Fork it, we'll do it live! Mezzer pro vs Zeb Ult

[Huskier]

Searching for a meatier solution for a particularly meaty trail style and park duty. Big root drops, heavy full-speed chunder. Current fork is a 36 I can't help but think i might be faster with a little more plow factor. I want to stick with 160 travel and not turn my bike into a full tank if possible. Anyone run both back to back? Preferences?

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[XXX-er]

I have read ZEB vs Fox compros on line so I would do a search

[toast2266]

Haven't ridden the mezzer. Prefer the 38 over the zeb by a wide margin, especially with the new x2 damper. But would take any version 38 over any version zeb.

But notably, I would take a lyric over a 36 (by a slim margin).

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[carlh]

I haven’t ridden a Mezzer or a 38 but my zeb was a massive improvement over my old lyric and feels much better than the 36 on my firmed bike I recently spun around the parking lot. Bigger is better.
If I wasn’t getting a deal I would take a hard look at the Olin’s 38 too.

[Dantheman]

Excellent thread title. I have years on the Mezzer but haven't ridden the new crop of 38 mm forks. Mezzer is lighter by a non-trivial amount, so if you're going to run it at 160 and want to avoid tankifying the bike I'd probably lean Mezzer.

[XXX-er]

I had the fox 36 then 170 zeb and now 160 zeb so they all seem fine I found zeb has a lot of early and mid stroke suport which I like zeb could run at < recommended pressures I donot think I ever used the whole 170mm of the last zeb


so zeb seems to be speced on the lower end offering of a bike model so they must be cheaper for the mfger to buy I would use which ever came on a new bike but I have never tried fox 38

[volklpowdermaniac]

fox fan boy a longgg time til last 3-4 years, in love with the charged 2.1 damper on zeb and pike ultimates, hear the 3.0 was shit and the 3.1 is delightful again. zeb ultimate on a status 2 coil park super enduro bike and it's friggen awesome

[TAFKALVS]

edit: emoji virus…

[TAFKALVS]

Get this:

https://buycyclestuffonline.com/products/[emoji638][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]]][emoji638][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]]-fox-[emoji638][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]]]-[emoji639][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji640]]-grip-x[emoji638]-[emoji637][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji640]][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]]]mm-factory-boost-[emoji640][emoji640]-[emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji640]]ht-tapered-fork-green

And this:

https://www.backcountry.com/b/fox-racing-shox-[emoji639][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji640]]-air-shaft

You’re welcome


(Edit: I give up. The site at the top has OEM packaged 38 x2 for $699, I just bought one. Buy a 160mm airspring and you’re money ahead.)

[Marshal Olson]

FWIW, the Fox 38 is a far more linear air spring and the Zeb is much more progressive. Can't speak to the other ones on the market. But love the 170 38 on my Sentinel.

[frorider]

I’ve ridden Mezzer Pro and current 38 but not the 3.1 charger Zeb. Since Huskier cares about weight, the Mezzer is what I recommend here. Same chassis stiffness as a 38 per testing in a German lab, yet almost 300 g lighter as I recall. And the air spring technology, which only EXT mimics, makes it pretty easy to get the initial plushness plus midstroke support plus full travel when you need it … attributes most everyone wants. I expect years from now people will recognize tokens as a pretty primitive way to adjust spring characteristics.

[toast2266]

And the air spring technology, which only EXT mimics, makes it pretty easy to get the initial plushness plus midstroke support plus full travel when you need it … attributes most everyone wants. I expect years from now people will recognize tokens as a pretty primitive way to adjust spring characteristics.

Ohlins air spring is similar as well.

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[Roxtar]

Haven&#39;t ridden the mezzer. Prefer the 38 over the zeb by a wide margin, especially with the new x2 damper. But would take any version 38 over any version zeb. But notably, I would take a lyric over a 36 (by a slim margin). Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

I had the same experience and then tried the Mezzer.
Ordered a Mezzer the next day and sold the Fox. Haven&#39;t looked back since.

[Huskier]

FWIW, the Fox 38 is a far more linear air spring and the Zeb is much more progressive. Can't speak to the other ones on the market. But love the 170 38 on my Sentinel.

That progression is kind of what I'm going for. Just about damn near broke my wrist through my bars clapping out my fork on an ill-advised maneuver this morning. Love HBO in my shock, looking for the same kind of ramp-to-infinity feel.

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[Huskier]

FWIW, the Fox 38 is a far more linear air spring and the Zeb is much more progressive. Can't speak to the other ones on the market. But love the 170 38 on my Sentinel.

