RockShox Vivid Ultimate 2027 Rear Shock

RockShox resurrected the Vivid in 2023 with bold claims of coil-like performance. You know, what most brands say about their large volume gravity air shocks. However, if there was ever a time that the marketing hype lived up to expectations, it's been with the Vivid. Incredibly light and active off the top, but supportive and controlled under compression, the Vivid has been one of the best, most coil-like-feeling air shocks we’ve ridden.

For model year 2027, the Vivid receives a few changes aimed at reducing friction as much as possible to get the shock moving quickly and consistently, and adding more damping to gain control and support. They’re also leaning further into creating a truly linear spring curve. It’s not as significant a leap in performance as the last Vivid, but marginal gains are gains nonetheless.

What's New?

The Vivid remains RockShox's burliest gravity air shock, aimed at enduro, eMTB, and downhill riding. Of course, you can run whatever shock you’d like, but if you’re riding a bike with less than 150mm of travel, you’ll be better served by the Super Deluxe. It works great, and comes in a lighter, tighter package.

If you read my first ride review of the Boxxer and Vivid Coil, then you can skip the next few paragraphs because the changes made to Vivid are exactly the same as those made to Vivid Coil, plus the new LinearXL air spring.

The new reservoir uses cleaner flow paths that let oil move more easily in and out. In particular, a new rebound refill path offers a much more direct return for oil from the reservoir to the shock. This makes the shock more responsive and, in combination with a new base valve, allowed RockShox to lower the IFP pressure from 200 to 120 PSI without risking cavitation. A lower IFP pressure means a much lighter breakaway force. They also switched to the same Maxima SGN20 grease they’re using in their forks to lower friction.

With the shock moving much more freely than before, additional damping was added to provide controlled support—especially during low-speed compression. RockShox actually said it’s more like mid-speed damping now, coming into effect at faster shaft speeds. The range of adjustability is still wide, making each of the five compression positions quite usable. Support at bottom out is achieved through the Adjustable Bottom Out (ABO) feature, which dictates compression damping for the last 20% of stroke. You can also add bottomless tokens to make the spring curve more progressive.  

Overall, the new Vivid moves through its stroke with less system friction and at a constant rate. This means consistent, predictable response regardless of compression speed. The initial stroke is very light, the mid-stroke is well supported, and bottom-out is controlled through ABO, bottomless tokens, and a new jounce bumper.  

Models

The Vivid is offered in five models—Vivid, Select, Select+, Ultimate, and Ultimate DH. Only the Ultimate models are sold aftermarket, while the other options are only available as OE.

Ultimate models offer the most adjustability, including adjustable bottom-out (ABO), high- and low-speed compression, low-speed rebound, and a threshold lockout for pedaling (Ultimate). As you go down in spec, the number of external adjustments decreases. However, all models feature the new base valve and main piston.

If you buy a new bike with a Select+ model or lower, installing the Ultimate RC2T reservoir upgrade kit is a cheaper way to acquire all external adjustments without cashing in on a new Vivid Ultimate shock.

Vivid Ultimate	Vivid Ultimate DH
New LinearXL air spring New RC2T damper Externally adjustable low- and high-speed compression, rebound, Adjustable Bottom Out (ABO), and threshold climb lever MSRP: $ 779, € 850*, £ 760* (*includes VAT)	New LinearXL air spring RC2 damper Externally adjustable low- and high-speed compression, rebound, Adjustable Bottom Out (ABO) MSRP: $ 779, € 850*, £ 760* (*includes VAT)

Vivid Base	Vivid Select	Vivid Select+
New LinearXL air spring New R damper Externally adjustable rebound OEM only	New LinearXL air spring New RT damper Externally adjustable rebound and threshold climb lever OEM only	New LinearXL air spring New RCT damper Externally adjustable low-speed compression, rebound, Adjustable Bottom Out (ABO), and threshold climb lever OEM only

First Ride Impressions

After an unexpected shock issue in the middle of our 2024 brake shootout left me buying a Vivid Ultimate from a shop in the Whistler village, I spent a proper six months riding it on a Giant Reign.

First Ride Impressions

After an unexpected shock issue in the middle of our 2024 brake shootout left me buying a Vivid Ultimate from a shop in the Whistler village, I spent a proper six months riding it on a Giant Reign.

What I remember most during that time how well the shock worked with minimal setup. I set sag, ran adjustments in the middle, and made it two months before realizing it had a hydraulic bottom-out adjustment. The shock was crazy light right off the top matched with a bottomless feel. It also didn’t feel as progressive or reactive as other air shocks. It steadily built support as I’d move through the travel, but I rarely actually noticed bottom out events. I’ve had multiple friends who owned the previous Vivid share similar sentiments about its abilities.

I bring up how good the previous Vivid performed because, thus far, the New Vivid has felt basically identical. The biggest improvement has been a touch more ground feel and suppleness early in the stroke. It’s felt more active during moments when you need your rear wheel to stick to the ground. Otherwise, all the qualities that made the previous Vivid so popular apply to the new Vivid—it has a narrow but practical range of compression damping to work in support and control, and can manage some really big hits without feeling like it’s wallowing through its stroke.

There is one significant caveat, however. I’ve been testing with a Specialized Levo SL, and I don’t think the bike’s kinematics play nicely with a linear shock like the Vivid. The bike relies on FOX’s Genie shock to achieve ramp at the end of travel. It also has a lot less mid-stroke support. Without it, I had to run a compromised setup, backing off LSC to sit deeper in the shock during the majority of the stroke, and then had to add two volume reducers, close ABO, and add +1 HSC to avoid harsh bottom outs. And at the end of the day, it still felt like a Band-Aid setup that didn’t do the Vivid justice. Live and learn.

Luckily, plans are already in motion to compare the old and new Vivid on a bike with a typical, progressive leverage rate. This should be an easy way to highlight the nuanced differences between the shocks. I’m eager to see the outcome as I won’t be the one conducting the test. But from my time with the shock, it’s proved to have similar abilities to the previous Vivid and hinted at a few areas where it's improved.

View key specs, compare shocks, and review the newest from RockShox in the Vital MTB Product section.