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

[toast2266]

Being a Fox, I'd say you got REALLY lucky.

I've had maybe 10 or 12 different foxes in the last few years. All have been somewhere between decent and excellent. Although I think the 38 is a better fork than the 36. The 38's air spring is really good.

On the other hand, every single person I know that's had a mezzer has basically echoed this thread. "It's a great fork, you just have to completely redo every part of it."

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[TAFKALVS]

I mean, my 38 X2 is pretty damn good right out of the box. Not saying it couldn't theoretically be better, but I don't feel any need to tear it apart or add widgets to it.

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Same with my 38 x2 and 36 x2.

I can’t say the same about my charger 2.1 or charger 3 Zeb, or past grip2 Fox 36. All of them needed work.

36 grip2 was over packed with grease.

Charger 2.1 Was getting stuck at ~120mm of travel on a 160mm fork. Needed new seals.

Charger 3 had overly tight bushings, only used the top 70mm of travel and felt harsh as hell. Had to run 55psi to get any kind of suppleness but it had no midstroke support. Compression dials did nothing. After taking it apart and burnishing the bushings I now am running 75psi and the fork is more plush up top and the compression dials actually make a difference.

[Andeh]

On the subject of "for as much as we pay for these forks, we shouldn't have to hone bushings": a few years ago, I bought an EXT Era when it launched. There was a pre-order discount which brought it down to like $1,250, basically Ohlins price, but retail at launch was like $1,800. One of the promises was that the bushings would be checked at the factory. The fork felt incredible off the top but I could never use more than 2/3 of travel. Even if I took all the air out of it, I had to put my full body weight on it just to get it close to bottoming out. After a year or so, I sent it in for service (because you couldn't self service them), and complained about that sensation. They checked it out and found that one of the lower bushings was "very tight" and honed it out. It felt better after that, but there were other things I still didn't like about the fork so I eventually sold it. Later on, I bought my own bushing hone tool (with heads for the common 35/36/38mm sizings) and just hone every fork that I own/work on. It's not hard to do if you can do a basic lowers service, and regardless of what brand you buy, there's a good chance it will feel better after honing.

[Roxtar]

I've had maybe 10 or 12 different foxes in the last few years. All have been somewhere between decent and excellent. Although I think the 38 is a better fork than the 36. The 38's air spring is really good. On the other hand, every single person I know that's had a mezzer has basically echoed this thread. "It's a great fork, you just have to completely redo every part of it." Sent from my SM-S931U1 using Tapatalk

Bit of an over-statement.
It's not that it sucks until you do so & so...
It's a very good fork that gets amazing when you do these things.
Plus the fact that you CAN easily improve it.
What are you going to do to a Fox or RS to improve them to any degree?

[SJG]

I just bought a bike for my son which has a DVO fork on it. I did a few rides and struggled with it being stiff. Then I read about the OTT feature. Adjusted, HOLY SHIT. I have a Fox 36 Factory, and a Zeb Ultimate on 2 bikes, and both have been gone thru many times (by shops and me, and I do have a bushing reamer), and the DVO is WAY more supple off the top. I imagine it's similar to a Mezzer Pro from what I have heard, I have not had the chance to ride that fork yet.I had sorta' discounted the DVO stuff, but it definitely rides better than the Big-2 offerings. My 2C.

[John_B]

Alright, who has a 37mm bushing reamer I can borrow/rent?

[GoSlowGoFar]

Any other folks speak to the Zeb and Mezzer comparisons? Seems like the 3.1 changed the Zeb for the better. Curious how the chassis compare in terms of feedback from the trail. Maybe the softer off the top feel of the Zeb would make the fork feel a little less harsh vs the Mezzer despite the stiffer chassis? 90ish kg here so not a clyde, but also not one if the 160-170lbs testers that we usually get reviews from...

[stuckathuntermtn]

Lol, you guys are rationalizing like someone with an old British roadster: "it's a great car, as long as you completely disassemble and reassemble it every 50 miles!"

