Marzocchi has a reputation for building forks a little heavier than everyone else, yet there are some major plus points to the MX Pro SL 105mm travel XC offering from the Italian suspension gurus, mainly that it's stiff as a stiff thing in all directions. With the crown from the Marathon, 30mm upper legs, and plenty of quality bushing overlap, there's very little in the way of the front wheel flapping backwards and forwards, or rocking side to side, and the steering is nice and sharp. It weighs in at 3.12lb too.
The fork as an air sprung unit, featuring Marzocchi's TST5 (five-position Terrain Selection Technology) bladder system in the right hand leg for the damping duties. This allows the compression damping to be selected from a five-position dial on top of the right fork leg, and rebound damping to be adjusted by the smaller red knob on the bottom of the fork leg. With the TST in position one, the fork is plush, with the four remaining clicks giving more compression damping until the fork locks out. Simple.
The air system is simple to use and requires relatively low pressures of around 40psi, with the red cap valve on top of the left hand fork leg to keep it out of the way of dirt and water. One of the main plus points of this fork is the ease with which it can be set up, and the availability of parts and now tuning/service packages available from TFTuned in conjunction with Windwave, the UK Marzocchi importers.
If you're looking for a no-fuss 100mm travel fork that steers well, takes a normal QR front wheel, and has a post mount for a 6in disc brakes, then you can do a lot worse than plump for these MX Pro SLs.