Fox's new Trail Fork Family: the 36 & 36 SL

A Couple of new Fox 36s

The 36 has been in the Fox line up for over two decades now. Remember the Brown 36 TALAS RC2? Oh my goodness that was a vibe. It was a thing of beauty and lured people with the 110-150mm travel adjustment that lost inches as the days went by. It wasn't a particularly well-engineered product, but at the time it was a game-changer in heavy hitter, single crown forks along with the Marzocchi Z1 FR1. During the last 20 years, Fox has put a lot of effort and thought into making the 36 better. Until about 3-4 years ago, it still did triple duty, covering all the bases from dirt jumping to long travel trail riding. Lighter riders still covet the elusive 170mm 36s that are no longer available.

When a product has to cover all those genres, it has to compromise somewhere. To give credit where it's due, the 36 did very well in the long travel category until the 38 took some of that heavy-hitting brunt off. Enter the new Fox 36 and 36 SL models, to split the platform's duties even further.

Splitting 36: One Name, Two Distinct Forks

For 2025, the 36 naming separates into two travel and use case categories. The Fox 36 SL which I have been riding for the last month and the All Mountain 36 which I do not have any valuable time on, but hope to have soon. The 36 SL aimed at shorter travel bikes, and that chassis is offered in 120, 130 and 140mm travels. I have been riding the 140mm Factory with Grip X damper on the Scor 2030. Prior to the 36 SL, the sneaky fast Scor had seen a couple of generations of RockShox's Pike and a Fox 34 - I ran a back-to-back test with two of those forks.

The takeaway from that testing was that while the 34 was a lighter, snappier performer with its Kashima stanchions and Grip X damper, the Pike with the Charger 3.1 damper was stiffer on the corners and did slightly better in controlling the bumps on the short travel trail bike, though it was heavier than the outgoing 34. Yes, the 34 as we know it is now gone making way for the 34SL which is optimized for XC racing. Replacing the 34 is the 36 SL. I think we have something special here.

What's New with the Fox 36?

Apart from the 34mm stanchions now measuring 36mm for a fork serving the same riding category, the chassis is entirely new for both the 36 and 36 SL. The design of the lowers removed all unnecessary material from the arches for a lighter, stiffer and, in my opinion, a better looking fork. The 36 SL now covers the 120 to 140mm travel category while the 36 AM will come in 140, 150 and 160mm travel lengths. While they may look the same from a difference, the two 36 models use different crowns and lowers, and have a minor difference in air shafts. As you'd guess from the name, 36mm stanchions are the same for both forks.

The new 36 SL weighs 1,755g (3.86lbs) compared to 1,743g for the outgoing Fox 34.

The 36 SL is a 29" only fork while the 36 will be offered in 27.5 and 29" options in both 37 and 44mm rake options for 27.5 and 44mm for 29" version.

Float Glidecore

Fox's new Float Glidecore technology now suspends the airshaft on flexible upper and lower O-rings in the stanchions. While I forgot to grab a photo of this at the presentation, it is a system designed to allow the airshaft to flex with the lowers to prevent binding in more demanding load situations. The result is a smoother air spring and less friction on hard cornering or rougher trails. The 36 SL does feel smoother both off the top and towards the end of the travel. I have noticed the effects of the stiffer chassis and Glidecore on my test sample. I imagine all the little improvements have been adding up to a bigger difference in trail feel compared to the outgoing 34. The 20mm increase in bushing overlap is also a contributing factor to the stiffer and smoother feel of the new 36 SL. On the 36 the bushing overlap is 30mm bigger.

The lowers being an all new design, there are other changes to the things we were once familiar with. The air bleed valves are now lower in profile and do not need to support the mudguards. The mudguards/fenders now are offered In both short and long versions and fit both the 36 SL and the 36 without having to remove the bleed ports. The new design is sleek and less prone to breaking on shuttle pads or wheel cradle bike racks. Also new on both 36s is the switch to the Shimano cassette tool to remove the air spring top cap. I am not sure how I feel about this. The previous hex cap worked really well for handy mechanics or any one who has Knipex pliers handy. The new design requires a non-guide pin Shimano cassette tool and I don't have one. I guess I need to go buy a new tool. Great!

The brake mounting specs are slightly different again with the new 36 SL and 36. While the 36 SL gets 180mm native mounting on the lowers with a 203mm max rotor size, the 36 gets 200mm native rotor size with the option to go up to 230mm.

Fox 36 Specs

• Wheel Size: 29, 27.5
• Travel: 140mm, 150mm, 160mm
• Rake: 37mm, 44mm (27.5”); 44mm (29”)
• Axle: Kabolt, 15QR on Performance Series
• Rotor Size: Direct Mount 200, up to 230
• Air Spring: FLOAT EVOL Compliant
• Steerer: 1.5” Tapered
• Starting Weight: 1920g (29” 160mm GRIP X)

Fox 36 SL Tech Specs

• Wheel Size: 29
• Travel: 120mm, 130mm, 140mm
• Rake: 44mm offset
• Axle: Kabolt SL
• Rotor Size: Direct Mount 180, up to 203
• Air Spring: FLOAT EVOL Compliant
• Steerer: 1.5” Tapered
• Starting Weight: 1755g (29” 140mm GRIP X)

On the Trail

After Fox installed the 36 SL on my bike in Scottsdale, I spent the following week riding in the area and back on the North Shore in very favourable conditions. The trails in Arizona were slippery with sand and full of square-edged impacts. The lightweight 36 SL did extremely well on Sedona's rocky trails. There were no hesitations pulling for optional gaps and drops with the air spring set to 75psi and the Grip X damper closed most of the way. Back on home soil, the traction was noticeably better than in Arizona. With dirt at the right moisture levels and the roots clear of mud, It was easier to push the bike to higher speeds on trails like Ned's and Paul's. The airspring did a great job holding me up except for one or two miscalculated landings. With the Scor often overshooting jumps, I have landed to flat more than I would like to admit. This effort found the bottom of the travel on the fork with an ugly "clang!". Installing another volume spacer or increasing the air pressure in the system to 77-78psi might do the trick. The fork feels comfortable enough that I am not worried about small bump sensitivity just yet. I will most definitely experiment further.

Verdict

While part of me is pleased with the existence of a dual 36 platform that caters to the shredcountry bike category that prioritizes performance and weight savings, I am left thinking "what am I missing without the 36 on the little bike?" Should they have named the 36 SL differently to separate it further from the 36? Ultimately, more time on a variety of surfaces is needed for a concrete opinion.

The weather has been exceptionally wet lately, so there hasn't been a ton of 36 SL time available. But one thing is certain, the 36 SL has been performing better in every way than the 34 I had previously on the Scor 2030. The synergy between the chassis, air spring and damper leads to a more refined ride compared to the flexy and more nervous nature of the old 34. The results are closer to the way the Pike Ultimate 3.1 performs on the bike, but at a much lower chassis weight. This is a welcome change. The Fox 36 SL looks good and works great so far. I am looking forward to putting more miles on the bike this spring to get ready for the season ahead.

Fox 36: 749 - 1199 USD / 999 - 1,599 CAD / 999 - 1,609 EUR / 1,299 - 2,099 AUS

Fox 36 SL: 699 - 1,149 USD / 939-1,539 CAD /939 - €1,539 EUR / 1,199-1,999 AUS