Product Intro and First Rides
Things didn’t go exactly to plan with this test. I was away when the fork and shock arrived, and missed out on a week of testing, along with the virtual product session. These are a great opportunity to ask questions and head off potential set up challenges. Instead I was left with marketing materials, a 2027 Zeb and a 2027 Vivid. I was actually expecting the new 170mm Lyrik but for some reason the Zeb showed up. I loved the previous 170mm Lyrik and I’m happy to see it return.
Flying more blindly than usual, with two yet-to-be-released dampers, was an interesting process that forced me to be more methodical than usual with my set up and evaluation.
Zeb Ultimate – Everything is New
It doesn’t take a keen eye to realize this is a completely new fork. The crown is new, the majority of the internals, the arch with integrated fender mount… Even the clamp for the brake line has been refined.
The new fender seamlessly integrates with the crown and his held in place with four bolts. Apparently a full length one is in the works as well and both will be included with purchase of the Ultimate model. Photos – Cam McRae
The fork comes stock with a cover that conceals this industrial looking portion of the arch for those with no use for the fender. The arch is apparently lower and stiffer while still providing adequate clearance.
The air relief valves have been moved to the new crown and there was air to be relieved immediately after the fork’s journey to North Van. The wee red buttons are conveniently placed so they are even accessible while you are riding.
This cutout isn’t just for looks. It is said to relieve pressure on the upper bushing to reduce friction.
Even the brake line mount got attention.
The new crown is forged and then machined to reduce weight.
Zeb Ultimate First Ride – More Pressure
To fit the the Vivid Ultimate on the Yeti LTE I’ve been testing, I needed the DU replaced, (thanks Topher at Obsession Bikes!) so my first ride on the Zeb was with the stock Fox X2 in the rear. In retrospect this was a helpful move and it allowed me to get a feel for the fork in isolation, without changing anything else. Right from the first 100 feet of trail, the Zeb felt great. It was predictable and stable and traction was good. After some good thumps on the trail, I found it was beating me up a little though and at the bottom of the first descent the O-ring showed that I hadn’t used the last 30 mm of the 170 mill travel. That was with the recommended 140 psi for my 172 lb / 78 kg weight, but with fresh seals that weren’t yet broken in.
I have never pumped that much air into a fork before. I was around 70 psi on the previous Zeb and around 100 for the current Fox 38. Why so much pressure? It has to do with
RockShox has an explanation for the increased pressure that talks about decreased piston diameter, increased air spring shaft diameter (from 10mm to 14mm) which is also hollowed out (which increases the negative spring volume) and a few more factors that apparently all contribute. These are all related to the Twin Tube architecture, which was first introduced in the 2024 BoXXer.
We had some late season snow at higher elevations, but now spring seems to have miraculously arrived. Photo – Cam McRae
Nothing felt ground breaking, which isn’t surprising for a first ride, but I did notice the fork was very smooth and sensitive despite the higher pressure. I lowered the pressure a little (likely a temporary measure for the new fork) and it felt even better without blowing me away. It needed more break in time and more dial twisting, which is also process that has also been updated and refined,.
Before we get into that, I’d like to lay out some of the many new features found here, that were also first displayed when the 2024 BoXXer was released. These apply to the Zeb Ultimate I have been testing and the Zeb Ultimate Flight Attendant – with the fancy electronics that I have never ridden.*
*The Lyrik Ultimate and Ultimate Flight Attendant get the same treatment for the trail crowd.
The “Air Annex” increases the volume of air trapped inside your fork that isn’t part of the air spring or damper circuits. As you can see from the image, the plastic element of the Air Annex only accounts for a portion of the extra volume. There aren’t different sized covers for tuning though, this is the one and only, and only on the spring side. Photo – Cam McRae
Air Annex
SRAM has added volume to the left lower leg and capped it with a plastic cover. This isn’t part of the air spring, rather it deals with “casting volume ramp.” Casting volume describes a volume of air that isn’t part of the air spring or damper but is also compressed when the fork moves through its travel because the system is sealed. This can be accounted for with the other components of the fork, but RockShox wanted to have some control over how this air impacted the system.
RockShox says opening the cover of the LinearXL cavity “will negatively affect the performance of your fork.” I heeded that warning but I was tempted. SRAM provided this image to cure the curious of our desire to have a look. Image – SRAM
Physics tells us that a larger volume of air isn’t more compressible than a smaller one, but when pressure is applied, it increases more slowly in a larger volume chamber. The Air Annex is aimed at providing less ramp (more linearity) deep in the travel so the fork retains sensitivity in this portion of the travel. The annex isn’t needed on the damper side because those components take up less space and the volume is already ample.
