Zeb Select + 160mm Mixed Bag

[Gutch]

I’m 215 in gear and run stock tokens, 100 psi, and feels pretty darn good. I use all my travel 90% of the time and zero harsh bottom. I did bump to 170. The Zeb feels really good. I’ve owned the new Fox 38 factory and bother right in line with each other IMO.

 

[Orangie]

Omg. Your nuts. 215 / no tokens / 65 psi. Yet to bottom. Even on 6 ft drops. I think the select is actually better than the ultimate. Best upgrade to date. And I’ve done em all

 

[Kernow]

Iam blown away with my zeb , I just went with the trek stock settings and it was near perfect out the box . haven’t felt the need to mess with tokens . Will do a service soon though .

 

[Orangie]

215 pounds. 65 psi. 20% sag Trek and rockshox say 85 psi. Wtf. Fork feels absolutely amazing. Butter , and super supportive. Idk

 

[Stanpipe]

Similar problems with hands getting numb. I have an Ohlins ttx coil rear shock so no surprise Zeb Sslect + couldn’t keep up, Have now completed the Vordprung Smashpot Coil conversion on Zeb.
A-Maze-Ing!!!!

 

[JMD]

Zeb select+ 170mm, 72psi, 1 token, 30% sag, 92kg.

 

[MadTurnip]

Was off the ebike for a few weeks and riding the regularly bike. A rockshox sektor. Going back to the Zeb (Select+) once again massive issues, 1 minute into a trail having to stop due to hands going numb also. The bike was put up to a higher pressure the last few weeks, so cycled the fork at some lower pressures and will see does that help.
A few weeks back I felt I was getting used to it but I think I'm going to do a lowers service on it and remove all the tokens.

170mm
50psi
(default tokens - 2?)
sag 30%
weight 70kg.
Using 90% of the travel, will drop back to 47psi.

Bike is a beast up at speed and the fork works buttery smooth but at slower speeds and small bumps its horrendous. Something must be up, I've been following the thread for awhile but I feel maybe my issues were disappearing but after I've been on the regular bike going back you really notice it.

 

[Gutch]

My few miles on the Rail the Zeb select felt awesome. Stock tokens, 95psi, 170mm airshaft, 210# kitted. Felt really good like as good as a Factory 38 I’ve owned on my decoy.

 

[Gutch]

Was off the ebike for a few weeks and riding the regularly bike. A rockshox sektor. Going back to the Zeb (Select+) once again massive issues, 1 minute into a trail having to stop due to hands going numb also. The bike was put up to a higher pressure the last few weeks, so cycled the fork at some lower pressures and will see does that help.
A few weeks back I felt I was getting used to it but I think I'm going to do a lowers service on it and remove all the tokens.

170mm
50psi
(default tokens - 2?)
sag 30%
weight 70kg.
Using 90% of the travel, will drop back to 47psi.

Bike is a beast up at speed and the fork works buttery smooth but at slower speeds and small bumps its horrendous. Something must be up, I've been following the thread for awhile but I feel maybe my issues were disappearing but after I've been on the regular bike going back you really notice it.

Have you tried Treks recommended base line settings? They worked good for me as a solid starting point.

 

[MadTurnip]

Have you tried Treks recommended base line settings? They worked good for me as a solid starting point.

I don't actually have a Trek just in here giving out about the fork mostly. Using Treks setup of the Zeb ultimate on a Slash 9.9 2021, it gives me very close values to what I have been using 52 recommended vs my 50 and only one compression setting off. This is very far off the 63 psi rockshox are recommending through there website.

 

[Gutch]

I don't actually have a Trek just in here giving out about the fork mostly. Using Treks setup of the Zeb ultimate on a Slash 9.9 2021, it gives me very close values to what I have been using 52 recommended vs my 50 and only one compression setting off. This is very far off the 63 psi rockshox are recommending through there website.

Oh, gotcha.

 

[Mikerb]

Was off the ebike for a few weeks and riding the regularly bike. A rockshox sektor. Going back to the Zeb (Select+) once again massive issues, 1 minute into a trail having to stop due to hands going numb also. The bike was put up to a higher pressure the last few weeks, so cycled the fork at some lower pressures and will see does that help.
A few weeks back I felt I was getting used to it but I think I'm going to do a lowers service on it and remove all the tokens.

