At first glance there doesn’t look to be all that much new from Marzocchi for 2006 – all the fork names look familiar and most of them have the same amount of travel that you’ll be used to. But there are a few key changes. The RC2 and VF2 damping systems have been redesigned, with RC2 (found on the 888, 66, Z1 and Z1 Light forks) featuring separate low and high-speed compression damping circuits to deal with fork bob and brake dive on the one hand and big impacts on the other. They’re individually adjustable to help you get the feel you want. The VF2 system (888VF2, Super T, Dirt Jumper and All Mountain forks) now features external rebound and compression damping.

In addition, most of the line-up (with the exception of the Z1/Drop Off, Dirt Jumper and 888 forks) gets new magnesium alloy lower leg castings. These are all tweaked with the needs of the particular model in mind – the Marathon forks are lighter and the 66 single-crown freeride fork now has its own lowers rather than using the same ones as the 888 DH fork. This means that the new 66 is 40mm shorter for the same travel. The 888 is shorter too, by 25mm, but it gets there with new, flatter crowns – the lowers are unchanged from 2005.

Any 2006 Marzocchi with new lowers also has post-mount caliper fittings. This is quite a departure for Marzocchi, and might be a headache for some riders looking to upgrade forks. But looking around, most brakes currently on the market are post-mount native and use adaptors to fit IS mounts so we don’t think it’s too much of a issue. From most standpoints, post-mount is a better system and we’re quite happy to see it gain in popularity.

As ever, the fork range is huge and potentially confusing, but they’re not all coming to the UK which simplifies matters a little. At the entry-level, the ever-popular MX Comp Air (£179.95 in the UK) gets new lowers and a new Marathon-style crown. The basic fork can be had with 85 or 105mm of travel, and owners of older bikes will be delighted to see that there’ll still be a 1in steerer version. Spend another sixty quid and you can get a 105mm (or 120mm for another tenner on top) travel Comp with the handy ETA lock-down lever. Above that there’s the 100-120mm travel-adjustable MX Pro ETA/TAS – don’t get any ideas about adjusting the travel on the fly, though, the knob in question is at the bottom of the left-hand leg. We like the combination of adjustable travel and ETA, though – use the TAS to preset the travel that best suits your bike, use the ETA to knock it down for steep climbs. Top of the MX tree is the SL (£349.95), a 105mm travel fork with air springs, external rebound adjuster and the 5-position TST compression damping adjuster.

If you’re looking for a spendier XC/enduro/riding around fork, the Marathon series could be for you. Top of the pile is the Race, with 80mm of air-sprung travel with positive and negative air chambers, 5-position TST compression damping/lock-out lever, external rebound adjuster and PAR air-assisted bottom-out control. There’s more machining on the crown and all-new lowers. A particularly nice feature is the bar-mounted remote lever for the TST gubbinses. It’ll be £542.95 in the UK. The two other Marathon forks are the XC (£449.95) and SL (£439.95). Both have 100-120mm of travel, adjustable via air pressure on the SL and the new TAS travel adjustment system on the half-coil-spring XC.

The Freeride series (although that’s “moderate freeride… not intended for large drops, jumps and gaps” – Marzocchi’s product segmentation is looking increasingly, well, segmented) will feature four forks in the UK. Nothing new externally (so the Z1 Light ETA, FR SL, Sport and Drop Off 3 all still have IS disc mounts) but revised damping inside. From cheapest upwards, we have the Drop Off 3 at £279.95. It’s a fairly basic fork but you get 150mm of travel, air preload and a rebound adjuster and it’s the same stout chassis with 20mm through-axle as the pricier models. The Z1 Sport (£379.95) is a shorter fork with 130mm of travel. Inside there’s a new SSV damping system with external rebound and compression damping. If you’re unsure how much travel you need, the Z1 FR SL (£449.95) uses the Doppio Air spring system with positive and negative air chambers and offers between 130 and 150mm of travel, with RC2 damping keeping it under control. Top of the Freeride heap is the Z1 Light ETA (£479.95) – coil spring one side, air the other, RC2 damping and ETA.

Then there’s the All Mountain forks (“AM is between XC & FR therefore not intended for drops, jumps, and gaps. Intended for aggressive XC riding” – don’t forget to growl as you pedal). They all use conventional QRs only, which we can’t help feeling mildly disappointed by – we can’t be the only people who’d quite like a reasonable-weight trail-riding fork with the extra tracking and security of a through-axle. Or maybe we are. Still, crowns and lowers are all-new. The range kicks off with the AM3 (£299.95) with 130mm of travel, air preload and external rebound adjust. The travel-adjustable (130-150mm) and ETA-equipped AM2 is £399.95 while the AM1 chucks RC2 damping and 5-way TST into the mix for £494.95. If you want a purely air-sprung fork, the All Mountain SL (£479.95) is the one for you, with travel adjustable via air pressure between 130 and 150mm.

We’ve already mentioned the 66, but we just need to add that the 66RC2X will be available in 150 or 170mm travel flavours at £544.95 and £569.95 respectively. There’s also an air-sprung 66 SL with a lighter crown and adjustable travel, also for £544.95. There’s two versions of the 888, both with 200mm of travel, the 190mm travel Monster T is still in the range and the 170mm Junior T can be had with 20mm or conventional axles. And there’s a load of 100mm Dirt Jumper forks with a new bolted crown, coil springs and more adjustments the more money you pay.

Marzocchi also has an all-new rear shock, the Roco RC. It’s a freeride/DH oriented coil shock (you might have spotted one on Cedric Gracia’s bike) with a titanium nitrided shock shaft and adjustable rebound and compression damping. Cunningly, the spring and mounting hardware dimensions are the same as shocks from Fox and Progressive, so swapping stuff about shouldn’t be too much of a chore.

Details of the full range will no doubt appear at www.marzocchi.com in the fullness of time, and keep an eye on www.windwave.co.uk for UK pricing and dealer information.