Marzocchi bills its new Super Z as the ‘long travel disruptor’, a single-crown fork that thinks its a dual crown, intended to take on the steepest shale slopes and biggest booters. Essentially a Fox 38 with the new Grip X damper and a bespoke ‘M’ lower leg brace, it’s a lower-price, simpler-to-tune alternative for riders with more of a focus on shredding than tweaking or shaving milliseconds off their run times.

Marzocchi Super Z need to know

• 38mm chassis with unique M brace
• Up to 190mm of air-sprung travel (minimum 150mm)
• Fox’s new Grip X damper with more sophisticated base valve shim stack and three-way adjustability (high and low-speed compression, and low-speed rebound)
• Pressure bleeder valves and bypass channels allow better performance with changing altitudes and help lubricate seals
• 2,180g weight claimed
• Priced at £1,119 / $999 USD / $1,339 CAD / €1,289

Although billed as a no-nonsense option, intended to compete against the best budget suspension forks, the Super Z is hardly basic or cheap. For starters it has Fox’s latest Grip X damper, with high and low-speed compression damping adjustment and low-speed rebound adjustment. So it’s slightly easier to tune than the top end Fox 38 Grip X2, but it’s still got more adjustment than most. The Grip X damper has also been blessed with Fox’s new larger diameter base valve, packed with 23 shims, and pressure-balanced cartridge, so it’s not lacking in internal sophistication. And while a Fox 38 Factory with Grip X2 retails at $1,249, or $250 more than the Super Z, no one could call a $1k fork cheap.

The Marzocchi Super Z fork on Reed Boggs’s Rampage Yeti.

Like Fox’s lower leg assemblies, the Super Z also incorporates bleed valves at the back of the legs to release any pressure build-up from temperature or altitude. Running up to them are lubrication channels that help bathe the seals in fresh oil with every fork cycle. Using an air spring means the spring rate is easily set, and volume spacers can be used to rune the end stroke progression.

The Super Z will be available with between 150mm and 190mm travel in 10mm increments. There are 27.5in and 29in options available, and two offsets for the former – 37 and 44mm. The 29in fork uses a 44mm offset only. Securing the wheel is a 15mm quick-release through-axle – no bolt-up option, and the fork will be available in either gloss red or shiny black.