Sizzling on the heels of final week’s 34 SL for the XC and downcountry crowd, the larger, stronger Fox 36 forks get an entire reboot, too. They take every thing that’s new and nice in regards to the 34, then add much more new tech to make them the smoothest, stiffest, greatest forks they’ve ever made.
Right here’s every thing it’s worthwhile to know…
TL;DR – What’s New?
- Two new fashions optimized for various segments
- Generative designs for lighter, stiffer forks
- New 36 rides like a 38 however tons lighter, good for all-mountain
- New 36 SL replaces 34 with stiffer fork at a decrease weight for path riders
- New Compliant Air Spring reduces friction beneath lateral masses
- Similar bushing overlap & bypass channel relocation upgrades as new 34 SL
Curious? Let’s dive into the main points…
Divergence within the Forks
For a very long time, the Fox 36 has dealt with a slim vary of “all mountain” efforts with a single chassis, starting from 150mm to 160mm in journey. Under it was the 34 for 120-140mm journey, and above it the 38 for every thing else that didn’t require a twin crown fork.
Now, the road expands into two forks, and fully rearranges Fox’s mountain bike fork hierarchy.
The 36 SL is available in 120-140mm journey for riders pushing the boundaries of a path bike, and the 36 is available in 140-160mm journey for riders hucking more durable on all-mountain bikes however who nonetheless need one thing moderately light-weight.
So, the brand new fork lineup goes like this:
- Fox 32 Step Solid – 100mm weight weenie XC bikes (160mm-180mm brake rotors)
- Fox 34 SL – 110-130mm XC to downcountry (180mm-203mm brake rotors)
- Fox 36 SL – 120-140mm light-weight path bikes (180-203mm brake rotors)
- Fox 36 – 140-160mm path to all-mountain bikes (200-220mm brake rotors)
- Fox 38 – 160-180mm enduro bikes (200-220mm brake rotors)
The aim was to offer the 36 SL the stiffness of a 36, however the weight of a 34. And to offer the 36 the stiffness of a 38, however the weight of a 36.
To do this, they developed two fully completely different chassis. Right here’s a take a look at every fork’s upgrades, beginning with the larger 36…
2026 Fox 36 Tech Particulars
Beginning on the massive aspect, the brand new 36 has an all-new chassis, designed to save lots of numerous weight, giving aggressive riders massive fork efficiency with out the massive fork weight.
They are saying it rides extra like a 38, stiffer and smoother, however with a claimed weight of simply 1920g…just about the identical because the prior mannequin. Of their phrases, “Massive Fork Vitality, minus the burden.“
To do this, they turned to the identical generative design course of as the most recent 32 Step Solid, which gave them a place to begin. Then, they refined the design into one thing that’s manufacturable (and appears good). The result’s an arch with home windows, placing materials solely the place it’s wanted, but yielding a fork with 20% extra torsional stiffness.
A few of that stiffness additionally comes from longer bushing overlap. The prior 36’s bushings had been spaced 132mm aside. The brand new 36’s bushings are 162mm aside, offering 30mm (~23%) extra overlap than earlier than and 20mm greater than the Fox 34 SL.
It suits as much as a 2.6″ tire, begins with 200mm brake rotors, and makes use of their clamped floating axle dropouts.
2026 Fox 36 SL Tech Particulars
Utterly optimized for the path class, the aim was all-mountain / enduro stiffness, however with a trail-bike weight.
And it’s the lightest 36 ever. The claimed weight is simply 1755g, nearly as gentle as a 34. So, yeah, nearly 200g lighter than the brand new 36 and, in Fox’s estimation, 152g lighter than a Rockshox Pike RC3.
A lot of that weight financial savings comes from the straightforward undeniable fact that it has much less journey, however Fox nonetheless optimized every thing to chop grams anyplace they might. Whereas it appears to be like related, the 36 SL has a distinct crown, stanchions, and lowers. Mainly, it’s fully completely different.
Inside is an optimized air spring for the shorter journey, and its personal generative design on the crown and arch that makes the fork 20% stiffer than the 34 it replaces.
