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Fox 36 GripX Long Term Review: The Ultimate All Mountain Fork? [Video]

Words & Photos by Jared Erickson

Earlier this year, Fox released several new forks with updated dampers to match the feel of their rear shocks - including the Fox 36 with the GripX Damper we're reviewing. We were pretty stoked to see some innovation and new damper technology when they dropped, but how do we feel about them now that we've been using and abusing the fork for the better part of the last year? Tune in to find out!

Overview

Back in March, Liam and I were invited up to Fox HQ near Santa Cruz, CA for a press event where Fox introduced us to a bunch of new products and asked us to put them through the wringer. I showed up with my Forbidden Druid, and swapped my RockShox Lyrik Ultimate with a 160mm Fox 36 with the GripX damper. The Fox 36 has been around for ages in one guise or another and this latest version with the GripX promised more versatility than ever. How would it stack up against the famous Grip2 damper that's been around for years as well as other forks that we've become accustomed to?

Since then, I've switched bikes but the 36 has remained with me and now has a happy forever home on my Yeti SB140 Lunch Ride. Paired with the Float X rear shock, the performance of the 36 seems to match the support that the Float X provides, and I do believe that was the intention that Fox set out with when developing these new dampers. With all that said, lets see how the cookie crumbles in the real world.

Setup

Getting a fork dialed in can be quite simple, or it can be a dizzying prospect of twisting knobs and pressurizing different air chambers until you are just over it and settle for subpar performance. Thankfully, having used Fox products for years now, I am quite familiar with the setup process and the GripX is as easy as ever to get dialed in.

I typically get along with Fox's recommended settings for my riding weight and so that is where I will normally start on a new fork - with the exception of running compression a tad more open than suggested. I'll occasionally add a click or two of HSC when tackling more high speed technical trails or trails with bigger hits so I have a little more support throughout the travel. Aside from that, I've added an extra volume spacer to help ramp up the fork a bit through the travel and that's about it.

Durability

Modern forks are impressive in many ways, durability being one of them. Most high end forks these days are more than willing to take a thrashing and come back for more, and this 36 I've been testing has been no exception. It's been the subject of plenty of abuse, from local trails of all types, bike parks, and the steep and rooty chutes in Santa Cruz to the rocky and, well, rocky trails in southern Utah.

After what was likely generously exceeding the service interval, the fork begun to weep a tiny bit of oil out of the damper side wiper seal, which I took as my sign to give this fork some love and perform a lower leg service. Thankfully, these forks are extremely easy to service and within an hour it was as good as new, and hasn't leaked since. I think it's a testament to modern engineering that a quick service is all it takes to bring a fork back to new after essentially countless hours of abuse.

On Trail Performance

The Fox 36 might very well be the gold standard (no kashima pun intended) for all mountain performance and versatility. The ability to firm up the compression on the fork for increased efficiency and out of the saddle pedaling efforts has previously been relegated to XC oriented forks, and as a result, downhill performance was compromised. With the GripX, that compromise is now a thing of the past. The compression lever isn't quite intended to be a full on "lockout" as it doesn't completely lock the fork in place, but it will firm it up enough for it to make a difference when efficiency is on the mind.

Evaluating the performance of a suspension fork can be challenging when everything is as refined and perfected as they are these days. With that said, this fork is extremely capable and functions very well on everything from mellow trails to challenging enduro and DH style tracks, especially for its 160mm of travel. Most, if not all riders should easily be able to find a sweet spot in the range of adjustments that suits their needs and preferences.

On the trail, I have found the fork to have a solid blend of suppleness and support when the going gets rough. I haven't experienced any instances where the fork is diving or putting me in an awkward position on the trail. The chassis is plenty stiff for this travel segment and you really can only notice any sort of flex when you are getting the bike in over its head on extremely gnarly tracks and very heavy compressions. If you're riding stuff like that consistently, I'd say you'd be better off on a bike with more travel and would be better suited to equipping a Fox 38 or RockShox ZEB instead of the all mountain focused 36.

One thing I've found is that after a handful of hard rides, small bump performance can be slightly affected once pressure builds up in the lower legs, but thankfully you can quickly and easily restore that sweet small bump sensitivity by utilizing the lower leg bleeders. Some say these are a gimmick, and for those naysayers I say nay in return.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Extremely versatile
Easy to set up
Impressive downhill performance

Cons

Factory version is expensive
Limited travel configurations
Sacrifices some adjustability for versatility

Final Thoughts

If you have a bike with 150mm or 160mm of front travel, you probably have a few forks on the mind that suit your needs, this Fox 36 with the GripX being one of them. Other forks and dampers may have more of an emphasis on all out downhill performance, yet this particular 36 takes the cake for pure versatility and doesn't sacrifice much if anything in terms of downhill performance in my book. In my experience, this fork feels like the best version of having your cake and eating it too.

