2018 Fox 36 - First Ride
Fox's 36 didn't receive a massive overhaul for 2018, but that's because it didn't need one. After all, there's a reason it's the most recent recipient of Pinkbike's Suspension Product of the Year award. However, there were a few areas that Fox decided to tweak in order to make the 36 even smoother and more tuneable. The biggest change is on the air spring side, which receives an increased negative spring volume, as well as a simplified design that eliminates a seal and makes it even easier to add or remove volume spacers.
Fox 36 Details
• Float EVOL air spring
• 15x100, 15x110, or 15/20mm convertible thru axle
• 26", 27.5", or 29" options
• Travel options: 27.5” – 150, 160, 170 mm, 29” - 150, 160 mm, 26” - 100 mm (831), 160, 180 mm
• Price: Factory – HSC/LSC $1049, FIT4 $979
Performance Elite – HSC/LSC $959, FIT4 $889
• www.ridefox.com
One of the features that sets the 36 apart is the sheer number of available configurations. Looking for a 26” fork with a 20mm thru-axle and 180mm of travel? No problem. How about a 29” fork with Boost spacing and 160mm of travel? That's an option too. And on top of all the wheel size and travel options, the 36 is also available with three different dampers.
Damper Options
HSC/LSC: As the name suggests, this damper offers independently adjustable high- and low-speed compression damping
FIT4: FIT4 has three compression settings and 22-clicks of additional low speed compression in the fully open setting.
Fox 36 Details
• Float EVOL air spring
• 15x100, 15x110, or 15/20mm convertible thru axle
• 26", 27.5", or 29" options
• Travel options: 27.5” – 150, 160, 170 mm, 29” - 150, 160 mm, 26” - 100 mm (831), 160, 180 mm
• Price: Factory – HSC/LSC $1049, FIT4 $979
Performance Elite – HSC/LSC $959, FIT4 $889
• www.ridefox.com
One of the features that sets the 36 apart is the sheer number of available configurations. Looking for a 26” fork with a 20mm thru-axle and 180mm of travel? No problem. How about a 29” fork with Boost spacing and 160mm of travel? That's an option too. And on top of all the wheel size and travel options, the 36 is also available with three different dampers.
Damper Options
HSC/LSC: As the name suggests, this damper offers independently adjustable high- and low-speed compression damping
FIT4: FIT4 has three compression settings and 22-clicks of additional low speed compression in the fully open setting.
GRIP: Currently an OE-only option on the 36, the GRIP damper uses a spring-loaded internal floating piston rather than the bladder design found on the two higher end dampers. There are Open, Medium, and Firm modes, with micro-adjust positions in between those three main settings.
Air Spring Updates
The previous version of the 36 had a thin aluminum rod attached to the air spring side top cap, and adding or removing spacers required removing a tiny o-ring, sliding the desired number of spacers on, and then re-installing that tiny o-ring. It wasn't that difficult of a procedure to accomplish, but it was more involved than just unscrewing the top cap, pushing a volume spacer on and then closing everything back up, a design that was first used on the 34, and has now carried over to the 36.
Along with the simplified spacer installation, the 36's negative spring volume has been increased. Increasing that volume is intended to reduce the initial force needed for the fork to start moving through its travel, and to create a more linear feeling for the first 25% of the stroke. The 36 isn't the only fork getting the EVOL treatment—the 32, 34, and 40 forks will also have an increased negative air spring volume.
The EVOL label refers to the 36's increased negative spring volume.
Adding or removing volume spacers is simpler than ever.
Ride Impressions
The stock color of the 36's lower legs is a flat black, but the 160mm, 29” version that showed up at my doorstep had the bright orange lowers that usually signify that a rider is a Fox athlete. I'm not much of a social butterfly when I'm out on a ride (or ever, for that matter), but when you put a bright orange fork on a red bike it's even harder to fly under the radar, so I started heading deeper into the woods than usual in order to avoid playing 20 Questions with curious riders.
A sticker on the left leg lists the recommended air pressures, along with the suggested rebound settings. The range is fairly broad—it's in 30 pound increments—but it does provide a rough starting point. The recommended air pressures are approximately 5-9 psi higher than what was suggested for the previous, non-EVOL version due to the new air spring volume. I eventually settled on 73 psi and one 10cc spacer for my 160lb weight, with the LSC and HSC a few clicks in from fully open. I'd probably bump up those compression settings a little bit for riding harder packed trails, but because most of my rides involved soft ground, wet roots, and plenty of slippery sections of trail, I was looking for as much traction as possible.
