2027 RockShox Lyrik and ZEB | Trail and Enduro Specialists

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It’s 2026, which means it’s time for 2027 products! RockShox Lyrik and ZEB have gotten full makeovers, with new chassis, air springs, and dampers across the board to modernize these forks with some standout features we haven’t seen before. Lyrik and ZEB haven’t changed their use cases, and they’re right at home on anything from trail to enduro bikes despite all the changes. Forks aren’t the only category getting an update. Both Vivid and Super Deluxe are also receiving updates for 2027, so check out those blogs if you want the lowdown on the latest rear shocks as well, but here we’ll focus on just the new forks. 

Earlier this year, Boxxer received its 2027 update, and quite a few of the changes released on that platform have made it into the single crown family. A LinearXL air spring and Charger 3.2 damper headline the list of changes, as well as the addition of Adjustable Bottom Out to control the last bit of fork travel. While a number of RockShox shocks have an integrated bottom out control, this is the first time we’ve seen it applied to the front end of the bike, and we’ll break down exactly what’s going on internally later in the article. All of those changes are wrapped in an entirely new chassis that features some cut outs and sleek design choices that add up to a very modern looking fork.

Chassis

Both the Lyrik and ZEB have a very similar list of features, so let’s first explain what’s different about the two chassis. Lyrik is sticking with 35mm stanchions, and ZEB is still using 38mm stanchions. Nothing too exciting there, but the travel range offered for each fork has been updated. Lyrik now comes in between 140 and 170mm of travel, and ZEB is offered in between 150 and 180mm of travel. A 170mm Lyrik has been off the menu since the ZEB launched in 2021, but after a hiatus, it has returned for 2027. There are lighter riders looking for a 170mm fork that find the ZEB too stiff or heavy for their taste, so the 170mm Lyrik is a lower weight and more compliant offering. 

On the flip side, ZEB is no longer offered in 190mm of travel. That doesn’t come as a surprise, as there just aren’t that many riders looking for a 190mm single crown fork. Brandon Semenuk did pilot a 190mm ZEB to the top of the Rampage podium a few years ago, but that’s a pretty darn niche use case, so RockShox gave it the axe for this generation. 180mm is the max for now, which is about the max we see specced on single crown bikes these days. 

As for the chassis updates, the crown of both forks have been updated to be stiffer and more efficient uses of material than before, as have the lower leg arches. The arch now has a plastic sleeve slung across it, which doubles as a fender mount. Rather than just bolting onto the arch and lower legs, fenders now sit themselves on the arch as they’re bolted in place. I assume that gives them a bit more structural integrity, and makes them a bit easier to line up for installation. With no fender or plastic fairing installed, I think the arch looks a bit goofy, but you could run it naked and save a couple grams if you’d like. RockShox claims that fenders are sold separately, but we’ve popped some boxes open and found that the short direct mount fenders are included with the fork. There is also a longer fender that can be purchased separately, which is what we’ll be running come November. 

Windows on forks seem to be hot these days, and there are a couple of cheeky windows slung low in the arch and even a couple right by the axle for good measure. Window shoppers breathe a sigh of relief. Between the two windows are the updated graphics on the lower legs. Rather than using stickers, RockShox now has a clear coat over their logo and the Lyrik/ZEB printed on the inside of the left leg. That means you can’t peel these off and install a custom color like previous generations, but you can still place a sticker directly over them if you need to get custom. These redesigned decals give a very minimalist design aesthetic, and almost make the fork look like a preproduction prototype from the angle where you can’t see the model of the fork on the inside of the left leg. 

Inside the lower legs, the stanchions have a new feature, with a name that got a giggle out of me the first time I heard it. ButterWagon. This slightly ridiculous name is describing a pretty cool feature that RockShox implemented first on the Boxxer, and now on the Lyrik and ZEB. The non exposed portion of both stanchions have a matrix of dimples that will collect bath oil from the lower legs as the fork compresses and bring that oil back to the top of the fork to redistribute it across the bushings. Keeping the bushings fully lubricated will increase sensitivity and longevity of any fork, and these little dimples are delivering wagons of butter every time your fork cycles through its travel. While both ButterWagons and ButterCups reference butter, they’re quite different in function and execution, but both contribute to the fork’s overall performance. 

Attached to the updated crown are the relocated bleeder valves. These have gotten a major facelift and are now slimmed down to a much smaller footprint and even a smaller red button. Giving them a press allows for the familiar burp of air, and these will be most useful on rides with large elevation or temperature changes. Attaching these at the crown had me confused initially, as their role is to purge air that’s trapped in the lowers, so how could air in the lowers escape through the crown? A little explanation from RockShox went a long way here. On the damper side, there’s no separation between the lowers and the stanchions, as the damper is a self contained unit with air flowing all around it. Over on the air side, the air spring is now a tube in tube system, a departure from the plunger style air spring used in the previous generations. That allows air to pass through the lowers into the stanchions, which wasn’t possible with the previous design. Read on for further air spring details. 

