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Some developments in bike sport are rubbish. Internally routed cables, for example. They look smart, but anyone who has ever spent hours poking around in the frame to fiddle cable housings through tiny openings knows what I'm talking about.
Or internal batteries on E-Enduros: visually a gain, but because of them, E-Enduros are heavier than ever. But hey, it looks great! The bulky e-bike frames with their slender forks don't look so great. We suspect that's why the bike companies said to the fork manufacturers: "Build us something thicker!" Nice benefit: Sam Hill, Martin Maes & friends got miniature downhill forks for their miniature downhill bikes - because that's the direction enduro racing has taken - in a miniature downhill cup on similarly nasty tracks.
So here they are, the big ones: the Fox 38and the Rockshox ZEB. Thicker. Bigger. Badder. And therefore visually more suitable for large-volume e-bikes. So job done? Everyone happy? We are sceptical. Is more weight being added to the bike just for visual reasons? Are the two big hulks better than their siblings Fox 36 and Rockshox Lyrik? Both newcomers have a larger stanchion tube diameter of 38 millimetres in common. And both have been given a much more massive casting. You can see that on the scales. The front is 200 (Rockshox ZEB) to 400 grams (Fox 38) heavier.
In the laboratory, the increase in mass is effective. The torsional and braking rigidity of both forks outperforms the slim models by up to 30 %. Few owners of a Lyrik or 36 will have complained about problems in these areas. We at least have always been happy with the performance. So how does the extra stiffness and weight benefit the customer?
You can download the complete test duel of the two enduro suspension forks from FREERIDE 3/2020 as a PDF below the article. The test costs 1.49 euros.
Why not free of charge? Because quality journalism has a price. In return, we guarantee independence and objectivity. This applies in particular to the tests in FREERIDE. We don't pay for them, but the opposite is the case: we charge for them, namely tens of thousands of euros every year.
