Zeb ultimate 2023 170mm harsh ride

[Bones]

Every 3 rides like clock work I need to let all the air out and then bump the Allen screws at the bottom of the fork And then refill it 20 lbs at a time pushing up and down on the fork to equalize the negative air chamber. It will go from harsh to super plush every time.

It's the air shaft leaking into the lower leg and pressurising it. You may find that with the rebound closed then the front wheel lifts off the ground when checked.
I have exactly the same issues with my fox 38s and awaiting warranty work to sort them out.

 

[Pazman]

LSC clockwise for less? Don't think that's the case? Below snip is taken from here: Charger 3 Setup - SRAM

Anticlockwise gives less damping on both LSC and HSC:

View attachment 122116

Before i say what I’ve done i must state i have only been mountain biking since December and still learning the basics ha.
ok so i was re-reading this thread and looked at the above post ,which i had dismissed tbh as the looked to make common since to me , turn the dial all the way towards to - for off .
How wrong that was lol , i had not noticed the little mark on the top of the forks which the dials should line up with to indicate the completion level .
so i had hsc and lsc on full all the time when setting sag and testing on the road,its no wonder i needed 20 psi less than stated lol.
anyways im back to 99 psi with 30% sag and it feels so plush .

what a nooob

 

[militantmandy]

Before i say what I’ve done i must state i have only been mountain biking since December and still learning the basics ha.
ok so i was re-reading this thread and looked at the above post ,which i had dismissed tbh as the looked to make common since to me , turn the dial all the way towards to - for off .
How wrong that was lol , i had not noticed the little mark on the top of the forks which the dials should line up with to indicate the completion level .
so i had hsc and lsc on full all the time when setting sag and testing on the road,its no wonder i needed 20 psi less than stated lol.
anyways im back to 99 psi with 30% sag and it feels so plush .

what a nooob

I've been mtbing for many years and I did exactly the same. I thought "weird they changed the direction"

 

[irie]

When I got my Zeb Ultimate A2s I was the boring f**ker who RTFM.

 

[Pazman]

Sorry to awaken this dead thread but I have news ha
Ok so it was better as you would expect as now I'm not maxing out compression settings but still my old lyric was better over rough stuff , out on Saturday and some parts of rough fast down hill rocks I felt as I could lose my grip as my hands were taking a battering.
So yesterday I dropped the lowers cleaned them out , used a little SRAM butter on the air spring seals , replaced the oil .
When filling the forks before it got to about 50 psi and I heard a swish of air coming from the lowers . I stopped looked to see if could see anything lose or missing that I may have forgotten to put back on the forks , but no nothing missing and no sign of any leaks .
This was the airsping negative/positive chambers equalising , this was the first time the forks had ever done this since I had them .having drained all air and refilled them several times since owning them .
So pump it up to recommend 99 psi ,compressed the shocks 5 times and checked the pressure again .set HSC in the middle and LSC in the middle , reboumd -5 from Closed .
I've just been for quick ride on the rocky down bits near by which nearly had me off Saturday , what a different I mean actually night and bloody day .
I could not see were this air port is on the airsping when I had it out but it was definitely blocked with grease from the factory.
These forks are now plush as the lyric was but with all the extra control and confidence giving support all the way through the travel .
I think there must be a lot of people out there with this issue , I read some reviews and owners threads talking about how harsh the 2023 rockshox are with debonair +

That's it from me thanks

 

[Bones]

The equalising bit is a grove on the inside of the upper leg. Glad you got it sorted. Fox have exactly the same issues being over greased in the factory.

 

[militantmandy]

I am similar weight and mine felt much better with no tokens. Depends a bit on your local trails I guess. Hardly any jumps etc where I am but very rough.

Well I was fairly happy with the Zeb, but still getting quite a bit of hand fatigue. After reading a lot, particularly around how much less pressure people were running than the trailhead app suggested, I decided to experiment a bit more. I dropped 10psi (to 75) and put the spacer back in. Fork feels a lot more plush now and doesn't seem to be riding too low in the travel. LSC and HSC are back to the middle setting for now, while I do a bit more fettling. Always learning!

 

[irie]

Weigh 80kg ready to ride on a 2022 Trek Rail alloy. Have Zeb Ultimate A2 (MY2023) 160mm forks. All spacers out, removed excess grease and regreased, 65psi, LSC and HSC middle, rebound 4 clicks in from fully out. Set MaxxGrip Assegai DD front and rear to 26psi, now works very nice for me. Have also got an Ohlins TTX22m.2 coil shock.