170mm
50psi
(default tokens - 2?)
sag 30%
weight 70kg.
Using 90% of the travel, will drop back to 47psi.

Bike is a beast up at speed and the fork works buttery smooth but at slower speeds and small bumps its horrendous. Something must be up, I've been following the thread for awhile but I feel maybe my issues were disappearing but after I've been on the regular bike going back you really notice it.

If it is small bump compliance that is the issue I doubt whether removing tokens will make a difference. Have you tried playing with rebound and low speed compression settings? You should be about 13 clicks from full slow on rebound but could try going more open ..........if that helps then balance your low speed compression setting with it.

 

[MadTurnip]

If it is small bump compliance that is the issue I doubt whether removing tokens will make a difference. Have you tried playing with rebound and low speed compression settings? You should be about 13 clicks from full slow on rebound but could try going more open ..........if that helps then balance your low speed compression setting with it.

Yeah, I agree. One of the reasons I haven't bothered with it. Low speed compression is fully open (it doesn't seem to make much difference in fact if any at all which seems odd).

I've tried quite a few configurations at this point hence moving to the lower leg service. Need to order some oil first though. I will admit I didn't really equalize the fork previously properly but did it fully today so I'll do some laps at the bike park and see how I get on.

If I recall correctly my Zeb only had 12 clicks of rebound on the fork and I'm currently running it at 6 from full slow.

 

[Mikerb]

OK so whilst you are trying it out speed up your rebound and progressively wind in some low speed compression. LSC is there to smooth out the smaller and slower travel movements as well as provide support under constant load like on a berm, so you definitely should have some LSC set.........and too slow rebound will negate the LSC

 

[MadTurnip]

OK so whilst you are trying it out speed up your rebound by at least 6 clicks...maybe a couple more.....and progressively wind in some low speed compression. LSC is there to smooth out the smaller and slower travel movements as well as provide support under constant load like on a berm, so you definitely should have some LSC set.........and too slow rebound will negate the LSC

Thanks, I'll test it out. Just to be clear the maximum amount of rebound clicks is 12. I can only go 6 more and thats the fastest rebound.
My reasoning behind the LSC compression was that its already so harsh so adding more will hardly make it better? But its worth testing out.

 

[Mikerb]

OK....but 6/12 means you are halfway but you are light and running a lower psi in your air spring so I think it makes sense to open rebound up another 2 or 3 clicks and try that with your LSC as is...............then try it with progressively more LSC.

 

[Orangie]

I’m glad I got the select. It’s wicked good right out of the box. I think the charger damper in it is better then the bladder deal. It’s miles better then lirik ultimate

 

[MadTurnip]

Thats a very low inflation pressure so I suspect the fork is not equalized or excess grease is preventing it from equalising. I assume you meant rebound was was 3 or 4 clicks from fully open rather than from closed?? If not I suggest you reduce your rebound to that.
You could try slowly deflating the fork then re inflating it by pushing the fork through c 30% of its travel every 10 psi. Do that with compression fully open. Inflate to c 80 psi and see where you are then with SAG. If that makes no difference I think you need to consider a lower leg service either DIY or via a lbs/suspension specialist.

Just an update on my issue from above.
Just as this post says my issue was the pressure between both air chambers was not equalizing (probably due to excess grease clogging it up completely).
After deflating down to lower PSI's I noticed I was losing a huge amount of the fork travel and even up at 50-60 PSI the fork was at a minimum of 20% sag with all weight removed from the fork.

I was able to get the forks air chambers equalized by letting out all the air from the fork then inserting a zip tie in through the seals to release air from the lower legs. With the zip ties still in I pumped the forks up to the recommended PSI for my weight. I cycled the fork a few times then removed the zip ties. At this point the forks full travel was available and its performing much closer to how I expected it to run.

@Mikerb I'm guessing there will still be excess grease where the air chambers join and this will likely have a performance impact on how the fork works or just on setting it up?

