Levo Gen 3 Fox 38 or Zeb ultimate??

[Pdoz]

Meanwhile...my take on this is I'm being a good dad by swapping sprog 3's fox 38' elites for my fox 36 's...because he's a lightweight ? Anyone want to come over and tell him?

 

[gapago]

Looking to replace the Fox 36 Rhythm on my Levo.

Not sure which way to go, either Fox 38 or Zeb.

I had a 38 performance elite on my Levo expert and whilst it was a good fork to get it feeling good I had pretty much all the setting backed off.

No experience of the Zeb ultimate but had a Lyrik ultimate and found it nice and supportive but again had most of the settings backed off.

It there any point in getting a fork with the better dampers?

Thoughts?

I have the zeb ultimate, great fork but suffers from air build up in the lowers If you purge them every couple of rides they are great, the new ones are more like the 38s with bleeders but with an added bonus of the butter cup dampers that should help with chatter shock. Also an actual coil spring in the damper which sounds interesting. I also run the settings backed off. 1 o 2 psi in the air spring make more of difference then the clickers.

 

[tonk]

I have a Levo comp 2022 that comes with a 36 Rhytm. I run it for 2 rides and immediately change for a Zeb ultimate with 170mm. it’s like a new bike.... I have 75kg and do a lot of Dh tracks.

Did u change it for a 2023 Zeb ultimate ?

 

[irie]

As I said here: 2019 to 2021 Turbo Levo - Upgrade to zeb ultimate 170 it’s it overkill ??

Jan 2022 alloy Trek Rails. Moved my upgraded Pike Ultimate (160mm air spring) to my wife's bike, and now have 160mm ZEB Ultimate A2 (MY23) on my bike.

Cannot fault them, soak up rough ground vibration so well that my arthritis no longer complains (I'm a grandfather), and the increased stiffness makes the front easier to control when travelling fast downhill over rough stuff.

But ignore the Rockshox/SRAM Trailhead air pressure recommendation, it is far too high!

 

[Bad-Latitude]

I have a ‘22 Giant Reign with a Zeb. My dads bike is a Scott Genius with a Fox 36. Now I know there is much more in play than just a fork difference such as frame manufacture, frame geo, head angle, mullet Vs 29er etc etc.

But one thing I notice is that on fast trails like a fire road with chop. Both bikes feel great on the front end. I would even venture to say that the Fox 36 is a tiny bit smoother and more stable. Now take the bikes to something with rock drops and harder hits and the Zeb shines and gives me more confidence when hitting rougher sections.

Both were equally easy to work on as far as set up goes when tuning them.

I would like to ride a bike with a Fox 38 to feel a comparison but so far I prefer the Zeb 38 over the Fox 36 only because of the performance when the trail gets rougher.

Then again this might just be a mental thing because I’m nowhere near aggressive enough of a rider to push either fork to its full potential.

 

[tabrat]

I am a very big rider and I ride pretty fast and I would recommend you check out DVO Onyx which I believe is better than both the options you are considering. It was a game changer for me. Get the custom tune if you are a larger rider. I was blown away by this upgrade, the technology in the fork, and the ride and speed improvement.

 

[torabora851]

After reading some reviews and forums I'm inclining to the ZEB (A2). Interesting in-depth review of Fox38 here by Vorsprung Suspension, he basically saying that the air spring is nice, but grip 2 is garbage.

These blisterreview guys also like Zeb 2023 more than Fox 38.

But I have a concern about the air spring in the new Zeb. I had an old ZEB A1 and found it very harsh (too progressive?). I was not able to use full travel with the 20% sag, even after removing all tokens. (even on jumps and drops). I changed the travel from 160 to 170 and went to 25% sag to make it feel more comfortable.

The new ZEB has a different air spring, with a larger negative chamber (that should make the spring even more progressive). In Rob's review of the new Zeb, he mentioned that he rides Zeb with no tokens and doesn't experience bottom-outs at all. That sound like a warning, if the 90+kg guy rides without tokens what about lighter riders? Tokens are supposed to tune the progressivity, especially for heavy riders. Seems like it's already very progressive.

Is someone can share their experience with both Zeb(a1) and Zeb(a2)?

 

[Renton]

After reading some reviews and forums I'm inclining to the ZEB (A2). Interesting in-depth review of Fox38 here by Vorsprung Suspension, he basically saying that the air spring is nice, but grip 2 is garbage.

These blisterreview guys also like Zeb 2023 more than Fox 38.

But I have a concern about the air spring in the new Zeb. I had an old ZEB A1 and found it very harsh (too progressive?). I was not able to use full travel with the 20% sag, even after removing all tokens. (even on jumps and drops). I changed the travel from 160 to 170 and went to 25% sag to make it feel more comfortable.

The new ZEB has a different air spring, with a larger negative chamber (that should make the spring even more progressive). In Rob's review of the new Zeb, he mentioned that he rides Zeb with no tokens and doesn't experience bottom-outs at all. That sound like a warning, if the 90+kg guy rides without tokens what about lighter riders? Tokens are supposed to tune the progressivity, especially for heavy riders. Seems like it's already very progressive.

Is someone can share their experience with both Zeb(a1) and Zeb(a2)?

So I’ve sold my warranty replaced Zeb and purchased a Fox 38 performance elite.

I’m much happier. Each to their own but I feel that the fox suits me and my riding style better than the Zeb.

From what I can gather Rockshox have had issues with bushes binding in the newer forks which makes them feel quite harsh.

 

[torabora851]

So I’ve sold my warranty replaced Zeb and purchased a Fox 38 performance elite.

I’m much happier. Each to their own but I feel that the fox suits me and my riding style better than the Zeb.

From what I can gather Rockshox have had issues with bushes binding in the newer forks which makes them feel quite harsh.

Fox 38 without e-tune? Wondering if that 'e-tune' is worth it or if it's just marketing.

 

[Renton]

Yep just normal fox 38 non e tune

 

[RustyIron]

After reading some reviews and forums I'm inclining to the ZEB (A2).

I had an old ZEB A1 and found it very harsh (too progressive?). I was not able to use full travel with the 20% sag, even after removing all tokens.

Is someone can share their experience with both Zeb(a1) and Zeb(a2)?

I haven't run both forks, but have been riding a new Zeb Ultimate for a little over a month.

My previous fork was fine. I rode it well. But I had a thousand bucks burning a hole in my pocket, so why not throw it at a new fork?

I'll save you from having to read an extensive review of the fork, which would just be a bunch of colorful superlatives and fantastical claims. The fork is great, and does everything better than my other forks. Let's leave it at that.

I'm rolling at 160 mm, no volume spacers, with sag set at 20%. I'm not a spinny, flippy, Redbull Rampage rider, and if the gap is more than a few feet, I'm perfectly content to take the P-Line. So keep that in mind.

What I found interesting is that despite giving me better performance, I was using less travel. I was getting a better ride with better control, riding higher in the travel, and still coming away with 20 mm to spare. That's pretty interesting. It reminds me of something Darren Murphy said a while back. He suggested that o-ring travel indicators should all be removed because they only serve to confuse riders. Tune for the ride, not for the o-ring. Harsh words, to be sure, but it stuck with me.

Right now I'm completely happy with the way I have the fork set up, but I'll surely be playing with it more in my never-ending quest to make the bike the best it can be.