 

[Pazman]

Well I was fairly happy with the Zeb, but still getting quite a bit of hand fatigue. After reading a lot, particularly around how much less pressure people were running than the trailhead app suggested, I decided to experiment a bit more. I dropped 10psi (to 75) and put the spacer back in. Fork feels a lot more plush now and doesn't seem to be riding too low in the travel. LSC and HSC are back to the middle setting for now, while I do a bit more fettling. Always learning!

If you haven't had the lower off yet I would recommend it, the amount of grease in mine was enought for 50 pairs of forks lol

 

[militantmandy]

If you haven't had the lower off yet I would recommend it, the amount of grease in mine was enought for 50 pairs of forks lol

It's been done as I got my LBS to change the damper and check the lowers when the bike came in.

 

[Mrj35]

Im 100kg. I'm running 180mm travel, 82psi ,1 token. I bottom out on drops if there over 5ft.

Going to put the 190mm airshaft in when I do the lowers.

 

[Pazman]

I have finally got my Zeb running nice, I had to install a Trutune in the air spring side.
Problem I had was with correct psi of 90 for my weight I could never get close to using full travel, like 60-70% max even when really punching it.
I have no tokens in, LSC and HSC open.
Dropping the pressure resulted in the fork blowing through its travel at the Start losing small bump sensitivity,the mid support then felt harsher to, I was able to use more travel but at a to higher cost.
I read a review or two on the Trutune and it sounded like the fix I needed.
It arrivived today costing £120.
I installed it straight way, I set the forks to 90 psi and went out to test it on my local trail.
I could instantly feel a diffence, I bit willowy under braking for starters so I added some LSC, 6 clicks in from open and it's perfect, nice to be able to use the dampener for once ha.
Out on my local run it felt really good, if I had to discribe it I would say it felt more springy, very supportive but springy and tracks the ground real wellI, have never used spring suspension before but I would imagine this is how it must feel.
The forks are riding high in there travel so the small bump sensitivity was great, mid support felt as good as always with the correct pressure and now I was able to use more travel.
No big hard hits on this run but I was now using 80-90% of the travel, smashing through kirb sized rocks was easy work now with little feed back to to me.
If I need more support or reach close to bottom out on bike park days I'll just use some high seed compression and should be all good.
If you own 2023 zeb or any 38mm forks and struggle to use the available travel I would highly recommend a Trutune, easy to fit and cheap for the impact it has on exspesive fork like the zeb.
I feel my zeb should have felt like this from new, it's a shame I had to spend another £120 on a thousand pound fork to get it working well but hey this is Emtb as my mates would say nothing is cheap ha.

 

[Rando_12345]

Not sure where I saw this trick, so sorry if this is a repost.

My fork started to get harsher and hasher over time, even as I dropped pressure in the main chamber.

The last trick I used was to put the bike upside down, empty air from the main chamber, loosen the two bolts at the bottom of the legs. Hit them with a mallet to all ow air to escape, normally you would just tighten them up again and inflate main chamber (in stages + compressing the fork every so often). The trick is to compress the fork to your expected sag ~20% before tightening the lower bolts and re-inflating. Fork feels so much better now, but we'll have to see how long that lasts, probably have a blocked transfer port despite a brand new air shaft install, I guess the shop put as much grease on the new shaft as the one they took out :/

 

[Pazman]

Not sure where I saw this trick, so sorry if this is a repost.

My fork started to get harsher and hasher over time, even as I dropped pressure in the main chamber.

The last trick I used was to put the bike upside down, empty air from the main chamber, loosen the two bolts at the bottom of the legs. Hit them with a mallet to all ow air to escape, normally you would just tighten them up again and inflate main chamber (in stages + compressing the fork every so often). The trick is to compress the fork to your expected sag ~20% before tightening the lower bolts and re-inflating. Fork feels so much better now, but we'll have to see how long that lasts, probably have a blocked transfer port despite a brand new air shaft install, I guess the shop put as much grease on the new shaft as the one they took out :/

Are you talking about 2023 zeb ultimate? If so you could just sit on the bike to get the sag and then press the release valves to let the air out the lowers.

