With most new and interesting vintage bike parts I tend to jump down the rabbit hole and research as much as possible. Upon seeing the forks I knew they were something special. Did I mention I really dig Marzocchi forks... If I didn't, just letting you know I do.
So first came the ID, it was rather easy. A good friend of mine apparently has a set of these and the later 4 bolt versions. After a postive ID it was time to dig deep. Heavy use of the waybackmachine led me to some interesting articles I will share with you now.
First: From the man, the myth, the legend Corrado Herin 1966-2019 (RIP)
by Dirt HQ
5th June 2014
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CORRADO HERIN – 1997 WORLD CUP CHAMPION
Corrado…thoughts/memories on the Z1 when you got them for first time in 96?
With its 100mm travel the forks were able to give me a lot of comfort and more precision in riding. I’ve always been the kind of rider that spends a lot of time in bike and components settings, the suspension took a lot of this time, but it was easy to find a perfect setting in any condition and terrain. During the racing season Marzocchi developed a prototype especially for our team and they started to use a thru axle that consequently improved the rigidity of the fork with big improvement in the riding precision.
And then how different was the triple clamp version in ‘97?
The other athletes were equipped with double crown forks since ’96, so we decided to make a collaboration with the Marzocchi tech dept and develop a triple crown fork. The result was amazing and the first product was the Mr T with 100mm travel and the Super T with 145mm travel. I used the Super T for the first time in Nevegal for round 1 of the 97 World Cup. I had my first of three victories there, they ended up helping me get the World Cup Champion title. It’s clear that the tech improvement Marzocchi made to the shocks had a crucial role in that victory.
And bigger again, Monster T in ‘98!
The Monster T idea was coming from a motorbike trials project and was probably too big in sections and crown width. For me it was too heavy and rigid and the arm stress was too much. After the Monster T they released the Shiver, an awesome fork that was lighter than the Monster T, with an improved travel length, but like every upside down fork it had the problem of not being rigid enough with less precision in riding and less reactivity.