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This is my struggle so far on the Mezzer. Tiny bit of stiction off the top, whatev. But get past 50-60% travel and it has a very "ribbed for her pleasure" type feel. Sorry for the mental picture but that's the only way I can describe it. Do I tear the thing down and re-align something or just go smash and let it work itself out?Quote:
Originally Posted by toast2266
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First step would probably be to find someone that has a burnishing tool for those bushings. Some shops might have that. If you bring them the lowers already removed, I wouldn't expect it to be a terribly expensive job.Quote:
Originally Posted by Huskier
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You haven't reshimmed your Mezzer.Quote:
Originally Posted by nate s
The Mezzer comes overdamped but responds amazingly to a lighter tune which is super easy to do yourself. I've reshimmed four of these forks and every one has had the owners blown away.
I can now fully open the LSC and have a super-plush low speed ride with my wife or add a few clicks of LSC and one click of HSC for a clunk plowing monster enduro run.
Exactly, the Mezzer is a great fork that becomes an amazing fork with a little work.Quote:
Originally Posted by toast2266
I've never ridden a mezzer, but you can make pretty much any modern fork feel awesome if you tear the whole thing apart, revalve it, mess with the bushings, etc. That's why I've always been kinda skeptical of the mezzer. I'm not looking to buy a project. I want a fork that works out of the box. Manitou needs to dial in their factory tunes and QC.
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You really need to try one.Quote:
Originally Posted by toast2266
Yes, you can buy a Runt, pay an aftermarket company to hotrod your Fox or RS, and hope to have somthing that compares to a retuned Mezzer. (Doubtful - I've tried)
Or you can buy the Mezzer Pro and easily do it yourself for zero $ and far better results. Seriously, if you can bleed your own brakes, you can reshim a Mezzer.
I mean - is there *any* air fork that does this? Out of the box? Make Coil Great Again :DQuote:
Originally Posted by toast2266
This:Quote:
Originally Posted by John_B
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...Pro?highlight=
I mean, my 38 X2 is pretty damn good right out of the box. Not saying it couldn't theoretically be better, but I don't feel any need to tear it apart or add widgets to it.Quote:
Originally Posted by skaredshtles
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Being a Fox, I'd say you got REALLY lucky. :fmicon:Quote:
Originally Posted by toast2266
I've had maybe 10 or 12 different foxes in the last few years. All have been somewhere between decent and excellent. Although I think the 38 is a better fork than the 36. The 38's air spring is really good.Quote:
Originally Posted by skaredshtles
On the other hand, every single person I know that's had a mezzer has basically echoed this thread. "It's a great fork, you just have to completely redo every part of it."
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Same with my 38 x2 and 36 x2.Quote:
Originally Posted by toast2266
I can’t say the same about my charger 2.1 or charger 3 Zeb, or past grip2 Fox 36. All of them needed work.
36 grip2 was over packed with grease.
Charger 2.1 Was getting stuck at ~120mm of travel on a 160mm fork. Needed new seals.
Charger 3 had overly tight bushings, only used the top 70mm of travel and felt harsh as hell. Had to run 55psi to get any kind of suppleness but it had no midstroke support. Compression dials did nothing. After taking it apart and burnishing the bushings I now am running 75psi and the fork is more plush up top and the compression dials actually make a difference.
On the subject of "for as much as we pay for these forks, we shouldn't have to hone bushings": a few years ago, I bought an EXT Era when it launched. There was a pre-order discount which brought it down to like $1,250, basically Ohlins price, but retail at launch was like $1,800. One of the promises was that the bushings would be checked at the factory. The fork felt incredible off the top but I could never use more than 2/3 of travel. Even if I took all the air out of it, I had to put my full body weight on it just to get it close to bottoming out. After a year or so, I sent it in for service (because you couldn't self service them), and complained about that sensation. They checked it out and found that one of the lower bushings was "very tight" and honed it out. It felt better after that, but there were other things I still didn't like about the fork so I eventually sold it. Later on, I bought my own bushing hone tool (with heads for the common 35/36/38mm sizings) and just hone every fork that I own/work on. It's not hard to do if you can do a basic lowers service, and regardless of what brand you buy, there's a good chance it will feel better after honing.
Bit of an over-statement.Quote:
Originally Posted by toast2266
It's not that it sucks until you do so & so...
