RockShox ZEB Ultimate Charger 3.1 review: this is the enduro fork to beat

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The RockShox Charger 3.1 ZEB is as fluttery and smooth as the marketing spiel claims it should be, with its performance living up to expectations.

But that impressive bump-glossing performance isn’t just down to the new 3.1 damper; the reworked bushings are behind a lot of the friction reduction.

The Charger 3.1’s lighter damping doesn’t equate to less support, however.

With the damper’s compression dials set to their middle positions, not only is the fork super-smooth, it's also incredibly well-composed.

Just like the latest Lyrik I also tested, RockShox’s updates help make the ZEB one of the best single-crown forks you can buy.

Whether you’re a hard charger or someone looking for more comfort, the ZEB offers the best balance of value and performance at £1,119 / $1,159 / €1,249. However, there are better forks if money is no object.

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How much does the RockShox ZEB Ultimate Charger 3.1 MY25 weigh?

RockShox’s 170mm-travel ZEB Ultimate MY25 weighs 2,320g with a 225mm-long steerer tube, which is lighter than the 2,341g claimed weight.

RockShox ZEB Ultimate MY25 performance

I tested the RockShox ZEB on my home enduro trails in Scotland’s Tweed Valley, fitted to the front of a Marin Alpine Trail XR.

Both the bike and terrain are befitting of the fork’s intended use, and it got a thorough workout.

I also tested the ZEB Ultimate back to back against Fox’s latest Podium Factory inverted fork, fitted to an identical Marin Alpine Trail XR.

A/B testing these two forks on the same trails and the same bike on the same days proved invaluable when assessing their performance.

This isn’t my first rodeo with the ZEB or Charger 3.1, so finding my ideal setup was straightforward.

Having ridden a botched-together ZEB for many years – which was originally fitted with a Charger 2.1 damper and then upgraded to a 3.1, and its air spring upgraded to the latest ButterCups version, and finally the lowers swapped out for the reworked-bushing models – I knew where to start.

For my 78kg weight, I inflated the air spring to 68psi and installed two volume-reducer spacers, giving 28mm or 16.47 per cent sag.

I set the low-speed rebound adjuster to fully open, and both the high- and low-speed compression adjusters to their halfway positions. During the initial shakedown ride, I increased the low-speed compression adjuster to +10 clicks from fully open, which is two thirds closed.

I left the fork set like this for the remainder of the test period.

RockShox ZEB Ultimate Charger 3.1 MY25 performance

The Charger 3.1 ZEB is seriously smooth.

It gobbles up bumps insatiably, reacting instantly to the slightest undulation, rock or root on the trail’s surface.

Moving into its travel without the slightest hint of stiction or resistance, the ZEB’s plushness and eagerness to absorb impacts feels virtually unbeatable.

It tracks the ground with absolute precision. This performance is a product of the wedded beauty of damper and air spring functioning in harmony.

Increasing the ferocity of the bump’s leading edge from round and mild to square and massive doesn’t result in harshness caused by choked compression damping.

Compound this further with successive harsh hits and still it doesn’t complain or falter, absorbing each and every one with total conviction.

Compression and rebound spikes are a thing of the past.

The fork responds perfectly, smoothing off the bump’s sharpness before it can enter your hands. The damper controls the impact, using its travel effectively but efficiently.

It feels eager to use its travel, but doesn’t dip unpredictably into its reserves when you aren’t expecting it to.

Once you get into the deep stroke, the air spring’s ramp-up takes charge, cushioning any potentially bump-stop bashing harshness.

Spring ramp-up is smooth. The spring curve is gradual rather than steep, helping reduce the chances of any heavy impacts catching you off guard. Instead of hitting a ‘wall of progression’ as you can with other forks, the transition to bottom-out is gradual.

Like the Charger 3.1 Lyrik RockShox has also updated, the latest ZEB likes to sit deeper in its travel compared to other brands' forks.

On less gnarly trails, the dynamic sag made me want to raise my bar by 10mm to 15mm to compensate for ride height losses or wind on more low-speed compression damping.

But resisting the urge to lift the bar to increase the ride height on less demanding tracks where your weight remains relatively static pays dividends when the trails get gnarly.

When tackling ferociously steep, gnarly and rough trails, the damper takes over to provide ample support, especially as you move your weight around the bike.

This results in a fork that doesn’t feel as though it has too much sag and the ride height feels spot-on – it’s clever stuff.

Although it’s now quite old, the ZEB’s chassis – first launched in 2020 – has stood the test of time.

It feels as stiff and accurate as ever, even as bikes and riders have progressed and pushed its limits.

Steering control is excellent, and the ZEB lives up to the phrase “you point, it goes” without so much as wincing – regardless of the terrain you’re riding.

Despite a few mishaps with the Charger 3 version – where bushing tolerances and damper tunes weren’t quite right – every iteration of the ZEB’s chassis, from the Charger 2.1 to the latest 3.1, has felt brilliant.

The chassis isn’t crying out for any changes to improve performance.

But hammer on the front brake down a steep, stepped and bumpy section before a sharp turn and the tiniest amount of harshness can creep in.

We’re talking minuscule amounts, here, although they can be felt in these scenarios.

Here, you’re essentially torturing the fork; the braking forces are trying to ‘bend’ it backwards and compress it simultaneously, just as each bump is, too.

Scenarios such as this potentially max out the forces put through the bushings, and ask a lot of the damper and air spring to handle at the same time.

Whether the harshness is caused by the bushings binding and releasing, the damper, the spring or a combination of all three, it’s impossible to tell – but it’s certainly present.

RockShox ZEB Ultimate Charger 3.1 MY25 bottom line

The ZEB’s had plenty of internal refreshes during its five-year lifespan, maintaining it as the benchmark long-travel, single-crown performer.

This latest Charger 3.1 iteration smooths over the harshness and inconsistencies of the previous Charger 3 model, providing some of the best small, medium and big-bump absorption on the market.

It’s deftly capable, no matter the terrain, although it’s not quite perfect. There are infrequent times when performance is bottlenecked, allowing the vaguest hint of harshness to creep in when you’re asking it to do the work of a dual-crown model. But this is being very picky indeed.

Combine the cost, weight (2,320g) and tuneablity, and this makes it the enduro fork to beat.

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