In addition to suggested air pressures, the new chart also has recommended rebound settings.
A 29 x 2.5" tire easily fits, with room to spare.
The 36 was slippery smooth out of the box, and that smoothness was consistent throughout the entirety of its travel. No matter how rough the terrain, the 36 offered up plenty of mid-stroke support, and even when faced with sequential stair-step like sections of trail it never dove deeper than I wanted it to, remaining poised and ready for the next hit. That being said, I did find that my hands felt a little more fatigued after plowing through extended choppy sections of trail compared to the RockShox Lyrik that I'd had on my bike previously.
With the two forks set up nearly identically, I'd say the 36's tune feels more a little more 'race oriented', with support taking a slightly higher priority than overall comfort. Die-hard adherents to the 'stiffer is faster' school of thought will find a lot to love about the 36, while it may take riders looking for gobs of pillowy plushness a little longer to get the 36 dialed in to fit their needs.
 | While the updated 36 may not be wildly different than last year's model, the small changes do serve to keep it right up there at the head of the pack, and it's one of the best options around for anyone looking for a fork that remains unflappable at any speed, no matter how rough the trail. |
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On another note I have 26" 36 VAN RC2 I want to sell it. Perfect condition, ridden only for a year, just been serviced. Complete overhaul. Nobody wants to buy it for more than 100$. Everyone has a big mouth to say what they want, but they never buy it. Just a bunch of whiny asses on the internet. So if you want to put money where your mouth is, buy my fork for 300$.
Internet whiners aside - no sane person would spend a grand on an instantly worthless item
But I think it's naive to say "the bike industry did this or that" like it's a single brain making coordinated decisions. It isn't. The bike industry is 100's of companies, all pushing 100's of ideas. Some stick, others don't, for whatever reason. I think a lot of it is just pot luck
I own a 2011 36 van RC2 and tested the current 36 and 40's.
36 Van it's smoother than the current 36 and 40 out the box. By miles. 20x110 superboost QR axle. Easier to service. Fits 27.5 and shorter offset work better than longer.
Sell your fancy 27.5 fork and ride your old 36. Easy
-This was a 'jump on board' comment by someone with 26" and 29".-
This ↑.
This is consumer choice. Excellent news.
Luckily though, there is this thing called 'ordering'; it is really rather useful and my LBS (Ogawa Cycle in Toin in Mie, excellent place) gets on the phone to the Japanese importer for Fox ('Mom and Pops' just up the road in Ichinomiya, Aichi), who get you what you ask for.
Amazing eh?
We are talking 110 g for a spring. Seriously, the air tube plus the IFP and the other air spring parts weigh at least 70g or mabey more. So do not get it why coil forks are perceived as being heavy. It's surely not the coil's fault. So we actually should get proper forks, it is technically possible, and has been done before.
f.... you bike industry
Coil Spring > Air Spring regardless whether the air spring has been improved.
People don't necessarily prefer progressive sprig rates, they prefer their air shocks to feel like coils which I think is where you are confusing matters over linear/ progressive. I think what people really like is mid stroke and air just doesn't provide it so people throw a tonne of volume reducers in and raise the end stroke so far it's almost mid stroke - the fork ploughs through 50% but you never get full travel.
@adrennan makes a very good point and I'd take it a step further to say that a fork needs a coil more than the rear since it can't be helped out by the linkage. Why we still have coils for the back yet forks like the Lyrik and 36 with no coil option is a mystery to me.
i just bought the 380c2r2 ti (they share the same damper with the 350) and I can tell you it worth every penny.
I pair it with my 26inch process 167 (which I also bought recently because I didnt want to loose the last great freeride bike) and i roarrrrr like a dinosaur from forgotten times, ;-)
Cane creek pushing coil shock again. RS sponsored guys riding Boxxer team. Coil shock everywhere on EWS. Ohlins riders on coil forks. Gwin back on coil shock and probably on coil fork...
