Meet the 2023 FOX 36 Fork

Welcome to the coronation. FOX 36: The undisputed all-mountain champion gets a new crown.

For MY23 the FOX 36 receives an update in the form of a new crown with updated design and engineering for more steer tube overlap improving durability and maintaining stiffness while dropping 20 grams.

KING OF ALL MOUNTAINS

NEW CROWN

Lighter by 20 grams, while increasing steerer-tube overlap at the CSU, the new crown design improves durability while our engineering maintains stiffness and drops weight.

KABOLT  X AXLE

Kabolt X, a lightweight bolt-on floating axle to shave grams and increase torsional stiffness via a sleeveless, single-sided pinch bolt design.

LOWER LEG BYPASS CHANNELS

Increasing air volume within the lower legs reduces the amount of additional unintended pressure ramping. Lower leg bath oil also circulates to the upper reaches of the legs, continuously lubricating the foam rings and bushings as the fork compresses and extends through its travel.

LOWER LEG BLEEDERS

Allows for atmospheric pressure equalization for better fork performance, allowing full travel to be achieved and increasing small bump sensitivity and responsiveness.

LOWER LEG ARCH

Our new lower leg design pulls out all the stops, shaving every possible gram while making sure not to compromise stiffness or strength requirements of modern enduro and gravity-style riding.

GRIP2

Unparalleled ride quality and ultra-precise adjustability. Allows for external fine-tuning of suspension performance thanks to our patented Variable Valve Control (VVC) technology.

FLOAT EVOL

Optimizes small bump sensitivity by increasing negative air spring volume. Its linear spring curve delivers plushness off the top, extra mid-stroke support, and more tunable bottom-out progression.

Starting Weight 29: 4.28 lb / 1942g (F-S 36, 29”, 160mm Travel, KaboltX 110, 3 Pos-Adj)*

* Fork weights shown are at 165mm steerer length with star fangled nut and disc brake guide installed.

Learn more at RideFox.com

Vital's Test Fork

Just before we rolled out to Sea Otter, our 2023 FOX 36 test fork showed up. We quickly pulled the 2022 36 off our Hightower and did some quick comparisons. A quick look sees very little (any?) differences in the fork. We tossed a tape measure on both forks and were able to pull the following numbers.

As evident in the pictures, the crown is now 5mm taller at the steerer tube interface. How does this affect the overall fork? We tossed a tape from the axle to the top of the crown and despite there being a 10mm travel increase between the forks (150mm vs 160mm) there is a 15mm difference in the axle to crown.

We'll be throwing this on our test mule 29er and will be reporting back later this summer on how the new FOX 36 compares on the trail. We may even have some other suspension products in the hopper for comparison.

View key specs, compare forks, and rate the new FOX 36 in the Vital MTB Product Guide.