Oh hey Sentinel friend! You don't feel that 170 hurts climbing skills at all? And that progressive curve is kind of what I'm looking for. Ramp to infinity kind of deal

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[toast2266]

(I'm also in the 170 fox 38 on a Sentinel club).

Yes, it hurts the climbing a bit. Bike is slacker and floppier with the 170. But it's also a bigger, burlier fork (than the 160 lyrik I had on there previously), and that gives the expected upsides on the way down. I have my sentinel over forked for some trips and races I'm doing this summer, but I'll probably take it back down to 160 after I'm done with those.

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[Marshal Olson]

I was pretty happy with the 160/36 originally, picked up a 160 air spring when I swapped to the 38, and just never bothered to pop it in. For trails here, at least, I think the bike handles better w/ the 170/38.
if you go zeb, you can always consider the dsd runt for it too, which is a lot like the Ohlins/manitou 3 stage air spring by allowing you to micro-adjust the ramp.

[TAFKALVS]

I have a spire and a repeater. Spire obviously being the bigger smashy brother of the sentinel, and the repeater is the e-bike sentinel. I have gone from 170mm to 180mm on the spire, and 160mm to 170mm on the repeater. I don’t see much of decrease on the up, if anything I get less pedal strikes. Big improvement on the down, that extra 10mm of squish means if you’re riding steep trails you are maintaining a more consistent geometry by staying higher in the travel since you’re starting out higher in the first place.

[meepmoop24]

Oh hey Sentinel friend! You don't feel that 170 hurts climbing skills at all? And that progressive curve is kind of what I'm looking for. Ramp to infinity kind of deal

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I'm also riding a Sentinel with a 170mm Fox 38 with Grip2 damper. Funny how many of us there are!

I don't think it really hurts climbing that much. The front end is slightly more prone to flopping while climbing, but I don't notice it that much. On the down, the extra stiffness and travel over the Lyrik is very noticeable though.

[Marshal Olson]

In my experience, getting a little extra front end wander w/ a taller fork has most to do with a different seating position as the seat tube angle shifts back 0.4* just like the HT angle does with a 10mm taller fork. I just slide my seat forward ~5mm on the rail to correct for this, it really helps. I also pull 2 headset spacers out (10mm) from under the stem to keep my bars at the same relative height. not sure if yall do similar, but those two things can really help

[jm2e]

Anyone know why Marzocchi only makes their dual Crown fork in a 27.5"....... or why it's called the 58?

[Huskier]

In my experience, getting a little extra front end wander w/ a taller fork has most to do with a different seating position as the seat tube angle shifts back 0.4* just like the HT angle does with a 10mm taller fork. I just slide my seat forward ~5mm on the rail to correct for this, it really helps. I also pull 2 headset spacers out (10mm) from under the stem to keep my bars at the same relative height. not sure if yall do similar, but those two things can really help

God damnit you're right. I can't believe it works.
I would be on a Spire rn if I knew this

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[Andeh]

I have Zebs on 2 bikes (160mm, 170mm), both of which I upgraded from the Charger 3.0 to 3.1. That was an improvement, but slight. I'd say the difference is mostly smoother transition from the compression stroke to rebound, like it turns around better. The stiffness over a Lyrik translates into a much more precise feeling when headed into chopped up sections of trail or big steep berms. I weigh about 165 lbs without gear, and found the stock air springs to be very progressive, like, I could never bottom them out running the correct pressures. I put MRP Nokens on them (essentially enlarges the positive chamber equal to 1 token, so like -1 token), and they're mint now. With the Noken the air spring feels like that in the current Lyrik, which I love. A heavier more aggressive rider shouldn't need that though. Overall I'm happy with them. I like how easy it is to set up the dampers on the current RS stuff (put the compression adjusters in the middle and move a little from there) and I find the TrailHead app is great for starting pressures and pretty close on rebound (I prefer 2-3 clicks faster than what it suggests).

[XXX-er]

yeah this ^^ I ran my last the ZEB the 170 with considerably less air until the tell-tale ring was showing that I was using more of the travel zero problems in almost 5 yrs now rocking a 160 only using maybe 4 and 1/2 inches

[TAFKALVS]

Side bar:

Why are people obsessed with using all their travel on normal rides? Most forks feel a lot more plush if you are staying in the top 1/3 of the travel, and when you constantly blowing through your travel your bikes geometry is constantly changing not in a good way.

Sincerely, someone who runs extra clicks of compression.