 

[Mikerb]

Just an update on my issue from above.
Just as this post says my issue was the pressure between both air chambers was not equalizing (probably due to excess grease clogging it up completely).
After deflating down to lower PSI's I noticed I was losing a huge amount of the fork travel and even up at 50-60 PSI the fork was at a minimum of 20% sag with all weight removed from the fork.

I was able to get the forks air chambers equalized by letting out all the air from the fork then inserting a zip tie in through the seals to release air from the lower legs. With the zip ties still in I pumped the forks up to the recommended PSI for my weight. I cycled the fork a few times then removed the zip ties. At this point the forks full travel was available and its performing much closer to how I expected it to run.

@Mikerb I'm guessing there will still be excess grease where the air chambers join and this will likely have a performance impact on how the fork works or just on setting it up?

A lot of issues with "brand new" forks is that they were probably in stock .....laid on their side.........then installed on the bike....for potentially months before it was ever used. Well done for "burping it" and getting it working..........hopefully now that the fork is working through its travel it will sort itself out but worth rechecking for air under the wiper seal a few times over the next few rides. If that persists the fork will need a lower leg service to rectify it.

 

[MadTurnip]

A lot of issues with "brand new" forks is that they were probably in stock .....laid on their side.........then installed on the bike....for potentially months before it was ever used. Well done for "burping it" and getting it working..........hopefully now that the fork is working through its travel it will sort itself out but worth rechecking for air under the wiper seal a few times over the next few rides. If that persists the fork will need a lower leg service to rectify it.

Cheers, thanks for all the advise lads much appreciated.

 

[teamFM]

I had similar experience with my Select plus Zeb being too stiff and giving me excessive arm pump. I am 230 lbs fully loaded and tried it with all LSC removed and lowered air pressure. I even added OneUp bars and lowered the front tire pressure to about 19 psi which helped but didn’t solve it entirely. Trek serviced my forks to ensure there was nothing wrong and there was not. They mentioned the Select plus (Charger 2.1 RC) damper is tuned to about a medium compression when compared to the Ultimate Damper (Charger 2.1 RC2) on the lowest compression setting. I ended up upgrading the damper and now run it on the lowest HSC setting and 6 clicks of LSC. I am also at about 82 psi rather than the 91 recommended for my weight and this took care of my issues entirely. I am still playing with the settings a bit but its great now. This change increased my speed in a rocky rough section I ride from about 21mph to 29 mph because its so smooth.

 

[Motohawk75]

Any further updates to set up with the zebs ?
Stock on my rail 9 they were way stiff, tried x1 token only and 60psi which felt nice on slow speed but bottomed hard on the first decent drop !! Not good !!
im around 80kg ready to ride and need a set up that’s good for all round riding ,single track, jumps , drops etc just having fun, std my rail 9 had no front end grip and it wouldn’t hold a line that well, Trek calculator has me at 79psi and 24mm sag
??

 

[Mikerb]

Personally I have not found pressure recommendations on either Fox or Rockshox anywhere near accurate for me on any fork which leads me to wonder exactly how they do their assessment. It could be that they use a jig on a set off forks not mounted in a bike to determine how much force is required to compress them to the optimum SAG. If that is the case their assessment is based on a set of forks with the standard tune ( usually medium across the board) and standard number of tokens for an off the shelf product, and with a direct bench press force.
BUT....Most brands specify their own tune for forks fitted to their bikes and for EMTBS that often means a higher compression tune and possibly 1 or more additional tokens.
In addition to those changes, achieving the optimum SAG of between 25 and 30% whist stood on the pedals is likely to exert far less force on the forks than a direct bench press, and vary from bike to bike due to differences in geometry.

So in summary, achieving the optimum SAG as recommended is good guidance. What air pressure is required to achieve that can vary significantly.
It is therefore more often than not the case, that for many people, the air pressure requirement is far less than the manufacturer's suggestion and as a result the forks also then need to be made more progressive by adding more tokens.
I have had far fewer issues getting both forks and shocks to work well when bought as stock as opposed to the "tuned" versions fitted to bikes...............the exception to that has been my Whyte E180 RS whose fork and shock are amazing..........but then Whyte had retained the stock medium tune.