Fox 34 RAD Prototype?
At the Specialized/SRAM Enduro Series race at Lake Garda this weekend, we spotted a new fork on the bikes of Nico Lau and Dan Atherton. At Sea Otter, Fox showed us some updates to the 34 line, but did not mention a RAD version of the fork, which is their Racing Applications Development programme. We know Nico's Cube Stereo is 650B and we are pretty sure Dan's GT Force LE has been modded to take the larger wheel size, so we know that much about the fork, although Fabien Barel, the other high profile Fox rider in the race, opted to run a 36RC2 in the race, so we haven't seen a 26" version of the fork, but assume one must be forthcoming.
![Uppers 2]()
![The axle]()
On the outside there seems little to separate the fork from the production version, as far as we could see it was pretty standard. Inside we can only guess as nobody was too keen to talk about this on the record. We know Barel was running a Mojo-modified damping cartridge in his 34 earlier this year, so we wonder if that's filtered up to the factory programme. We would also hazard a guess that they have borrowed some of the spring leg technology from the new air-sprung 40.
![The compression adjuster.]()
![Spring leg.]()
![Nico Lau piloting his 34 RAD to 3rd in the Lake Garda enduro.]()
This is the giveaway - both Dan Atherton and Nico Lau were running RAD-badged forks in the race.
At the axle there was little to report.
On the outside there seems little to separate the fork from the production version, as far as we could see it was pretty standard. Inside we can only guess as nobody was too keen to talk about this on the record. We know Barel was running a Mojo-modified damping cartridge in his 34 earlier this year, so we wonder if that's filtered up to the factory programme. We would also hazard a guess that they have borrowed some of the spring leg technology from the new air-sprung 40.
A standard CTD adjuster sits on top of the compression leg of the fork.
On the spring leg it's just a blank, blue cap like Fox air forks have always used.
Nico Lau piloting his 34 RAD to 3rd in the Lake Garda enduro.
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and now i've been sad since i re-read it
With all the respect Matt: actual press releases of ready made products are usualy stupid enough... this is really: due to the depressing lack of other news we show you stickers and knobs!
what's that? six-fifty-bvzzzzzz - what? a siX!!! Fif-TY!!! - pause - Bvzzzzzzzz - come again - bvzzzvzzzzzzz
ok ok twenty seven fi...pfffff - twenty seven and a haeeelpfffff... it's twen-ty! sevyn! Fiiiiipfhhhhfff...
This new wheelsize is so good & exciting but the name is so long that I just can't spell it... I was so much better when I bought a twony naenaer! Naenaeeeer Daerp!
And I jizz in my pants
Open my window and a breeze rolls in
And I jizz in my pants
When atherton passed me on a rad fox 34
I jizzed in my pants
I just ate a grape
And I jizzed in my pants
I went to the, jizzed in my pants
(Okay, seriously you guys, can we? Okay?)
or am i missing a point ?
and strudel is awefull..
I f*cking love Apfel Strudel! Especialy in Vienna! And Germans could give you their beers, Weissbier ist fantastich! German sausage is awesome as well. You want a historical fk up? Deal with Soviets!
amsterdam can sink in the ground for all i care.
and i love russia.. lil bit corrupt.. but at least they dont f*ck up like europe does.. democracy is a lie !
i rather have an honest and open dictator,..,
I "love" the line of Mr Bernard Shaw: "My friend Stalin and his doctrine were very promising, but he just started killing wrong people!"
a friend is just a person who didnt attack yet.,.
If someone does not see a paralell to bike-journalism, or any " gear test/review" in any industry - the he/she is really deluded. it is not hard to manipulate people at all. That's what you do - you take a guy having access to masses, that is quite positive towards your product, and you kill his scepticism completely (real sceptics are only few, they are irrelevant, they have too small audience) - you show him around all the best you have, you flatter his intellect and skills, and he comes back to his desk 100% convinced (I mean truly convinced) that the shit you shown him is perfect! He likes it so much, that all he wants to do is to tell other people how great it is. That's why ability to critical thinking is extremely important, and how "stoke" is often nothing more than cliché, useful for the third party. All action sports marketing swings around it - "Make people stoked about what you do!" - how often we ask ourselves: but really - who gives a shit about what he/she does? Why should someone watch my GoPro on my FB profile?! Who should really give a fk? - one answer: your friends and family - who else do you fkn need?!
And the world carries on as usually...
Their forks require too much maintenance for the nw, unless you like working on your stiff while others are out riding. And if you don't maintain it internal parts get destroyed sometimes (scratched up staunchios). Marzocchi coil forks are smoother and 100 percent more reliable, I'll take the weight penalty.
Also every summer Fox's service center gets so backed up it takes forever (sometimes over a month) to get non-warranty shocks and forks serviced. This is an obvious sign of a company making unreliable products, they can't keep up with their own failures. But they will never go out of business cause they charge so much for everything.
But instead of finding expensive ways of making it better (exotic materials, precision manufacturing,..) I would appreciate them to look for way of making the manufacturing eco-friendlier for instance. Or making it cheaper obviously or offer more color options. There must be more into brands image then just straight out performance. And I don't see any of these options (including making it cheaper) as a loss of money for producer.
Racing Applications Development programme it sounds to Pro for most of us