2025 RockShox Vivid Coil and Zeb Ultimate Fork

Zeb Ultimate for 2025

A new Zeb? Well, not completely new. Actually not even mostly new, but somewhat new. The surprising thing to me is that the 180mm version of the Zeb Ultimate I'd been riding on the Norco Range VLT test bike, before this one arrived, is a very impressive specimen. It has excellent support through the middle of the stroke and stays active and responsive deeper in the travel when there are repeated high intensity impacts. On my first couple of rides I would brace myself for impact when facing a particularly deep hole or square-edged bump and was surprised when it never came.

This isn't a big surprise I suppose, considering how happy I have been with the Charger 3.0 damper and, to a lesser extent, the addition of Buttercups. While the terrain I ride most often is suitable for lots of travel, I'd never ridden a Zeb 180 before this either. Adding 10mm of travel and running a little less air pressure and damping, in the right terrain, feels great.

What is Actually New?

So how do you take an already great product and make it better? This is a case of Kaizen, the concept, adopted by Japanese industry in the recovery from WWII, of small and constant improvement. The new damper range doesn't provide much for me because I don't need more adjustment range on the Zeb (current settings on Zeb 180 62 PSI HSC-2 clicks out, LSC 8 clicks out, LSR 10 clicks out). Those who were topped out or bottomed out with either rebound or compression - or both - should be well served.

There is a measurable increase in the rebound speed of the 2025 Zeb when the knob is fully open, a 68% increase according to RockShox's measurement. If you want to go even faster you can do that by changing the shim stack. The closed position allows the same flow as the Charger 3.0. but it ends up provided slightly less damping because of the reduction in the system's friction.

2025 Zeb on Trail

I have only had two rides on the new Zeb but they were telling. The first one was surprising because the fork felt great right away. Usually a brand new fork feels a little stiff out of the box because fresh seals are sticky and lubrication hasn't circulated much. Instead, response off the top was excellent and everything felt nice and smooth. I didn't notice any difference between the new fork and the one I'd been riding for a couple of weeks, which is a very good sign.

On my second ride I decided to up the pressure a little. I'd been very happy with the settings mentioned above, at 62 PSI, but that reduced friction should let me up the pressure some for more support without impacting small bump compliance. I pumped it to 66 without any consequences and gave myself a little more margin for error deep in the stroke when things go sideways. Obviously two rides doesn't give me much to work with and the big story here is for riders needing more damping range, but so far I'm impressed with RockShox's effort to reduce friction in the system, and very happy on the red Zeb.

The two Zeb models available in the aftermarket are listed below but there is also a Zeb Select+ and a plain old Zeb you might see on new bikes.

Zeb Ultimate Details

DAMPER: Charger 3.1 RC2 w/ButterCups

SPRING: DebonAir+ w/ButterCups

WHEEL SIZE: 27.5”, 29”

TRAVEL: 150mm, 160mm, 170mm, 180mm, 190mm

OFFSET: 38mm (27.5”), 44mm (27.5”, 29”)

WEIGHT: 2,341g

MSRP: $ 1,159, € 1,249*, £ 1,119*

*includes VAT

Zeb Select Details

DAMPER: Charger RC

SPRING: DebonAir+

WHEEL SIZE: 27.5”, 29”

TRAVEL: 150mm, 160mm, 170mm, 180mm, 190mm

OFFSET: 38mm (27.5”), 44mm (27.5”, 29”)

WEIGHT: 2,309g

MSRP: $ 896, € 968*, £ 864*

*includes VAT

Vivid Coil Ultimate vs. Vivid (air) Select+

My first rides on the new Vivid Select+ (air) were immediately before the Vivid Coil was installed and I was already impressed. It has a very coil-like feel thanks to its large volume and it is very responsive at the top end of the stroke. It has the smooth and floaty feel of coil but with a little more support through the meat of the travel. I found this to be great for popping off wedges and generally keeping the bike higher in its travel wheel still dealing well with higher intensity impacts.

In fact, there were a few sections of trail that I felt like I was riding faster than ever and with as much or more control as I had previously on the Vivid (air) Ultimate. So these were big shoes to fill. Obviously part of this relates to the suspension layout and design and the Range VLT has a high pivot with idler pulley designed to isolate the suspension from pedalling forces and soften square edges thanks to a partially rearward axle path. So much of the credit goes to Norco's work here, but a good design will only get you so far without a competent damper.

My first rides on the Vivid Ultimate Coil were on a very long descent near Princeton in B.C.'s Okanagan and then three days in Naramata at Megavolt where the terrain is often very fast, sometimes quite smooth, but often bony and strewn with square-edged bumps. It's a demanding arena for suspension.

On the 1350 metre (4500') descent there were many sections where the soil was loose but contained to a narrow line so you could float and drift and generally laugh your ass off at high speed. The Vivid Coil felt great here but the requirements weren't very demanding, and I'm sure the Vivid air would have given me a similar impression. I didn't notice any degradation related to heat at all after long sections of trail.

Naramata was a new ballgame but the shock performed extremely well, particularly in very rough and rocky sections. It gets into the travel even more easily than the Vivid air and I felt like I could carry speed very well. I had no issues with bottom out in Naramata but the bike felt a little more glued to the ground than I'd like. I missed the comparatively poppy feel of the Vivid Air when trying to lift over obstacles or pull for backsides.

I was on a 375 lb spring for 25% sag on the Range VLT. The spring rate felt bang on in most circumstances but not all. As mentioned earlier, I missed the support of the air spring but a second situation was when pedalling through rough sections. The Range's wheel path has a significant rearward portion which could make it less responsive in those situations but it felt to me like I was getting too deep into the travel. I didn't have a chance to compensate with any knob twisty but Chris Mandell's response was, "with an air shock you could fine tune your spring rate by adding a couple of pounds of pressure, something that isn't an option with a coil." He thought a little more rebound damping could have helped and some tuning likely would have produced a result, but I hadn't noticed this same issue with the Vivid air. At the same time this was in a competitive situation so I was pedalling harder through sections than I would when just riding with buddies but if you are a competitive rider this may be something to consider. I'll keep working on my settings and see how it feels in similar situations.

Touchdown

Touchdown is a damping feature on the compression side that reduces breakaway force for the first 10% of your travel before the main damping (controlled by the HSC dial) is engaged. Since this is less than your sag, this is only in play when the bike is returning from the air or after being almost completely unweighted.

Chris Mandell told me, "what we wanted was really good touchdown feel to track the ground really well." Your spring is going to hold you up and keep you at sag and top you out when you are unweighted, so touchdown helps the wheel to track the ground really well between those points.

The Damping Circuits

There is both velocity sensitive damping and position sensitive damping on the compression side. The initial 10% is position sensitive (Touchdown) and then for 11% to 80% the damping provided relates directly to the speed the shaft is travelling at. (HSC) For the last 20% of your travel, there are both position and speed sensitive elements. The HBO (Hydraulic Bottom Out) it is both position and speed sensitive. The damping engages because of the position but the amount of damping it provides is based on shaft speed.

Vivid To Do List

After working on the wallow I feel in some pedalling situations, by adding some rebound damping and maybe some compression, I think I'll swap back again and see if my impressions line up with what I noticed when I went from air to coil. I feel quite happy on the Vivid Coil but I suspect I'll be happier still when I swap the Vivid air back on. The only way to determine this with some certainty is with back to back testing.

DAMPER: RC2T

HYDRAULIC BOTTOM OUT: Adjustable

SPRING: Coil

WEIGHT: 902g

MSRP: $ 619-649, € 699-729*, £ 629-659*

*includes VAT

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