2020 Kenevo Marzocchi fork upgrade to coil

[Jdog]

Afternoon all,

Berkshire cycles have posted on their instagram today they now have the fork upgrade kits to change the 2020 Kenevo comp Marzocchi Bomber Z1 from an air fork to a coil fork (seen here)
Has anyone done this conversion yet?
What are your thoughts on converting from air to coil?

Marzocchi now offer the Z1 in a coil option on their website but I am not sure this was the case when the Kenevo launched, would spesh have specced it with a coil if that was the case?

My Marzocchi Bomber CR rear coil spring decided to give up on sunday while riding in the Surrey alps however so far my front air fork has not had a problem (although I believe the rear shock is a known issue) apparently the conversion kit does not void the fork warranty although it (obviously) can't be reversed once it has been converted.

I watched a YouTube video from the guys at 'The Lost Co' who talk about the coil conversion kit and their website lists the kit for £99.77 plus £34.54 for the spring then $28.59 dollars for shipping to the UK although this would mean fitting it yourself. At the time of writing this I can't see it yet on Marzocchi website. I don't know how much Berkshire Cycles are asking for the conversion but I think a few people may be interested (myself included) so I'd be keen to know what people think.

My initial concerns are reliability as my rear shock already failed but my air shock hasn;t skipped a beat although historically coil was more reliable (I thought), if it needed warranty work how would this be handled?

Please discuss below...

 

[Jdog]

Still not on Marzocchi's website but found it on a few UK websites, it looks like it is going to be around £210 if you fit it yourself, it'll be interesting to see the cost fitted.

TF Tuned have it listed it for £154.95 plus £54.95 for the spring then £5 delivery.
J-tech Suspension have it listed it for £154.95 and state it needs a spring but don't appear to sell the spring but offer free delivery.
Silverfish UK have it listed it for £154.95 plus £54.95 for the spring and also offer free delivery.

Further information from Bike Rumor.

 

[Ameiza]

It is the damper/assembly that fails on the CR, not the spring. The Z1 has as you know the execelent grip damper and it remains the same after replacing the air spring with a coil. I have no experience with the Marzocchi conversion kit, but I have a Smashpot in my Z1. Very reliable and longer service intervals.

 

[Gotama]

The Bomber CR failure - did it essentially unscrew itself and spew oil everywhere by any chance? If so both mine and a friends did the same on a Levo after very few rides. I know of a dealer who has had a couple come back as well. Rumour is there was a batch that had the wrong loctite installed at the factory although Fox officially claim no fault. Would be a big coincidence for two new shocks to fail so quickly after being bought from a very reputable UK suspension business. Anyway, after my Bomber self destructed i swapped to an ohlins and have had no problems since - coil isn't unreliable, but that batch of Bombers are. The damping is also noticeably better than the Bomber although perhaps to be expected given the price difference.

That all aside, tempted to buy a new Z1 coil for my Levo so watching this with interest.

 

[R120]

The CR issue is a know fault (but not acknowledged by Marzochi) since long before they where specced on the Kenevo, they have been pissing oil on all sorts of bikes for a while.

My concern with the coil conversion would be is are the springs available man enough for a big rider on a heavy EMTB? Coil forks can be great if the spring rate works for the rider and their riding, but will be a waste of time if they dont. I would expect it to be reliable though.

 

[Ameiza]

The CR issue is a know fault (but not acknowledged by Marzochi) since long before they where specced on the Kenevo, they have been pissing oil on all sorts of bikes for a while.

My concern with the coil conversion would be is are the springs available man enough for a big rider on a heavy EMTB? Coil forks can be great if the spring rate works for the rider and their riding, but will be a waste of time if they dont. I would expect it to be reliable though.

View attachment 25208

That is sooo true!
You must fit within the chart with good margin.

 

[#lazy]

But isn’t most of the weight undersprung so difficult to calculate , think you’d have to try 2 if you’re near the margins !

 

[R120]

My concern is as a 90 kg rider with kit, you add on say 10kg in the instance of a Kenevo over a normal enduro bike, and that's putting you at 100kg, which is midway thought the suggested weight range for the Xtra Firm spring.

If you come in at over 100kg kitted up, then you are going to be right at the limit or over the weight range for their hardest spring

 

[Ameiza]

My concern is as a 90 kg rider with kit, you add on say 10kg in the instance of a Kenevo over a normal enduro bike, and that's putting you at 100kg, which is midway thought the suggested weight range for the Xtra Firm spring.

If you come in at over 100kg kitted up, then you are going to be right at the limit or over the weight range for their hardest spring

If you can stretch the budget to the Smashpot I am sure you will have plenty margin and more fine tune of weight. The kit is more refined as well. Would have been cool to see a side by side comparison of these two...