It's a very good fork that gets amazing when you do these things.
Plus the fact that you CAN easily improve it.
What are you going to do to a Fox or RS to improve them to any degree?
I just bought a bike for my son which has a DVO fork on it. I did a few rides and struggled with it being stiff. Then I read about the OTT feature. Adjusted, HOLY SHIT. I have a Fox 36 Factory, and a Zeb Ultimate on 2 bikes, and both have been gone thru many times (by shops and me, and I do have a bushing reamer), and the DVO is WAY more supple off the top. I imagine it's similar to a Mezzer Pro from what I have heard, I have not had the chance to ride that fork yet.I had sorta' discounted the DVO stuff, but it definitely rides better than the Big-2 offerings. My 2C.
Alright, who has a 37mm bushing reamer I can borrow/rent?
Any other folks speak to the Zeb and Mezzer comparisons? Seems like the 3.1 changed the Zeb for the better. Curious how the chassis compare in terms of feedback from the trail. Maybe the softer off the top feel of the Zeb would make the fork feel a little less harsh vs the Mezzer despite the stiffer chassis? 90ish kg here so not a clyde, but also not one if the 160-170lbs testers that we usually get reviews from...
Lol, you guys are rationalizing like someone with an old British roadster: "it's a great car, as long as you completely disassemble and reassemble it every 50 miles!"
My guess is that it is because they might be hanging on for dear life and 27.5 is what they have in stock right now. As for the name, it is probably a mashup of 27.5 and 8 inches of travel.Quote:
Originally Posted by jm2e
You know they are just an entry level product from Fox with sexier marketing, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by One (+) Sentence
Sexier marketing? You mean like the Bomber girls, adult performers from Interbike 20 plus years ago? Nah, I am talking about trying to keep the brand alive and viable in 2025.Quote:
Originally Posted by TAFKALVS
I have a buddy who has one. I can put you in touch.Quote:
Originally Posted by John_B
BTW, it's not a reamer. Burnishing does not remove any material. It just compresses the material to the exact correct size.
OK, one more time:Quote:
Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn
As has been said often, the Mezzer is a great fork out of the box. Better than anything put out by Fox or RS.
It becomes an amazing fork with a few, easy to do, changes.
Marzocchi is literally just low end Fox. Fox owns the company, and the 58 is just a 40 with lower end parts. The brand will stay alive as long as Fox sees value in separating their higher end and lower end products.Quote:
Originally Posted by One (+) Sentence
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For sure. Remember when Fox first aquired Marzocchi from Tenneco and they reconfigured their Rail damper to be the basic Grip damper? Ahh, those were simpler times... At some point though Fox may need to get leaner just like so many industry players today. Clearly they have not been investing much in the Marzocchi brand recently. I think I read somewhere on the internets that Marzocchi does not even offer a dual crown fork for a 29 inch wheel!? They just have that 58, whose name I believe is a mashup of 27.5 and 8 inches of travel.Quote:
Originally Posted by toast2266
It seems that Marz mainly exists to offer entry-level and price-point OEM options for dirt jumpers and similar applications, where the edgier logos fit Commencal or YT or whoever. Dont need to do marketing per se, as long as the OEMs keep speccing it.
Along these lines, the 58 exists for OEM spec on kid-sized rental DH bikes that are sold to bike parks. Or to put another way - the own the tooling, it works great for its application, it requires very little lift to keep it going, and it takes marketshare from Rockshox on a bike that would likely otheriwse spec a base level Boxxer.
Marzocchi make a nice budget option for a second bike or for people that are more set it and forget it/appreciate ease of maintenance with the open bath design. Combined with the OEM builds I'm sure they're doing well for Fox.
Now back to the regularly scheduled programming. Fox 38, Zeb, vs Mezzer (without the long list of mods) - go!
I wonder if demand for OEM forks has stayed strong despite demand for complete new bikes having fallen off a cliff?Quote:
Originally Posted by GoSlowGoFar
Can't really speak to that but I'd assume that complete bikes are still the majority share of the market versus framesets.Quote:
Originally Posted by One (+) Sentence
Anyway, found a Zeb Ultimate 3.1 for cheap and bit the bullet "for science". Will report back on some comparisons to the Mezzer from a slightly overweight and a little above average rider's pov.