If you are one strange human that would like to read a transcript of the video above, continue reading below!

this glorious Golden Mountain Bike Fork

is the 2025 Fox 36 with 160 mm of travel

and the grip X damper I've had it on my

bike for about 9 months now and we're

going to do a little review on it we're

going to talk about what it's like to

set up what it's like to live with

service all that good stuff tune in find

[Music]

out earlier this year Fox released these

glorious golden Forks along with a few

new dampers in the grip SL the grip X

and the grip X2 they kind of came out

with these dampers in order to match the

feeling of their rear shocks in the

float SL the float X and the float

X2 what I have here is the fox 36 as I

mentioned with the grip X damper and we

are going to get all into it but first

it's been kind of a long day and I need

to have a little bit of element these

guys have been a channel sponsor for

while now and that Stokes us out because

it is an electrolyte supplement that we

actually like to use it's got a bunch of

salty flavors and it's got stuff that

you actually need like sodium potassium

and magnesium so it replenishes stuff in

your body that you lose when you ride

your bike so this really Stokes us out

we have a bunch of tasty flavors in here

like mango chili Citrus salt raspberry

salt watermelon salt and you can get all

of these if you go to the link in the

description that is drink l element.com

/world wide cyy you get yourself a free

sample pack that is d r i n k

element.com wide Cyclery go to the link

get the pack you know what to do okay so

let's go over this fork in particular

and see what kind of features it has and

what sets it apart from some of the

competition and just from other lower

level Forks in general so we have the

grip X damper it features high-speed and

low speed compression adjustments which

is very nice we also have high speed and

low speed rebound adjustments it also

has the fork bleeders back here which is

really nice to relieve pressure that has

been built up over the course of a few

rides I bet it is this also is an airs

sprung Fork maybe not obviously but it

is an airs sprung Fork so you can tune

the fork spring rate with air pressure

as well as with volume tokens that'll

allow you to tune the progressivity of

the fork and how quickly it ramps up

based on if you do riding with a lot of

big compressions and stuff like that you

can add some volume spacers that's just

kind of a few of the features of this

Fork also has an integrated bolt-on

Fender which is really nice for those of

you that live in sloppy climates or

Dusty stuff flies up hits you in the

face that's not very nice so overall a

lot of these features have kind of made

its way onto a lot of uh the competition

it shares some features but one thing

that I particularly like a lot about

this fork and this damper in particular

with the grip X damper is the ability to

lock it out for periods of time where

you're going to be pedaling on the road

or Fire Road or whatever that is a

really nice feature because because it

really just firms up the bike and along

with the rear shock lockout it really

stiffens up the platform really nicely

and allows you to kind of just cover

those effortless and Mindless miles that

you don't really care about those are

really nice features I really like about

this Fork you know a lot of people can

get caught up with the excessive amount

of options when it comes to compression

adjustments and stuff like that so this

Fork I found that it's kind of easy to

set and forget and that's one thing I

kind of value in a bike is just kind of

set up and forget I don't really Tinker

with it once it feels good I kind of

leave it so grip X that is one thing I

really do like about it and with that

said let's kind of go into the setup

process with this fork for me personally

historically I really do find that the

recommended Fox settings for most Forks

kind of aligns with my riding style and

my preferences quite well so I was able

to inflate this to the recommended

pressure I usually go depending on the

ride I guess about in the middle of the

recommended pressure and I found that

that really uh goes nicely with my ring

style and our environment out here and I

would say that is the same for the

rebound and compression adjustments I

really just kind of go with whatever

those guys say and it usually works out

really well for me so that has been

really nice it is actually quite easy to

set up and kind of like I alluded to

earlier you know with like uh dampers

like the grip X2 has more adjustability

with the compression and stuff like that

so if you are a more gravity oriented

Rider you know you're not doing doing

these huge stretches of pedaling and

stuff like that the grip X2 may be

better for you but for me I feel like

the grip X really suits this bike quite

well and the type of riding that I like

to do with that said let's talk about

how it performs for me this Fork I mean

in Fox products in general I usually

really get along with them quite well

did we just become best friends Yep this

fork in particular kind of like I said

before it's kind of a setad and forget

and I really like how it works out on

the trail for most things I actually

feel like it thrives the more you push

it especially in chunky sections and you

know Rocky rud terrain it really thrives

in those environments especially for a

36 mm diameter stanion Fork I mean I

personally don't notice a lot of flex I

mean maybe in certain situations a

little bit but I'm really more focused

on the trail than anything else in those

times so yeah I really think that this

Fork thrives in an alln outon type

environment which is really what it's

for you can lock it out like I mentioned

cover a bunch of Miles open it up and

blast down some of your favorite trails

and it'll do exactly what you want it to

do so that has really been a really

great thing for me I love this fork and

it's I used to have a rock TRS lyric on

my old bike so in my head I'm kind of

comparing it to that honestly it's it's

kind of hard to compare because that

fork did have the charger 2.1 damper

and it didn't really have the ability to

lock it out so you could kind of Tinker

