Has anyone ridden these forks, back to back that can offer a real-world comparison? I'd really like to match the travel to the rear of the bike, rather than the 5" front I've had. I'm looking to replace the '99 Z-1 on my 6" RFX, and am really leaning towards the AM1, based on the fact that my Z-1 had performed flawlessly for the past 5 years, and Marzocchi's renowned plushness and feel, as well as all the bells and whistles the fork has this year.

Obviously, the DUC 32 is appealing due to it's weight, but not sure I would be happy with an air sprung fork on my Romic sprung RFX. I'm pretty spoiled with how plush and reliable my Z-1 has been, and certainly don't want to take a step backwards in that department. Having to build up a new wheel, (not to mention a second for my back-up wheelset), is not that appealing either.

I'm not really interested in Manitou's offerings, as I have concerns relative to reliability, and their lack of thorough R&D. The Fox 36 doesn't appeal to me either, as I would simply go with the Maverick, and save 1.5 lbs, if I'm going to go with an air fork. If it was coil, it'd be another story.

This is my only bike, which I use as a regular old trail bike. Built up with a reasonable parts spec, it's about 32 lbs.

I rode both at Interbike. I prefer the AM1. The Zoke has truly adjustable travel (TAS) in addition to being able to lock it down (ETA), all the compression adjustment features (TST) work very well as well as the rebound, and you can run any aftermarket stem (in any size/rise) or hub you want. I did not like how fast the rebound on the Mav was even at full slow (going to heavier oil would help), and the lock-down did not result in much of a height change as far as I could tell. The fork also stiffened up a lot when locked "down." The Zoke has more adjustments and I honestly think they all work better and offer a wider range to boot. The limited choice of stems on the Mav really bothered me since I would not be able to set the bike up to be comfortable with their offerings. Lastly, the overall action of the Mav was also not really to my liking. It had a fairly mechanical/rubbing feel during compression, as if it had a coil inside which was scraping along the stanchion wall. Not smooth like the Zoke. This may be a function of break-in, but all 3 Mavs I have ridden (one was a few months old) felt like that. The fork also seems to get very divey under braking when you set it up with the recommended sag, or it is tall and bouncy when firm enough to control brake dive. It just has a less "sophisticated' feeling ride than the Zokes do, imo.

I know a lot of people like the Mav forks and I'm sure they will pipe in, but I personally never came away from riding one feeling very excited about them or actually wanting one.

You do know that the AM forks only come in QR models, if that matters.