

In 2010 Marzocchi will also feature the first ever country fork with a downhill cartridge and titanium spring: low maintenance and low weight for high performance and lots of fun: your ride deserves it!

Other Marzocchi Ranges

Of course there are further Marzocchi ranges, please visit our Mountain Bike Forks store for further details of these brands or the Marzocchi homepage.

Lightweight and short travel (usually around 80-100mm), XC forks are typically single crown due to the mild terrain and to save weight so not to make the bike too heavy to rise.

Historically, XC forks will have been spring loaded however the trend is now moving towards air sprung suspension.

The obvious benefits of such a change of keeping the weight of the fork to a minimum and making them easy to adjust this.

Click here to shop for Cross Country Forks

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Have you ever watched the insanity that can be downhill mountain biking?  Massive drops, huge gap jumps and terrible terrain over a short prtiod of time.  Downhill forks can have massive amounts of travel (10 inches isn’t unhead of) to allow for the stress a DH bike is put under.

Downhill forks are usually coil spring to take on big hits but are also double crowns; this is where there are two legs of the fork near the top where the fork joins the handle bar.  Double crown forks offer double the suspension of single crown forks. popularity.

Click here to shop for Downhill Forks

Big airs, big jumps and big tricks require forks which can take some punishment – forks not designed for this purpose are liable to be damaged, or worse break, causing serious injury to a rider.

A dirt jump (DJ) bike will typically be a hardtail and front suspension, although some riders do still prefer rigid forks.  Suspension forks will have little travel of 80-100mm and are normally coil sprung as well as being much heavier due to the increased strength than those designed for other mountain bike disciplines.

Click here to shop for Dirt Jump Forks

Although suspension forks are more and more a common sight on mountain bikes they are by no means the only option left.

For the die hards, those who do not wish to invest in costly suspension or those who prefer something lower maintenance there are still a number of quality rigid forks available on the market.

Hugely popular in the dirt jump and street MTB scenes as well as singletrack, Rigid Forks offer a viable and often more economical alternative to suspension.

Click here to shop for Rigid Forks