Video: FOX 38 Factory Vs ROCKSHOX ZEB Ultimate

So you have an e-mtb and you want to put the best fork on it that money can buy? Well it’s not easy to choose, so we took two of the very best forks and did a comparative test. Same bike, same trail, same settings, same lines, which one did we prefer?

Video

Which One?

It’s not easy to choose a fork and both forks out of the box are top forks from the two biggest mtb suspension manufacturers. So following on from a test we did years ago, we felt the best idea was to get both forks fully serviced, set up the same and then mount them on a bike suitable for our test and ride each one back to back.

The bike was a Lapierre GLP2 one of the ultimate e-mtb race bikes, with a Bosch motor and 500Wh battery. The bike has 160mm of suspension on the rear and 170mm up front. It has a mullet setup so 29″ on the front and 27.5″ on the rear.

With The FOX

With the ROCKSHOX

The Verdict

After hours of riding we felt that the ZEB Ultimate was our prefered fork. Compared to the FOX 38 Factory it was more linear and gave the bike better pop. The FOX was a marginally more comfortable fork to use and was more progressive. However the times when you actually need the progression are few and far between so we felt that the 38 was more suitable for very extreme riding or racing. The ZEB Ultimate was the better day to day fork that also ironically is slightly cheaper at an average price of $1200 compared to the FOX’s average price of $1800.

Our test was by no means extensive but in the end the proof is in the ride and in day to day conditions and a good rider the ZEB won out. More predictable with its more linear ramp up, it was more fun and less effort to ride with.

Watch the video and leave a comment about your favourite fork.