Air feels like a coil? I don't think so...
what i think is, since marzo is now fox, wouldn't be a good idea for fox, given the past expertise of the italians in coil stuff, to use the brand as a coil (and budget) friendly alternative to their ultra high end air stuff? my 50 cents...
i tried the 350 ncr of a friend for a week once. espresso and all. not a racey fork by any mean, really linear and uber sensitive, maybe lacking a bit of mid stroke support (but it can be that the spring was too soft for my fat ass), but damn it was smooooooooooooth, with a very noticeable effect of the compression damping setting when changed. i run a fox 36 talas normally on my enduro and while it's a harder hitting piece of equipment than the 350 ncr (and i feel it in my arms at the end of a run), i'd be more than happy to run a 350 nevertheless.
A 350 NCR Ti with 6N/mm spring and the correct amount of oil comes in at 2170g. 70 g more than the Diamond.
On the other hand, current air forks have next to no oil in them, which makes them feel ugly. Personally I don;t mind carrying 300g worth of coil and oil. If you really care that much of 170-ish g you can ditch the 200 ml of oil from the spring leg, and have a coil fork in 170 mm of travel under 2000 g, which I find amazing. Let the pikers have creaky CSU-s, sub-par small bump sensitivity and easy bottom out on top of that.
0 preload is nice, and you get it automatically with air vs having to find the exact perfect spring for metal.
Personally, I love that bottomless feel a nice progressive ramp up gives you. I don't know why you'd want a linear spring rate on a 160mm fork.
Coil shocks are different than forks, since different bikes have different linkages and compression ratios there is more of need to tune for a specific linkage design. It also seems to be easier to find shock springs in small weight increments. You can get 25lb increments now, although that's still a minimum 8% change on a 300lb spring. You're still out of luck if you wanted a 4% change + spring tolerances are not perfect and the lightweight springs can change as they wear.
You can achieve a progressive rate on coil forks playing with oil levels. Range of adjustment it's lower than on a air spring+tokens system but it works.
If you need some advice go for the softer spring, preloaded and increase lowers oil levels. It worked for me on both forks (888 and fox 36).
I don't see how changing oil level in an open bath fork would change progressiveness. How exactly would that work?
this is what gives a progressive feel in coil fork.
Also, I don't know what the tolerances are on an open bath, but you can't add significantly more oil than the spec before it hydrolocks and prematurely "bottoms".
@ThomDawson: Of course if you put too much oil, the fork can't get full travel (hydraulic bottom out)
I came off a fox 34 that just felt like a wet noodle no matter how I tuned it, and I rode a totem before that. The totem was amazing but heavy and sometimes a little harsh at very high speed. Hands down the marz 350 is the best overall out of the 3, but it does lose in the low speed small bump compliance department. It has to be ridden hard to come alive -- this seems to be a relatively common complaint w the new marz forks, but could probably be fixed if I just pulled the lowers and gave the seals a proper lube job
FYI: my 2014 Marz. RC# ti evo v2 feels lightyears ahead of the BOS, but has about 2 pounds and 30mm more travel.
Anyone out there doing coil conversions on air forks with good results?
Because it alters the air volume in the fork leg.
Because air spring causes too much friction.
Air preloading a coil spring is for fine tuning. And works very well. You don't need to worry about the seals exploding, as you only pump a small amount (usually 5-10 pumps, as opposed to 70 for an air spring.)
Much simpler to convert the 350 NCR Ti into open bath. That is if you feel that the DBC does not suit you. While not being equal to a true open bath, you can still add 40-50 ml of oil in the damper leg. If you don't like this route, your RC Ti Evo V2 Cart fits in the 350. Third option, but the most expensive, AVA for the 350 NCR Ti. Plenty of options there. Lastly, the 350 and also the 55 can be lowered, you need a shorter spring, but that is not difficult to find. Steel will do, as it is cheap and comes very close to the original Ti spring which weighs 155 g.
slikgraphics.
I don't care how well you tune your air sprung fork, it won't feel like a coil sprung fork, and that was precisely the point.
I don't care about the overal weight of the bike, because I train with 10-30kg dumb bells and 8-34kg kettle bells. And I am a relatively weak woose. I would be a whiny btch if I btched on how heavy coils are while I can do 10 pull ups, 20 chin ups, 60 legit push ups, I can keep the list going. Nothing special, but still... this is what I am getting at. Basic, fkng BASIC athletic ability. I can't deadlift more than 130kgs and can't deep squat more than 90. Barely do 1 rep of 80kg bench press. But it's enough to forget about 1 fricking kilo of weight added to the bike by two coil springs. It's like people who say you can't bunny hop or wheelie a bike with chainstay longer than 440. Fricking ridiculous... or those XC whiny wendys - I won't use a dropper cuz it makes me spend 18 fkng Watts per 1 hour... people are so freaking affraid of unrealistic physical discomfort, they are willing to put all sorts of mental discomfort to mitigate that. I get a coil and it is fkng set. When I get air spring and I fiddle with it all the time. Fk that.
