The brand new Fox 34 SL is what occurs whenever you mix three generations of particular person upgrades of an important suspension fork with much more superior designs.
No, it’s not lighter than the 34 Step Solid mannequin it replaces, nevertheless it’s inside a number of grams, and the efficiency is significantly better. Which is saying one thing, as a result of I actually preferred the 34 SC. Lots. However the brand new 34 SL is best. Right here’s why…
Corners like a Champ
Fox went again to a regular “full width” chassis for the SL for 2 causes. First, it permits larger tires than the narrower step-case design, and that’s a welcome enchancment.
Second, it’s torsionally stiffer, which interprets into extra assured cornering. Yeah, the professionals take corners rather a lot quicker than me, so it’s good for them. However I’m rather a lot heavier than them, so it’s additionally in a position to deal with diving into a decent nook…
…and hold me popping out the opposite aspect, on my line, and pointing the place I wanna go. For a light-weight XC fork, that’s nice, and it’s let Fox push journey as much as 130mm for folk constructing light-weight path (aka “downcountry”) bikes, too.
I’ve been using mine at 130mm on the new Ari Sign Peak, which is designed round 120mm forks, and it’s been superior. A lot in order that I’m delaying my go to to Fox’s NC service middle for the 120mm air spring swap as a result of, properly, 130mm is superior. However I’ll get there, after which I’ll add a bit to this evaluation later.
Climbs like a Light-weight
…and that’s a praise. The fork appears like a light-weight XC race fork, however not noodly.
That’s to not say their 32 SC fork is noodly, I don’t know. I haven’t ridden it. Cory has, and he preferred it wonderful. But it surely tops out at 100mm journey, and most racers at each degree are on 120mm forks nowadays.
You possibly can even get it with a distant lockout, if that’s your jam. It’s not mine, and I not often take the fork out of full-open mode. Perhaps on lengthy highway transfers to the trailhead, however not all the time.
I went with the Grip SL damper as a result of it’s lighter. Like, 100g (or extra) lighter than the GRIP X2 with all of the changes.
I like plenty of changes, however for shorter journey forks, I prioritize weight financial savings, and I haven’t missed the additional high-speed changes right here in any respect.
The fork nonetheless gives loads of help for seated hammering. Yeah, it bobs a bit when standing and hammering (or simply utilizing lots of physique english), however that’s a tradeoff I’m personally OK with to have an uncluttered cockpit or not have to succeed in down and fiddle whereas I’m using.
As a substitute, I tune my fork with the air spring quantity and strain, and even right here I’m operating it extraordinarily smooth.
How smooth?
Fox’s chart suggests about 95 psi for my using weight.
I’m at 85 psi.
I additionally added a quantity spacer. Extra on that in a minute, however simply know this: You possibly can run this fork actually smooth and it’ll really feel superb and it’ll nonetheless have loads of help for many of what you’re going to do on a brief journey bike, as a result of…
It additionally Descends Actually Nicely.
I put the video overview on the backside of this evaluation should you wanna see transferring photos, however right here’s the deal:
On the launch in Arizona, I ran slightly extra air strain (concerning the advisable quantity) to account for the larger drops and tougher hits on the descents. This was with none quantity spacers, so the additional air quantity saved it extra linear, and the additional air strain saved it using mid-stroke the place it must be with out bottoming out on massive hits.
Again dwelling (not pictured), I added the quantity spacer (and I would add one other) so the fork would ramp up quicker on the finish of its stroke to stop backside out, which is what’s letting me run the ridiculously low air strain.
None of that’s unique to the brand new Fox 34 SL. You possibly can tune nearly any fork’s air spring to realize related outcomes.
The place this one actually shines is simply how a lot smoother it’s, which lets these refined tweaks to the air spring actually shine. That is fingers down the smoothest brief journey, air-sprung fork I’ve ever ridden, That, too, is saying rather a lot, as a result of I actually just like the current SID fork, too (full disclosure, I’ve not ridden absolutely the newest mannequin, however have ridden a lot of the iterations over the previous 5 years).
When you like a fork to absorb all of the little stuff however nonetheless want it to deal with massive hits, give the brand new Fox forks an excellent, onerous look. The new 36 and 36 SL take the smoothness efforts much more severely, with options that the 34 SL doesn’t get.
These are most likely nice for larger bikes (I additionally haven’t ridden these but). However should you want a 110-130mm fork to your race bike, I’d suggest the 2026 Fox 34 SL. It’s the closest but to creating path chatter disappear, even mitigating these late-season, teeth-rattling braking bumps, which must be the last word litmus take a look at for any suspension fork.
Take a look at our launch protection for all of the tech particulars on the brand new Fox 34 SL.