 

[ViperBoy]

The RS recommendations always come out with WAY too much pressure and compression. Unless you do decent sized drops, you need to adjust. I lose 10-15 PSI and 2 clicks or so of HSC/LSC and 1 token for fast downhills and mildly rocky/rooty singletrack (no real drops). I run soft/poppy shockwiz tuning since that much travel allows/demands a nice smooth ride, but there is still plenty of buffer for a good hit

 

[Pazman]

The RS recommendations always come out with WAY too much pressure and compression. Unless you do decent sized drops, you need to adjust. I lose 10-15 PSI and 2 clicks or so of HSC/LSC and 1 token for fast downhills and mildly rocky/rooty singletrack (no real drops). I run soft/poppy shockwiz tuning since that much travel allows/demands a nice smooth ride, but there is still plenty of buffer for a good hit

I fixed my issues by installing a true tune anti volume spacer, forks are running great with 87 psi

 

[Ark]

I noticed that in the beginning I have to balance the negative and positive pressures several times.

same on mine I was get suction from it and lost about 10mm of travel until I carefully put a zip tie down each stanchion to equalize it

 

[irie]

... I feel my zeb should have felt like this from new, it's a shame I had to spend another £120 on a thousand pound fork to get it working well but hey this is Emtb as my mates would say nothing is cheap ha.

Bought my Zeb A2 forks from Germany in December last year. For some reason didn't have to pay any duties or taxes so got lucky and paid only £650 inc shipping. So £120 on top for the Trutune didn't hurt too much

 

[Pazman]

same on mine I was get suction from it and lost about 10mm of travel until I carefully put a zip tie down each stanchion to equalize it

You don't need to use zip item on zebs as they have air ports on the rear

 

[irie]

You don't need to use zip item on zebs as they have air ports on the rear

Only Zeb A2's have air ports, not A1's I think.

 

[Ark]

Only Zeb A2's have air ports, not A1's I think.

yea it's an optional extra for my forks but doesn't really seem worth buying the part to add

 

[dumpy]

Not sure where I saw this trick, so sorry if this is a repost.

My fork started to get harsher and hasher over time, even as I dropped pressure in the main chamber.

The last trick I used was to put the bike upside down, empty air from the main chamber, loosen the two bolts at the bottom of the legs. Hit them with a mallet to all ow air to escape, normally you would just tighten them up again and inflate main chamber (in stages + compressing the fork every so often). The trick is to compress the fork to your expected sag ~20% before tightening the lower bolts and re-inflating. Fork feels so much better now, but we'll have to see how long that lasts, probably have a blocked transfer port despite a brand new air shaft install, I guess the shop put as much grease on the new shaft as the one they took out :/

never tried on a new zeb but its pretty much a req on the 2020 lyrik to feel good imo. a much easier way to achieve this is to push the air spring rod 20% in before putting the lowers back on during service. this will last until you service again normally.

 

[gapago]

never tried on a new zeb but its pretty much a req on the 2020 lyrik to feel good imo. a much easier way to achieve this is to push the air spring rod 20% in before putting the lowers back on during service. this will last until you service again normally.

I have to do that every 3 rides like clockwork.

 

[Rando_12345]

Mine has been holding up well since I did it a few months and well over 1000km ago

 

[irie]

1,000 miles and mine (160mm A2) are fine. Guess I should do a lower leg service sometime but the seals etc. are still in really good shape. Did do a lower leg service when I got them to remove any excess grease.

 

[Shjay]

Picked up Zeb R off CRC was an OEM fork turns out 63mm OD crown to help sell my Nukeproof mega which is 56mm so will be sending back & putting the Mezzer back on

 

[vadII]

Got the 2024 ZEB Ultimate with Charger 3.1 - it's a complete different fork compared to 2022 ZEB Ultimate with Charger 3.0.
It's even require 35-40% more air pressure for the same SAG (55psi for Ch3.0 and 75psi for Ch3.1), which is now corresponds with RS recommendations on the fork labels. It's more plush, more sensitive. RS claims that air spring is the same, but it works much smoother and effortless even with more air pressure. (Why???)
Both forks have no tokens (in my setup), same length 160mm. Both are well maintained. I made "zero" service for the new fork, it has metal dust in both lower arms, and almost no oil in air side leg...

 

[Pazman]

Funny you should say that ! My 2024 Zeb 3.0 started creaking and was sent in for repair .
They sent me a brand new zeb ultimate 2025 3.1 , and it is night and day to 2024 zeb , not just the charge 3.1 but the new bushings make for a plush super smooth ride ,
I have been blown away with just how good this new folk is

 

[vadII]

Funny you should say that !

What's funny ?
I'm just shocked by the difference, this is why I made the comment. RS claims no significant changes from MY2022 (except the damper). Something is wrong with Charger 3.0 version...

 

[Pazman]

What's funny ?
I'm just shocked by the difference, this is why I made the comment. RS claims no significant changes from MY2022 (except the damper). Something is wrong with Charger 3.0 version...

The new bushings have changed the folk for the better