[One (+) Sentence]

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

My guess is that it is because they might be hanging on for dear life and 27.5 is what they have in stock right now. As for the name, it is probably a mashup of 27.5 and 8 inches of travel.

[TAFKALVS]

My guess is that it is because they might be hanging on for dear life and 27.5 is what they have in stock right now. As for the name, it is probably a mashup of 27.5 and 8 inches of travel.

You know they are just an entry level product from Fox with sexier marketing, right?

[One (+) Sentence]

You know they are just an entry level product from Fox with sexier marketing, right?

Sexier marketing? You mean like the Bomber girls, adult performers from Interbike 20 plus years ago? Nah, I am talking about trying to keep the brand alive and viable in 2025.

[Roxtar]

Alright, who has a 37mm bushing reamer I can borrow/rent?

I have a buddy who has one. I can put you in touch.
BTW, it's not a reamer. Burnishing does not remove any material. It just compresses the material to the exact correct size.

[Roxtar]

Lol, you guys are rationalizing like someone with an old British roadster: "it's a great car, as long as you completely disassemble and reassemble it every 50 miles!"

OK, one more time:
As has been said often, the Mezzer is a great fork out of the box. Better than anything put out by Fox or RS.
It becomes an amazing fork with a few, easy to do, changes.

[toast2266]

Sexier marketing? You mean like the Bomber girls, adult performers from Interbike 20 plus years ago? Nah, I am talking about trying to keep the brand alive and viable in 2025.

Marzocchi is literally just low end Fox. Fox owns the company, and the 58 is just a 40 with lower end parts. The brand will stay alive as long as Fox sees value in separating their higher end and lower end products.

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[One (+) Sentence]

Marzocchi is literally just low end Fox. Fox owns the company, and the 58 is just a 40 with lower end parts. The brand will stay alive as long as Fox sees value in separating their higher end and lower end products. Sent from my SM-S931U1 using Tapatalk

For sure. Remember when Fox first aquired Marzocchi from Tenneco and they reconfigured their Rail damper to be the basic Grip damper? Ahh, those were simpler times... At some point though Fox may need to get leaner just like so many industry players today. Clearly they have not been investing much in the Marzocchi brand recently. I think I read somewhere on the internets that Marzocchi does not even offer a dual crown fork for a 29 inch wheel!? They just have that 58, whose name I believe is a mashup of 27.5 and 8 inches of travel.

[Marshal Olson]

It seems that Marz mainly exists to offer entry-level and price-point OEM options for dirt jumpers and similar applications, where the edgier logos fit Commencal or YT or whoever. Dont need to do marketing per se, as long as the OEMs keep speccing it.

Along these lines, the 58 exists for OEM spec on kid-sized rental DH bikes that are sold to bike parks. Or to put another way - the own the tooling, it works great for its application, it requires very little lift to keep it going, and it takes marketshare from Rockshox on a bike that would likely otheriwse spec a base level Boxxer.

[GoSlowGoFar]

Marzocchi make a nice budget option for a second bike or for people that are more set it and forget it/appreciate ease of maintenance with the open bath design. Combined with the OEM builds I'm sure they're doing well for Fox.

Now back to the regularly scheduled programming. Fox 38, Zeb, vs Mezzer (without the long list of mods) - go!

[One (+) Sentence]

Marzocchi make a nice budget option for a second bike or for people that are more set it and forget it/appreciate ease of maintenance with the open bath design. Combined with the OEM builds I'm sure they're doing well for Fox. Now back to the regularly scheduled programming. Fox 38, Zeb, vs Mezzer (without the long list of mods) - go!

I wonder if demand for OEM forks has stayed strong despite demand for complete new bikes having fallen off a cliff?

[GoSlowGoFar]

I wonder if demand for OEM forks has stayed strong despite demand for complete new bikes having fallen off a cliff?

Can't really speak to that but I'd assume that complete bikes are still the majority share of the market versus framesets.
Anyway, found a Zeb Ultimate 3.1 for cheap and bit the bullet "for science". Will report back on some comparisons to the Mezzer from a slightly overweight and a little above average rider's pov.