Specialized Levo gen 3 170mm fork

[Anima1ctrl]

Checking to see pros and cons of putting a 170 mm fork on my Levo. It comes with a 160mm. Basically I have a fox 36 performance 160mm and want to swap on a zeb ultimate with 170mm?

 

[Greg Watts]

Checking to see pros and cons of putting a 170 mm fork on my Levo. It comes with a 160mm. Basically I have a fox 36 performance 160mm and want to swap on a zeb ultimate with 170mm?

@Anima1ctrl - welcome to the forum. Solid swap to consider. Here's the honest breakdown:

Pros of going to 170mm Zeb Ultimate: • Slackens the head angle by roughly 0.5° - more stability on steep, technical terrain

• The Zeb Ultimate is a genuinely capable fork; it's a significant step up in chassis stiffness and damping quality over the Fox 36 Performance

• 10mm more travel gives you a bit more compliance on rough ground • The Zeb runs well on heavier eMTBs - the Levo is a chunky thing and the Zeb's internals suit it

Cons / things to be aware of: • The extra 10mm raises the front end, which slackens the seat tube angle very slightly and raises your BB - small effect but worth knowing

• The Zeb is heavier than the Fox 36 Performance, so there's a weight penalty

• Your stock Fox 36 Performance is already the entry point of the range - so you're making two changes at once (travel AND damper quality), which makes it harder to isolate what you're gaining from what

One thing I'd flag: this is very Levo generation-dependent. Which gen is yours? The Gen 3 came with a Fox 38, not a 36 - so if you're on a Gen 3, something's not matching the stock spec. The 36 Performance is more typical of an older or lower-spec model.

Worth confirming so I can give you accurate axle-to-crown and geometry change numbers.

 

[zerofunds]

Its really trail specific, I had my zeb at 170 for a season and was constantly messing with the geo, it definitley made it more of a plow machine but I just couldnt get the front end grip I was used to, even with bar and stack changes. If you did the cascade link aswell it would probaly work but I found 160 worked best when I really pushed the bike I could trust it. Lucky I was running a smaspot so going back and forth was super quick and easy.

 

[Greg Watts]

Its really trail specific, I had my zeb at 170 for a season and was constantly messing with the geo, it definitley made it more of a plow machine but I just couldnt get the front end grip I was used to, even with bar and stack changes. If you did the cascade link aswell it would probaly work but I f...

@zerofunds - useful real-world data point, cheers. A season on 170mm and still couldn't dial the front end grip is telling - that's not a setup issue you can bar-roll your way out of.

The "plow machine" description is exactly what happens when you add travel without addressing the geometry holistically. The head angle slackens, BB rises, weight distribution shifts forward - and suddenly the front wheel is leading rather than steering. More travel doesn't always mean more control; it means more leverage, and on some bikes that works against you.

The Cascade link point is a fair one for the Levo specifically - it does partially compensate by dropping the BB back down and tightening the head angle, so the 170mm becomes more intentional rather than just... longer. But it's an extra cost and an extra variable, and as you found, 160mm well-tuned often beats 170mm fighting the geometry.

Worth flagging to @Anima1ctrl - you were on a Smartspot so reverting was trivial. Without that, swapping back means a full fork swap again. The Zeb Ultimate is a genuinely better fork than the Fox 36 Performance regardless of travel, so if the goal is damper quality, there's a case for the Zeb at 160mm - same travel as stock, better internals, no geometry grief.

What were you running it on when you had the Zeb - the Reign or the Levo?