So I currently own both a Zeb ultimate and a 38 factory. The plan is to sell one and have the other custom tuned. I haven’t ridden the 38 but I’ve been pretty happy with the Zeb performance. It’ll be going on a transition spire if that matters.
Fox 38 or Zeb for custom tuning?
megablue
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Yeah I ran an x2 on my previous bike with no issues. I’ll run this x2 until it spews then buy something else while it’s off with fox. I mean I got an aluminum spire frame with x2 (both with 3 rides total) and a brand new 2022 38 factory for $2300 so I can’t complain. The guy is a service technician for fox as well so he did all of the updates to the x2 to hopefully be more reliableI've got a Super Deluxe with a Megneg on it now. Still playing around with it. I'm limited with a knee injury and the move. Plan is to get a few months on it and form a solid opinion of what I think of it, then ship it off to Avalanche. I yanked the X2 that came with it for the same reasons I ditched the 38
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either one has plenty of tuning options, vorsprung has the secus, smashpot, and luftkappe for the spring side of both. push (as well as some other companies) will tune the dampener of the grip2, avalanche will do a full dampner swap on either as well as their air-coil hybrid on both.. Both dampeners can be self tuned via shims as well.
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I’d go 38 with a vorsprung secus. I have a secus on a 36, and I’ve never ridden anything better. IMO the secus is the best money spent in pretty much any fork out there
If you are willing to go for it the Ext Era is money. Probably a similar cost to a custom tuned 48 or Zeb but works fantastic right out of the box.
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The Mezzer is pretty darn good fork stock. It's easy to service, but you're also allowed to work on it at home, which is rare nowadays. E.g. both the Ohlins and the Era forks must be sent to a service center it you don't want to void the warranty. May not be a dealbreaker for some, but I prefer working on my own gear.
If that isn't enough, then the Mezzer RRT from Rulezman might be another option to consider.
If that isn't enough, then the Mezzer RRT from Rulezman might be another option to consider.
M Suspension Tech in germany does Chargers and Grip IIRC. New pistons, shim stacks etc.
Fluid focus does custom tuning and runs their own dyno to graph the tunes.
I’ve had the mezzer in a previous bike. Went through a few of them and sold it off. Was tired of dealing with it. But I may give it another shot
You don't know where to begin because there is nothing wrong.
The ZEB is the stiffest single crown chassis by a long shot fact.
Mezzer and many other none FOX or ROCKSHOX can't be converted to coil via Smashpot etc... Steve already commented on a YouTube video a certain overseas tuner selling Manitou requested the Smashpot be made to fit the Mezzer...nothing came of that as it probably wasn't worth the cost from Steve's point of view. Some forks are already coil like the Ohlins and Formula but there is no after market mods for them so what you get out the box is what you stay with.
The FOX 38 probably will sell for more than the ZEB because it's FOX after all...
No out of the box single crown damper is better than an Avalanche and potentially the FAST SC4 too...I've purchased the SC4 so am yet to find out.
Tell me which points are incorrect.
Do you have the tests showing the stiffness of the Zeb compared to everything else?
I believe there are already some people running a coil in the Mezzer. Some on this forum from memory.
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I'd like to see some numbers to your claim that the Zeb is the stiffest. It's the fore-aft stiffness that kills suspension performance and in that regard the Zeb is very unlikely any stiffer than the rest.
Smashpot is a great aftermarket upgrade, but IMO not in anyway necessary to a well performing air spring, like the one found in the Mezzer or the Era. Hence the reason why Steve probably wouldn't make one, there simply isn't enough demand for such product.
No the ZEB isn't stiffer than the rest fore and aft intentionally as that is what beats you up and feels harsh if it's too stiff, they could have made it stiffer fore aft but chose not too...but it is twice as stiff torsionally.
From mountainbike-magazin
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From mountainbike-magazin
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I doubt that claim. I’ve read that the 38 is slightly torsionally stiffer. 90 percent is huge. My main focus is chassis stiffness since I’m a Clyde. I also read that the Zeb is significantly lighter and then it’s not. I need more than marketing and magazine engineering analysis to be convinced. If someone can provide legitimate data to prove the Zeb is 6-8% stiffer than my 38 then I’m on to the Zeb. It wouldn’t surprise me if Mountainbike-magazin feels Continental tires are far superior to other brands and justify that claim with their internally generated data.
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Most legitimate data you can find is probably this analysis.
www.vitalmtb.com
Are Upside-Down forks really flexy?
It was last spring, in the beginning of this pandemic that has turned our lives upside down, when we were having heated debates in the Technical Rumours topic regarding suspension, forks, dual crowns, right-side-ups, upside-downs, axle diameters, etc., when I mentioned much of it could be checked us
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You can reshim a Charger to make some gains without machining, but to make Charger and GRIP2 perform correctly needs modifications and new parts designed and manufactured.
M suspension Tech will have that capability.
Anyone else will be able to get 1-2 more shims in before the LSC needle doesn't reach anymore.
What issues did you have?
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I can’t get the link to work but I probably can find it. Vital is more likely than others to keep it real. The absolute worse fork I ever used, including rigid, was the Maverick DUC. What a flexible POS. Fore/aft it was great. Even for it’s time damping was mediocre.Most legitimate data you can find is probably this analysis.
Are Upside-Down forks really flexy?
It was last spring, in the beginning of this pandemic that has turned our lives upside down, when we were having heated debates in the Technical Rumours topic regarding suspension, forks, dual crowns, right-side-ups, upside-downs, axle diameters, etc., when I mentioned much of it could be checked us
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