SRAM strongly recommends against removing the cover, but I was very tempted. In the images it appears to be just plastic with a gasket but RockShox says removing it to peer inside “will negatively affect the performance of your fork.”
This transparent mock up of the Zeb shows the Butterwagon dimples machined into the unseen portion of your stanchions. There are also ports in the stanchions to allow the casting air volume to circulate more freely so it doesn’t build up in one location. Image – SRAM
Butterwagon Tech
I’m sure everyone is dying to toss this terminology around over beers. The name is indeed goofy but the goals of these wee dimples are simple. This is technology aimed at getting the lube within the fork legs to where it is most needed, and then continuously redistributing it as the fork moves through its travel. This is said to be accomplished with tiny divots machined into the inner surface of the lower stanchions – the area that you don’t see unless you pull your fork apart. Wagon, as a colloquial verb applied to lube, can mean, to transport: “lube is wagoned to where it’s needed.” The goal here is more sensitivity and, I suppose, smoothness, longevity and reliability. SRAMies are sure into butter. Which reminds me that Buttercups live on for the Ultimate and Ultimate Flight Attendant models, filtering out finer bumps and trail chatter.
Both LSC and HSC dials have a new system of clickage. Rather than starting with zero clicks and adding more compression, there is a benched zero mark in the middle of each dial. From there you can add or decrease either high or low speed compression to suit your needs. If you would rather just count clicks from fully open, there is nothing stopping you. The reference point for HSC is the white mark on the fork crown, visible behind the two dials, while the reference for LSC is on the HSC dial. Turning the HSC dial does not impact the LSC setting: you need to hold the HSC dial still in order to make an LSC adjustment so it requires both hands. Photo – Cam McRae
Charger 3.2 Damper
The information about the new damper was brief. The release basically says the damper is tuned to the Linear XL air spring and that it is silent, which is true. A change you can see is numbers on the knobs, and a new way of visualizing compression tuning.
The previously agreed upon procedure to adjust your dials was to start from fully open (because it’s a reliable hard stop) and turn your knobs clockwise to increase damping to your desired level. Instead, this system provides a zero benchmark in the middle of the adjustments for easier reference.
With HSC you can be at zero or plus or negative two, which makes five settings when you include the baseline/middle setting. For LSC you have fifteen clicks – baseline and then plus or minus seven. For me this is a clearer way to visualize damping adjustment and it’s more efficient as well because you aren’t always starting from fully open and counting clicks – you can easily see where you are so there is no need to start from scratch to check where you were.
Chunk is starting to feel very good on the 2027 Zeb Ultimate – but more time is needed.
Zeb On the Trail
I had a hard time getting my head around the increased pressure required for Linear XL air spring but while I went ahead and started with what was written on the fork, I forgot to account for the standard 10 psi compensation to account for the weight of a full power eMTB. While the seals were new this wasn’t an issue because I wasn’t getting full travel by a significant margin. This was likely due to the seals in the fork breaking in and lubrication getting distributed evenly. Before long I was getting to full travel without feeling it but the fork was beating me up a little on steep sections with repeated deep steps, suggesting I was spending too much time deep in the travel.
On a subsequent ride I tried to compensate with damping but it wasn’t doing the job. I got a news flash on long gap that includes an uphill landing if you come up short (and I always come up short). On this day I decided to go a little faster – committing a little more without fully committing – which is the worst strategy possible. I landed higher on the uphill portion of the gap, closer to the transition, but with more speed and more force. My reward was a hard bottom out with a loud clank from the fork. It sounded like far too much for the fork and rider but I managed to ride it out easily and continued to the next feature. I haven’t paid enough attention to the Adjustable Bottom Out so yet both preparation and execution were flawed.
The new Adjustable Bottom Out on the 2027 Zeb Ultimate appears to literally move up (more bottom out resistance) or down when the knob is turned. ButterCups remain to filter out trail chatter. Image – SRAM
I heard through the media grapevine that an update to the recommended pressures had been sent out and I managed to get the new numbers. It turns out I wasn’t far off once I added the 10 psi eMTB tax. The revised pressure, for my kitted up weight of 180 lb, was 147 lb while riding an eMTB. I rounded it up to 150 and I think I am getting close. I was still using full travel too often (without hard bottom outs) but it has felt plush and active and my upper body hasn’t felt beaten up after chunky steep sections. Rather than continuing to increase the pressure, it may be time to try a volume spacer but I’ll ride some darker trails before I commit to that.
