Marzocchi Bomber CR 8.5x2.5: Rider Review

Our "Rider Review" article series features honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for.

Marzocchi has a long history creating suspension products. Their new Bomber CR coil rear shock has proven to be just as good as other brands on the market at a fraction of the cost. Our customer Jeffrey was looking to breath some new life into his 10 year old Knolly and knew a Marzocchi Bomber CR coil would do the trick. Check out his review!

Overview

The brand new Marzocchi bomber CR rear coil shock has been a key element in my personal "revive the ride" campaign which is parallel with the Marzocchi camp.
This shock was purchased in conjunction with the new bomber Z1 coil fork in 180mm for a 10 year old Knolly delirium revival. The shock arrived from WWC of course well packed. The first thing I did was remove the stock DU bushings and install push industries polymer ones. Mounted the shock, set my sag, basement test of rebound settings and then ready for the trail.

First Impressions

The first ride was a fairly good mix of pedaling, climbing and of course Northeastern technical descents. On a bike with 7ish inches of travel, the Knolly pedals well and tracks the ground perfectly. With the affordable CR on there it made the bike feel more responsive and plush over the previous rear shock which was a higher dollar valued item that was also correctly dialed in. I really was quite impressed with the base compression default valving being pretty close to spot on for my weight and the progressive suspension design on the Knolly.

Performance

The slow to medium slow technical terrain but up, down and flat this thing was just and absolute pleasure to be on and with the new Z1 coil up front, it is a perfect pairing for some supple but not wallowing through the terrain cushioning. I was amazed at how good this shock felt. Plush is a word often thrown about in the bike world much like bottomless. And while suspension designs of course make up a large part of the feel, the damper connected to it is a large variable.

The downhills and the drop offs were where it really shined bright. It sucked up everything from high-speed rock gardens to 10 foot hucks to almost flat without a whimper or even a hint that this was an entry level shock. Never once did i feel it bottom out. I did fiddle with the rebound readjustment a few clicks from my initial basement tune once it got real in the woods. I only sped it up by one click from my base guess.

While we don't have 15 minute downhill runs in this part of the world to test the fade if any, what runs we do have, I felt that the performance was more than admirable for a sub three hundred dollar shock offering.

Final Thoughts

I currently have and have had several long travel DH / FR bikes and with some high-quality shocks on the back, Avalanche, DVO, Fox.. and this shock felt every bit as good at ride time. The only thing is that there are no external compression settings, but I knew that going into it. So that should be known. Apparently the base compression decision was decided upon by numerous test rider input. I am 180lbs and moderately fit and have to say the tune works well.
Bottom line...would definitely buy again.