The guys at BlkMrkt bikes have released some pics of their new project, the Killswitch frame. The pictures created a lot of hype around this frame, and that is with a reason !

We are talking about a 100mm travel full suspension dirt/slopestyle frame. Unlike other BlkMrkt frames, this one is made out of Alu, not steel. The suspension design on it is called “Hammer link ” . This bike can be singlespeeded, so they had to find a suspension design that would not cause ” chain growth” . The 100 mm of travel are assured by a  custom tuned version of the X-Fusion 2010 02 RCX shock . The weight will be around 3,4 KG and the price around 1400 USD ( including shock, headset and seat clamp device).

The frame has replaceable drop outs ( horizontal, vertical or Maxle versions ), and the sizes will be :  S (21″), M (22″) & L (23″).

The frame will be available in Flat Black, Flat Grey and Flat Purple colours.

The frame seems to be very good; do not forget that BlkMrkt have invented the true street/dirt 26-inch wheel geometry !

(pics from Pinkbike.com )

Hi!

 Due to the nature of this blog,I said to myself:”Why not start with a review?”.So I decided to review my Marzocchi Dirt Jumper 2 fork,which I have been using for about an year and a half!

   General

When I bought the fork,it was too soft for me,because it did not have any air put in (it has the AIRPL adjust,for stiffness,and a R cartridge,for rebound).Before going further,here are the numbers:

-100 mm travel

-air preload and rebound adjustments

-weighs around 2.9 kg

-9mm QR axle (20 mm Bolt-on available too).

 It may not be on the light side,but trust me,this bastard can take a beating.I land no close to smooth,and it just won’t complain,which is great!

   Damping

 Being a DJ fork,it is not as sensible on small bumps as other forks,but the bigger hits are a joke for it.I have “tested” it,if I can say so,on DJ-s,street riding,and light freeriding.Yeh,I know,it is not a FR fork,but it is still in one piece,and it behaved pretty nice (for a 100 MM DJ fork,that is). The adjustments actually work,unlike those on other forks.The knob on the Rebound adjustment has a nice 3 finger design.The ARIPL is pretty spot on,via a schrader valve:

    Problems

 After some months of riding,the fork started to make weird sounds and getting worse and worse.The known problems of 2008 Marzocchi forks is the rebound cartrige,which gets jammed up or something.I brought it to the local Marzocchi dealer,and got it fixed for free (warranty);it was all nice,except for the 2 week time to complete(yeah,that means no bike for 2 weeks in the middle of the summer)!Another problem encountered was that,whenever I used the front brake harder or longer,the wheel seemed to move towards left (that’s the side the brake’s on) and stay there.After taking apart the hub,same problem;therefore,I changed it.Even with the new hub,it still does that sometimes;I have never seen such problem on this or other fork,so I just think I need an axle that is a little thicker(as stated before,I have the 9mm axle version,and regret not finding the bolt-on one at the time).Here’s a pic of the brake-side:

   Conclusions

  All in all,this fork is great (especially once the R cartridge is changed!) and worths every penny spent on.I recommend it to everyone;it is good for beginners (strong for sketchy landings) and advanced riders (works really nice).It is one of the best forks I have ridden on;the only downside would be the weight,but what the hell:if you want a lighter bike,do push-ups!