The 2027 Zeb seems fond of tipping steeply downhill thanks to a stiff chassis and good support.
On my most recent rides, the fork has felt splendid. It rides high in its travel but reacts quickly to impacts. One thing I particularly appreciate is how softly it tops out. I’ve ridden the occasional fork that tops out poorly, like the EXT Era V 2.1, and it has a significant impact on performance when you are pulling for a gap or trying to get up and over something. The Zeb is keen to come along for the ride without pulling you back.
The Charger 3.2 damper has been described as quiet by SRAM. This is literally true in terms of a damper noise, but also in terms of the way it tracks the ground. The fork has a distinctly floaty feel on the trail without disconnecting you from the subtleties of the surface you are on. Everything from fresh loam to stale gravel feels very nice.
Hot laps of Lower Expresso are so much fun. Riding quick repeats helps me understand why the UK and Ireland produce so many great riders. There is nothing like repetition to build speed. We are so spoiled around her that hearing, “I rode that trail last week, I’d rather ride something else,” is entirely normal.
While I was working on getting the fork dialled, I did laps of Lower Expresso on repeat.* This is a short trail that has lots of features and berms and jumps. It’s mostly flow but you have to keep your shit together when you hit it hard because you can get going. As my times came down I started aiming for some sniper lines between rocks and around roots to go even faster and I was impressed by the precision I could muster with the new Zeb Ultimate chassis. At full pace (for me) I could quite easily hit 2″ lines with my front wheel and hold precise berm lines to get the fastest exit I could muster. Apparently there is more stiffness on tap however. The LTe has new DT Swiss 350 hubs and, while I had a set of Torque Caps for the previous generation, I was unable to track any down for the updated hubs. RockShox claims that their end caps, that have much more contact area with the fork, make 15 mm axles as stiff as 20mm.
*The x is no typo. This is the most likely original name of the trail, although it seems a little shrouded in mystery.
There is more to be done here but I’m beginning to get along very well with the new Zeb. I’ll be back with my settings and more impressions once I have some confidence that I’ve found my happy place.
DAMPER: Charger 3.2 Flight Attendant w/ButterCups
SPRING: Linear XL w/ButterCup
TRAVEL: 150mm, 160mm, 170mm, 180mm
MAX AIR PRESSURE: 300 psi
FORK OFFSET: 38mm (27.5”), 44mm (27.5”), 44mm (29”)
WHEEL SIZE: 27.5”, 29”
WEIGHT: 2650 g w/fender
MSRP: $ 1,299, € 1,415*, £ 1,265*
*Includes VAT
The new Vivid resembles the previous Vivid but the internals have changed with a new damper and air spring.
2027 Rock Shox Vivid
I have spent quite a lot of time on the previous Vivid and I’ve gotten along with it very well. It approaches coil spring sensitivity and the spring curve feels closer to that linear progression than other air shocks I have ridden and I have been happy with consistency and reliability.
It seems to get along very well with the Yeti’s well-sorted 6 bar suspension platform. The Fox X2 has felt great but I feel like I’m starting to go faster and have better traction and support with the Vivid after only five or six rides.
It looks a lot like the old Vivid but the “Vivid Air D1 features an all-new reservoir, main piston, and an updated LinearXL air can.” There is also a new RCT2 damper. Adjustable Bottom remains and there are 20 clicks of rebound damping. The rebound knob can be removed and used to adjust the 3 mm hex fittings of the HSC and ABO.
Vivid vs. Super Deluxe – The Super Deluxe – which is also new – is aimed at “downcountry to enduro” while the Vivid is all about descending. The corresponding copy in the press release for the Vivid lists, Enduro, DH and eMTB as the best use cases.
I believe the max pressure for the new Vivid is 400 psi but that has yet to be verified.
This is one of those times when the performance has been so good that I have very little to say. Dialling in the fork has taken most of my energy while the rear shock, set to surprising 240 PSI to achieve 30% sag, has been quietly awesome.
DAMPER TYPE: RC2T Adj. Hydraulic Bottom Out
REBOUND TUNE: R25, R55, R85
COMPRESSION TUNE: C22, C26, C30, C34, C37, C40, C43, C46
LOCKOUT FORCE: X05, X25, X45
MSRP: $ 779, € 850*, £ 760*
*includes VAT
For more info head to SRAM.com
Height – 6’/183cm (mostly legs)
Weight – 172lbs/78kg
Inseam – 37″/94cm. (turns out I hadn’t measured correctly previously)
Ape Index – 0.986
Age – 60
Trail I’ve been stoked on lately – JQ
Bar Width – 760mm
Preferred Reach – 485-500mm