The lowers are additionally a unique casting and meeting, which is an enormous deal as a result of Fox might have saved some huge cash sharing the tooling between each 36 fashions. However they didn’t as a result of they wished to optimize this fork for weight financial savings.
Key variations from the 36 are that this one suits as much as a 2.5″ tire, begins with 180mm brake rotors versus 200mm, and it makes use of the Kabolt SL via axle, not a floating axle.
Shared Updates
The air spring will get an replace top-out hat and bumper that work collectively to melt the blow on high outs. It’s not a quantity spacer or tuning software, it’s already a part of the air spring’s tune.
Price mentioning: All of Fox’s dampers obtained an enormous improve in 2024, and these forks get all the varied damper choices. Which means, you may get all the smoothness enhancements whereas selecting the specified tuning stage or becoming your finances. Additionally, should you’re within the newest 32 Step Solid, which additionally debuted in 2024, learn our protection and evaluate for extra.
Each the 36 and 36 SL additionally now use a Shimano cassette software for eradicating the air string high to make quantity changes, and each additionally get up to date strain launch valves with a brand new notch so air can escape from beneath your finger once you press all of it the best way down.
How Fox made them smoother
The brand new 36 forks get the identical updates because the 34 SL, plus new tips. Learn my 34 SL launch protection for extra particulars, however right here’s a recap of the 2 key options:
Bypass Channels moved to the perimeters
The bypass channels that allow air transfer from the underside of the lowers into the area into the hole between the bushings strikes from the rear of the decrease legs to the aspect. This reduces deformation and friction scorching spots on the bushings, serving to the fork slide extra easily.
Longer Bushing Overlap
The stanchion’s bushings are as much as 30mm additional aside, higher spreading the load between them to cut back friction beneath onerous fore/aft stresses.
New “GlideCore” Compliant Air Spring
That is the massive new factor. Fox says the 2 key factors of friction are the seals on the air piston, and the seal on the “neg plate”.
Anytime you run into one thing (root, rock, curb, and so on.), that impediment is concurrently making an attempt to push the axle backward (aft forces) and upward (suspension compression). That aft drive causes any seals and bushings contained in the fork to rub collectively more durable, which will increase friction.
It will get even trickier as a result of these aft forces are literally bending the fork, inflicting the stanchions and lowers and pistons to maneuver in a curved path…not the peerlessly linear path they’re designed for.
So, Fox put tiny bushings between the air shaft and the piston and neg plate, permitting the shaft to maneuver at a slight angle when it’s beneath load with out rising friction on the seals. Mainly, that capability for it to wiggle compensates for any bending within the shaft, maintaining issues sliding easily and evenly.
The 36 will get the complete Compliant Air Spring design. To save lots of a little bit of weight, and since it has much less journey (and thus much less bending forces because it’s technically a shorter “lever”), the 36 SL will get solely the primary higher air spring bushings. However it does get a brand new twin seal system on the neg plate that has a tiny little bit of compliance.
Movies, Pricing & Specs Lists
Fox 36 overview above, and 36 SL overview beneath
MSRP and specs for every fork are:
2026 Fox 36
- Wheel Dimension: 29, 27.5
- Journey: 140mm, 150mm, 160mm
- Rake: 37mm, 44mm (27.5”); 44mm (29”)
- Axle: Kabolt; 15QR on Efficiency Sequence
- Rotor Dimension: Direct Mount 200, as much as 230
- Air Spring: FLOAT EVOL Compliant
- Steerer: 1.5” Tapered
- Beginning Weight: 1920g (29” 160mm GRIP X)
- MSRP:
- $749-$1199 USD
- $999-$1599 CAD
- €999 – €1609 EUR
- 1299-2099 AUS
2026 Fox 36 SL
- Wheel Dimension: 29
- Journey: 120mm, 130mm, 140mm
- Rake: 44mm offset
- Axle: Kabolt SL
- Rotor Dimension: Direct Mount 180, as much as 203
- Air Spring: FLOAT EVOL Compliant
- Steerer: 1.5” Tapered
- Beginning Weight: 1755g (29” 140mm GRIP X)
- MSRP:
- $699-$1149 USD
- $939-$1539 CAD
- €939 – €1539 EUR
- 1199-1999 AUS