LinearXL Air Spring

All of the new 2027 air sprung RockShox components are built around a LinearXL air spring, rather than DebonAir style of the previous generation. LinearXL is a twin tube design that is completely self contained, rather than the old plunger style that used the chassis of the fork as a member of the air spring. Like the name suggests, the LinearXL air spring has an overall more linear leverage curve throughout the travel, even through the end stroke. Don’t worry, you can still stuff it full of volume spacers to get all the progression your heart desires, but the idea is that this more linear air spring will give a wider range of tunability for those looking for an incredibly linear feel. RockShox claims the more linear performance is more predictable and more supportive through the mid stroke. 

In an effort to achieve peak air fork linearity, RockShox has even added the AirAnnex at the bottom of the air side lower leg of both the ZEB and the Lyrik. The purpose of that cavity is extra volume for the air trapped within the fork chassis but outside of the air spring to occupy while the fork is compressing. Giving it a little more volume makes the fork more linear, and allows it to perform exactly how RockShox intends. That little cap on the AirAnnex may look removable, but you should refrain from exploring its secrets. Removing that cap is a one way ticket to bummer town, and RockShox tells us that it’s not as straightforward as you’d expect to put it back together. There are no options for playing with the volume of the AirAnnex, and it’s only bolted on rather than casted as a part of the lower legs to bring manufacturing costs down. 

Air pressures in the LinearXL air spring are going to be much higher than in the previous Debonair or Debonair+ air springs as a result of the higher volume. At my 180lbs weight, the recommended air pressure is ~140 psi, compared to ~90 psi in the previous generation. The max pressure is also way up, with 300 psi being the new maximum. I assume that a heavier rider who found the max pressure limiting on the previous generation will have a better chance of getting the support they’re looking for from this new generation of Lyrik and ZEB. 

Right next door to the AirAnnex is the final party trick of the LinearXL air spring: Adjustable Bottom Out, or ABO. We haven’t seen an adjustable bottom out feature like this on a fork before, and it’s always exciting when something new comes to the table. RockShox has implemented adjustable hydraulic bottom out systems in their shocks for years now, but their forks do not use a hydraulic system. At the bottom of the LinearXL air spring is a bottom out bumper, and the ABO dial adjusts where that bottom out bumper engages and provides damping to the system. When fully “open”, the bottom out bumper engages in the last 7mm of travel, and when fully “closed”, the bottom out bumper engages in the last 17mm of travel. There are 8 clicks of adjustability to tune exactly where you’d like that support to engage, and it gives more merit to this incredibly linear air spring RockShox has cooked up. 

While it isn’t hydraulic, and it certainly isn’t the first bottom out bumper on an air spring, the adjustability is certainly a welcome feature, especially considering that these new forks can be set up as very linear or very progressive forks. When filled with volume spacers, you may want your ABO fully “open”, or if you’re in linear mode, “closed” may be a better option. The tinkering potential is nearly limitless with the new ABO feature, or you can just leave it in the middle and call it good! 

Charger 3.2 Damper

While this is far from a complete overhaul, the Charger 3 platform has received the 3.2 update for 2027. Overall damper architecture hasn’t changed, and the only internal difference between Charger 3.1 and 3.2 is the tune used in the fork. With decreased friction in the fork chassis and a more linear air spring, RockShox found that a stiffer compression tune worked better with the total package of Lyrik and ZEB. It’s still dead silent, still has LSC, HSC, and Rebound adjustments, still has ButterCups, and is still one of the best dampers out there, but not much is changing for model year 2027. 

Atop the Charger 3.2 damper are the compression knobs, and RockShox is going above and beyond with making setup as easy as can be. There are now numbers printed right on top of the knobs to streamline the language around counting clicks and how riders should go about setting up their dampers. All forks should arrive in the “0” clicks position of LSC and HSC, right in the middle of the adjustment range, and they clearly mark which direction is less compression and which direction is more compression. That makes it easier for riders who are new to the suspension setup game to dip their toes in, and is a welcome change for the experienced tuner who doesn’t need recommended settings to get perfectly dialed. Start with the dials in the middle and experiment from there! 

Rebound still has the turtle and the rabbit guiding your click direction, and recommended settings based on air pressure are included on the fork legs like always. 

Backwards Compatibility

With how many Lyrik D and ZEB A generation forks there are out in the world, I know folks are hoping to upgrade their internals without splurging for a whole new fork, but that’s not possible with this generation. The Lyrik E and ZEB B use a completely redesigned chassis, and RockShox does not condone using the LinearXL air spring or Charger 3.2 damper in the previous gen forks. It sounds like these new parts will physically fit in the old chassis, but the performance will not be better than the previous air spring or damper because they’re optimized to work with the new chassis as a complete system. So the official recommendation is to stick with your current air spring and damper, and if you want the new internals, you’ll need a whole new fork. 

Conclusion

With such a long list of additions to Lyrik and ZEB, RockShox is really stepping up their latest generation of trail and enduro forks. Adding the 170mm Lyrik back into the lineup is sure to be a crowd pleaser, and the modern looking lower legs with the minimalist decals really make these new forks look fancy. A new product looking truly “new” and different from the previous generation is important to some riders, and these new forks tick that box nicely. While we haven’t gotten a chance to ride the latest and greatest Lyrik or ZEB just yet, keep an eye out for some more hands on performance reviews later this year!