And Fox doing this stupid air port on the iside of the inner leg like RS did in latest Solo Air- WTF?! Didn't they hear that majority of issues with Solo air forks was just that?! My Lyrik works great for most of the time (not as good as 36 Van Rc2) but sometimes it just behaves like it ate a can of black beans. Wanna bet it's issue with the air port getting jammed with lubricant?
Now as long as forks go, I can live with Air, but when it comes to shocks, sorry... there is just no comparison. I could take Float X2 or CCDBAir but the rest can suck a bag of socks. At least for VPP bikes and most single pivots, most air shocks are tyre pumps with rebound and a lockout. You want to pump a natural roller or a berm and they blow through. You want to press hard on pedal to get on top of a step on a climb and the whole bike goes down. And they all tell the same story since 10 years: first they said large volume cans solve the lack of support, then they introduced Boost Valve - same sht, then they made Corsets to increase the volume of negative air chamber - yes, three steps closer: 100 to go. And then you see pros inserting tokens into both positive and negative chambers... Off course they pedal well, off course they don't bottom out, but they fold when you pump sht.
We did this to coil shock so it feels more like air spring - said NO ONE ever. But everyone tries to say: We did this to this air shock so it feels almost like coil. More and more Enduro guys put coils on their bike, Most DH pros run coils on their DH bikes, most MX pros run coils front and rear, despite sponsors making air shocks - I know from World Cup resident horse mouth that many racers run coils under air caps.
Coils DO NOT look good on pictures of bikes with scale. Mountain Biking is dominated by cutting weight for the sole purpose of cutting weight. Cuz lighter the bike, the fas... hm... better, yea better it is better, somehow, yea it must be physics. Lighter and stiffer - that's what people want. Somehow noe one ever though about 26" wheels whis way. Cuz roll over and contact patch. And please note, I am a fan of 29ers. Do you think people understand roll over? NO, they just heard "it's better" enough times. Hey, maybe run 1,5ply tyre vs 1 ply tyre for better roll over, carrying momentum better? NO! That is breaching protocol 1 - must lower rotating mass wherever possible, and protocol 2 - must lower unsprung mass at all costs! - but what's that giant cassette hanging off your back w... - PROTOCOL 3 - must spin 90-110RPM with even pressure... seated!
No one who competently rides will agree that air feels like coil...even writing the words makes me laugh. Why then are several WC guys running coil forks when the latest and greatest from their sponsor is air sprung?
Reply all you want, but I won't be coming back and wasting any more time on this.
Right, the main issue is the transfer port carved on the inner side of the plunger, which does not exist on 2015-17 36.
That said, this precise transfer port is a real annoyment cause you cannot pour any oil by the top cap since it will goes down and being trapped in the negative air chamber, subsequently modifying the negative air spring volume...
So your fork will rely mainly on grease (because sticky) for "lubrication" of this section (like a pike), which mean to service your air spring very often if you wanna keep the smooth action (like a pike)...
So I don't really see the interest of suppressing one very small o-ring for sake of smoothness if you cannot use lubrication oil anymore...
It's possible but expensive: you have to change both stanchions (so upper crown assy) and spring.
@AlexS1: That would be awesome. Or even a single crown 40.
For 27.5, 36 sold as 160mm and those sold as 170 mm are different forks.
You can up those sold as 170 up to 180 but not the 160 mm version.
Changing from 160-170-180 on a 170 or 140-150-160 on a 160 is a 10 bucks trick.
he is 10kg heavier than me my 26 rolled way faster than his. why....? we started off shoulder to shoulder and freewheeled.
31.5 is on the way...
lol
One would think that a fork 'review' would mention whether any stichion was present, and in the absence of it in this article I suspect that it might be the reason why these things felt harsh to this 'reviewer'.
Of course there's always the possibility that he simply didn't/couldn't set them up properly too