Everything you need to know about RockShox’s updated suspension range – Pinkbike

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RockShox has made a slew of small and not so small changes to their 2025 suspension range. This time it’s more about refinements than massive overhauls, but significant changes have been made to almost every trail and enduro-oriented fork. and shock in the setup. The good news is that many of the changes are backwards compatible, at least with the previous generation shock or fork, allowing riders to upgrade their existing suspension without purchasing an entirely new unit.
Charger 3.1 Damper

Perhaps the biggest news is the Charger 3.1 damper. Well, that and the fact that the Zeb is now available with a candy apple red paint job… If you’ve been following along, RockShox usually gives an integer (Charger 2, Charger 3) when there’s a really big change to a damper, and goes with a decimal if it is a less drastic revision. Charger 3.1 is the latest, and its main feature is an extensive customization range. That means riders have a wider range of low- and high-speed compression to choose from. The number of clicks is the same, but it is now possible to have less low-speed compression or more high-speed compression damping than before.

According to RockShox, 68% more oil now flows through the low-speed circuit, meaning lighter riders or riders who prefer less low-speed compression have more viable options. The change will also be good for new riders who preferred the feel of the previous Charger 2.1 damper – that damper had less LSC and more HSC than the Charger 3 that replaced it. Coming up with a damper tune that works well for a wide range of riders is tricky, and if you go too far in one direction, riders may struggle to find a setup that works for them.

Together with the increased oil flow, the new damper has a larger compression pyramid at high speed. That larger size provides more oil flow restriction when compression is fully closed at high speed, increasing the amount of damping.

To further assist riders who typically need more or less damping than the stock tune, RockShox now offers a $30 damper shim kit that comes with the shims needed for a standard or heavy compression tune, and a Light, Medium/Standard, or heavy rebound melody. Rebound shim tuning is also available for Charger 3 dampers, which is good news for riders who couldn’t achieve rebound settings quickly enough.
The final two design changes to the Charger 3.1 worth mentioning are a stiffer coil spring in the internal floating piston to handle the increased oil flow, and a new recoil spring in the center of the valve that also provides reduced compression damping.

Based on the lessons learned from the Boxxer, RockShox updated its bushing manufacturing process and implemented it on the 2025 Zeb, Lyrik and Pike. The changes to the manufacturing process were intended to improve consistency and ensure that all models as little friction as possible in the buses. After all, it doesn’t matter how wide the compression range is on a fork as long as there is friction in the seal or bushing to counteract it.

The new damper is available separately for $358 USD and is compatible with Pike C1+(2023+), Lyrik D1+(2023+) and ZEB A1+(2021+). Alternatively, it is possible to purchase just the Charger 3.1 piston kit, which includes the piston assembly, IFP spring, tuning shims and the Charger 3.1 High Flow Piston Tool. Those parts cost $75, and can be easily exchanged during a 200-hour service.

New Pike Air Spring

For 2025, the Pike gets an updated air spring that has a larger negative air chamber thanks to a hollowed-out air cap. The increased negative air volume should make it easier to initiate the fork movement, making it feel smoother off the top. That air spring is backwards compatible with all C1 (2022+) Pike forks.

For me the pike is the winner Most improved price in this series of updates. While I was a big fan of the earlier Charger 2.1 Pike, especially the B1 air spring era, the first pass of Charger 3 never felt quite right for me. While the level of support was impressive, the top end of travel was tough compared to the previous generation. This updated air spring combined with the more effective damping range in the 3.1 damper brings the Pike back to its former glory.—Dario DiGiulio

New Vivid Coil, updated SuperDeluxe

Moving on to RockShox’s rear shock models, the story is once again more about refinements and revisions than dramatic overhauls, although there is a new Vivid Coil shock that will replace the SuperDeluxe coil.

The Vivid Coil has the same ‘TouchDown technology’ as the air-sprung Vivid, which bypasses the compression damping of the main piston during the first 10% of the suspension travel. The idea is to make the very beginning of the stroke as smooth and responsive as possible, for more grip and a smoother feel when the rear wheel returns to the ground.

At the end of the stroke, the Vivid Coil has an adjustable hydraulic bottom-out function that affects the last 20% of the stroke. There’s also a stroke-specific bottom-out bumper that complements the hydraulic bottom-out to keep things running as smoothly as possible. The Vivid Coil Ultimate costs $619 – $649 USD depending on configuration.

The SuperDeluxe air shock features a new high-flow piston that produces less high-speed compression damping than the previous piston design to prevent the rear wheel from feeling like it’s sticking under hard impacts. There’s also a lighter rebound control plate, another step to make the transition from compression to rebound as smooth as possible.

large quotes I’ve used the Vivid Coil on two different bikes with drastically different features and capabilities, and enjoyed it on both platforms. One of these is the Frameworks Trail Bike, a more traditional combination for a shock like this – and unsurprisingly it feels quite good. The top end traction is great and the damping adjustment is clear and meaningful, just like the Vivid Air released last year.

On the other bike, a trail bike with 135mm of suspension travel and fairly progressive kinematics, I found a nice spot on Vivid with little fuss. Pulling back the HBO fits the bike’s character nicely, and I’ve found that adjusting the damper can change the shock from powerful and grippy to firmer and sportier within the same spring rate.

—Dario DiGiulio

The latest change to the SuperDeluxe is the addition of a new air can called the ‘Linear XL’. It is said to give the SuperDeluxe a feel closer to that of the Vivid, with a softer initial hit and the potential to have more progression thanks to the ability to fit eight volume spacers. That air can costs $97 USD.

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