with the adjustments a little bit more

the chassis on the lyric maybe have been

a little bit stiffer than the chassis on

this Fork but they're both incredible

forks and it's kind of a Different

Strokes for different folks you know you

really can't go wrong all these High

Performance Suspension products are very

good these days and I've really been

getting along with this quite well from

all the environments like the Southwest

uh the southern

people out there in our nation don't

have thats I have been getting along

with it in Parts like so in Utah Santa

Cruz local bike parks um our local

trails from you know more mellow trail

riding to more Technical and duro Trails

so you can really take this fork and put

it on your bike and ride it whatever

Trail you want and that's kind of the

best thing about mountain biking for me

personally all right let's talk

durability or as Liam likes to call it

dirt ability

like I said this Fork has been on my b

for a little over 9 months now and it's

had its fair share of thrashing and it

hasn't really shown much in terms of

signs of weakness when it did reach the

you know service interval I got a little

bit of oil coming up out of the wiper

seal but I mean I think that's kind of

to be expected when you put a fork

through its paces and then you reach the

service interval that's basically your

fork just crying out and asking please

service me you have forgotten so that's

what I did did and then ever since then

it's been perfect as well so one nice

thing about these Forks is that they are

incredibly easy to service I mean if you

ever service the suspension Fork before

you know all I really did was drop the

lowers pop in some new dust wiper seals

some fresh fluid and grease and it is

good to go and better than new so that

is you know one thing to note I mean

there are potentially other products out

there that could exceed the service life

I mean that's not really something I

recommend anyways I personally kind of

get a lot of GRA ification and

satisfaction out of working on my bike

and servicing my bike and all of the

components on there so I don't really

you know have a problem with having to

service my fork okay head and that's

exactly what I did about a few months

ago and it's been fantastic in terms of

durability what can I say everything is

pretty dialed and topnotch it is

basically still a new Fork been riding

it all over the place I think that kind

of speaks for itself it's a top-notch

product and you kind of get what you pay

for it's been fantastic speaking of

which let's talk a little bit about pros

and cons um the pros here we have got a

fantastic Fork it's got a great chassis

it's super versatile you could take it

on more mellow Trails or you could take

it to bike park and ride some of your

favorite shells there the potential cons

here well it may lack some adjustability

if you love having a super wide range of

adjustments and if you are like I said a

more gravity oriented Rider you value

just all out downhill performance maybe

go with the grip X2 or another Fork

whatever that has more adjustability but

for me personally I think that this Fork

works perfectly well for its intended

use in terms of another potential con

you know it could be more expensive than

you might want to pay for a fork but you

could go for the performance Elite

version which you know slashes the price

a little bit you still get some

fantastic performance but it just

doesn't have this glorious kushima

coating and unfortunately I think the

podium gold is all sold out so you know

not everybody loves the gold I do that's

okay potentially you know if you wanted

more or less travel you're just going to

go with a different fork and that's okay

too I think that wraps up potential cons

what is the verdict on the 2025 Fox 36

with the gripex damper it is extremely

versatile it'll suit a wide range of

riders and environments and personally

it has worked out for me fantastically

I've only had to service it once and

that's pretty much to be expected I

reached the service life and serviced it

super easy to do and it's been fantastic

honestly if I were to have one fork for

you know for a mountain bike forever I

would honestly probably choose this one

because it is so versatile it has the

downhill performance that I love and I

wouldn't change it for anything else I

love how you know you can hit the

bleeders and let the pressure out and

honestly for me I personally do notice

the difference a bunch of people on the

internet being like no never NOS the

difference jeez

when did everyone get so cynical we have

a nice little range of adjustments that

not everybody needs a super wide range

of adjustments and that I think is why

Fox gave us this option in the grip X to

simplify things give people a more

versatile fork with the lockout because

in my mind what they did was they

basically took the fit four and they

took the grip two smushed them together

and now we got the grip X which is

really nice I mean I feel like there was

a gap in that lineup before hand and

they filled it with the grip X it's been

amazing to live with on my bike and I

would honestly recommend it you know you

don't necessarily need the kushima

coating and all that stuff you could get

the performance Elite version of the

fork and it'll work very well as well so

I think that just about wraps this one

up it's a fantastic Fork I do recommend

it maybe check it out if you could

potentially demo one on a bike and try

it out that'd be really nice if not

maybe take the leap and go for it thank

you so much for watching we really do

appreciate it send this to a friend who

maybe has been thinking about getting a

fox Fork let us know in the comments

what you think about the 2025 Fox 36

with the gripex damper like subscribe

thank you so much we'll see you again in

the next one ciao

December 23, 2024

36 › Fox › Fox factory suspension › product review › Video ›

Fox 36 GripX Long Term Review: The Ultimate All Mountain Fork? [Video]

Overview

Setup

Durability

On Trail Performance

Pros & Cons

Pros

Cons

Final Thoughts

If you are one strange human that would like to read a transcript of the video above, continue reading below!

December 23, 2024

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