It's a conundrum for sure. You really have to decide what your prioritys are. I have moved from a Fox 38, Zeb and Fox 40 to...
It's a conundrum for sure. You really have to decide what your prioritys are. I have moved from a Fox 38, Zeb and Fox 40 to a Fox 36, RXF 36 and DH38. as a 185lb former powerlifter, I don't consider myself a light weight, however, I have worked for years on becoming a rider who uses more finesse and less brute strength on the bike. If you are riding with attitude and pushing the edge of survival, the larger chassis forks certainly offer more confidence. Personally, if I am riding clean and smart, I can use the extra traction and compliance of the smaller forks to carry more speed. Disclaimer, I ride Pisgah area high speed, often awkward, natural terrain without many of the big hits you may find elsewhere.
Nice comment!
Can you explain me why the fox 36 has more traction and compliance?
I think there has been a very good discussion of the pros and cons of each in the previous posts. Explaining the traction and compliance comment might be difficult, but here goes. The larger chassis forks have less flex, which means they also have less bushing bind when you are pushing hard in any direction other than straight up through whatever your head angle is, therefor more "plush" in those situations. The smaller chassis forks have more flex, which I think helps to reduce the front wheels tendency to "ping" or bounce off of trail obstacles not in line with the forks travel. It's subtle and personal as to what feels better. So hammering down an off camber trail and hitting a 45 degree root with a 38 will more likely cause the tire to deflect slightly to the side, but with a smoother action of the suspension due to less binding and a more solid overall feel. Same situation with a 36 and the fork flexing from offline impact will mute some of that force and allow the tire to track more on the original line with less feedback to the rider, but may have some bushing bind at the same time which is basically like cranking on more damping. I don't think there is a simple one is better than the other for all cases and that is one reason my tinkering obsessed brain loves mountain biking. Hope that helps, or at least doesn't make it more confusing.
As to the OP, the tipping point for the Fox 36 air spring seems to be about 160mm for me. 150 works great, 160 is OK, 170 is too progressive no matter what you do. If the choice is Fox 36 or 38 at 170mm, I would go with 38 just for the more linear air spring. Again, that would be my personal preference as many people love having steep air spring curves.
Nice comment!
Can you explain me why the fox 36 has more traction and compliance?
I think there has been a very good discussion of the pros and cons of each in the previous posts. Explaining the traction and compliance comment might be difficult, but here goes. The larger chassis forks have less flex, which means they also have less bushing bind when you are pushing hard in any direction other than straight up through whatever your head angle is, therefor more "plush" in those situations. The smaller chassis forks have more flex, which I think helps to reduce the front wheels tendency to "ping" or bounce off of trail obstacles not in line with the forks travel. It's subtle and personal as to what feels better. So hammering down an off camber trail and hitting a 45 degree root with a 38 will more likely cause the tire to deflect slightly to the side, but with a smoother action of the suspension due to less binding and a more solid overall feel. Same situation with a 36 and the fork flexing from offline impact will mute some of that force and allow the tire to track more on the original line with less feedback to the rider, but may have some bushing bind at the same time which is basically like cranking on more damping. I don't think there is a simple one is better than the other for all cases and that is one reason my tinkering obsessed brain loves mountain biking. Hope that helps, or at least doesn't make it more confusing.
As to the OP, the tipping point for the Fox 36 air spring seems to be about 160mm for me. 150 works great, 160 is OK, 170 is too progressive no matter what you do. If the choice is Fox 36 or 38 at 170mm, I would go with 38 just for the more linear air spring. Again, that would be my personal preference as many people love having steep air spring curves.
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