The story
The two brothers Stefano and Guglielmo Marzocchi (former Ducati employees) founded Marzocchi in 1949, starting the production of suspension for large-engined motorcycles in the cellar of their home in Via Zannoni, in Bologna.
By 1953, production had reached 200 pieces a day, the workforce had grown to 25, and the basement in Via Zannoni had become insufficient. The company then began planning for expansion.
In 1957 the company was transferred to a more suitable "shed" in Casalecchio di Reno.
In the mid-1950s, when motorcycle production suffered a sharp decline, the Marzocchi brothers thought of diversifying production, taking up a gear pump project already started within Ducati during the Second World War.
In 1961, the Marzocchi brothers became convinced that it was necessary to diversify production. The growth of the two production sectors therefore led to the establishment of two distinct companies: Marzocchi Pompe S.r.l. and Marzocchi S.p.A. The first dealt with the design and production of hydraulic pumps, the second with motorcycle suspension.
After 1965, the second generation of Marzocchi entered the scene: Adriano, son of Stefano, and Paolo, son of Guglielmo. For Marzocchi Sospensioni, the products were aimed at the high-end of the market: motocross and large-engined bikes. The company's decision to focus on sports with the aim of product development proved successful. Marzocchi champions have dominated motorcycle circuits throughout Europe.
In the 1980s the collaboration with manufacturers of large-engined road motorcycles such as BMW Motorrad, Moto Guzzi, Ducati expanded and Marzocchi established itself as a leader in Europe in the production of suspensions.
In the 1990s, the market diversified further. In the United States, the sport of mountain biking began to spread at a competitive level, and Marzocchi began producing bicycle forks that combined high technology with high performance.
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In 2008 the company was acquired by American automotive parts manufacturer Tenneco. Until 2007, Marzocchi manufactured the mountain bike suspension forks in Italy.
Since December 2015 the Marzocchi brand was taken over by the Italian company VRM Group together with the historic Zola Predosa plant with the birth of the subsidiary Marzocchi Motor and the reinstatement of 70 employees for production.
Florenzo Vanzetto became the CEO of the company. American company Fox Factory acquired only the assets of Marzocchi's mountain bike product lines.
In recent years Marzocchi Motor has become a supplier of forks for numerous motorcycle manufacturers, growing from a turnover of 8 million euros in 2016 to a turnover of 32 million euros in 2021.
In January 2022 an agreement was signed with Zhejiang Mazhuoke Machinery Manufacturing (part of the Qianjiang Motorcycle group) for the construction of a second production plant in the Chinese province of Zhejiang, south of Shanghai, to provide suspension for the domestic market and Chinese customers.
From Wikipedia’s article on Marzocchi, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5