Fox Float 36 150mm FIT4 Fork: Rider Review

Upgrading the fork on your mountain bike is one of the best ways to enhance your riding experience both from a performance and enjoyment standpoint. Fox has made a name for itself by crafting some of the best, if not the best, suspension on the market. The Fox Float 36 fork is the standard by all others are measured and our customer Mark is here to confirm those feelings. In this review, he adds a Fox 36 FIT4 fork to his Santa Cruz Hightower. Check it out!

 

Overview

I recently upgraded the suspension on my Santa Cruz Hightower with the Fox Float 36 fork. Wow, what a difference! My old fork was a Fox Evolution CTD series fork that was original equipment on my Santa Cruz Tallboy LT when I purchased that bike back in 2014. Well, a lot has changed in the world of mountain bike suspension since then.

Why I Went FIT4

I did a lot of research before the purchase and came to the conclusion that the 3 position version of the Fox 36 fork was the better choice for me. Yes, the Grip 2 version is awesome but I am not the kind of rider that needs all that adjustability on my fork. One reviewer really hit the nail on the head when he said that it is a lot easier and quicker to get the 3 position version feeling great and hard to screw it up. While the Grip 2 version can be overwhelming if you don’t take the time to really understand what the all the different fork controls are doing.

Performance

Now on to my experience with the fork. I installed it myself which was a little intimidating but I got it done quite simply with the help of a rotating pipe cutter that you can buy at the hardware store. On the trail, the difference is immediately obvious, much more supple on small bumps and on the few medium size drops I rode the fork was supportive and did not bottom out. The fork comes from the factory with 2 volume spacers installed, but I am going to eventually open up the fork and possibly add one more spacer. The 18 clicks of open mode adjustment on the compression are really all I need to get the fork feeling great. I am a larger rider at about 220 pounds and am running the fork with 90 psi in it. One of the reviews I read stated that Fox dampers tend to be kind of stiff so he advised running a little less air than Fox recommends to get the fork plush and then add volume spacers to help the mid stroke and prevent bottom out.

Final Thoughts

The new fork increased the front travel on my Hightower from 140 to 150mm. That has increased the capability of an already awesome bike. I could not be happier with the Fox Float 36 150 fork.