Fox Forks For 2025 - All New Dampers To Better Match Your Shocks

New Fox Dampers To Match Their Rear Shock Counterparts:

When it comes to suspension, not many brands have a longer race-winning history than Fox, dating back 50 years, Fox has been at the front of racing from motorcycles to mountain bikes. For model year 2025, Fox is rolling out a full new line of dampers, so while the outside of the forks remains virtually unchanged, the dampers found on all Fox Factory suspension are new. With 3 all-new dampers, Fox has gone a slightly different route, or at least thought process with these new dampers, each of the three versions are purpose-built not only for the type of terrain and demands each damper will see but also to match the tuning and feel of their rear shocks. 

3 new Fox dampers: Grip SL, Grip X, Grip X2. 3 dampers found across the whole range of fox forks, from the Fox 32TC & 32SC all the way up to the Fox 40. As you can guess, the SL matches with the Fox Float SL rear shock and is found in the 32TC, 32SC & 34SC. The Grip X damper is meant to match with the Fox Float, Float X, & DHX rear shocks, and the Grip X can be found in the Fox 34 & 36 forks. Last and quite the opposite of the least, the Grip X2 damper, carrying on from where the Grip2 damper left off, the Grip X2 is made to pair with the Float X2 & DHX2 rear shocks and can be found in the Fox 36, 38 & 40 forks. 

Grip SL:

Starting with the Fox Grip SL damper, this lightweight damper has left no grams on the table. Every possible gram has been shaved off this damper while improving performance over the previous Fit4 damper, so much so, that the Grip SL is 60g lighter! Purpose-built for the new demands of XCO and XCM racing, (Olympic XC and Marathon XC), the lockout force of the Grip SL has to be firm enough for those racers, while also allowing some blow-off if a bump or hit is taken while the fork is locked out. Then moving from the lockout to middle or open positions the fork is supple and smooth, ready to maintain traction and reduce fatigue while riding and racing. 

Fox 32SC:

There is also a new Fox 32SC which features the Grip SL damper. Lighter, stiffer, and better tuned for the demands of marathon XC racing and lightweight bikes alike. 

Grip X:

The Grip X is what I would call the everyday damper, it's been designed for that 130-160mm travel range which is found on most everyday trail and all mountain bikes. The Grip X takes a lot of design and performance from the Grip2 and new GripX2 while tuning for the needs of an everyday rider. One of the stand-out features I thought is the 3-way adjustable damper. This drops the rebound from a 2-way adjuster to a 1-way adjuster, taking some setup and overthinking away from this damper I think will help many of the everyday riders. You now have a High Speed Compression (HSC), Low Speed Compression (LSC), and 1 rebound adjustment. The other new feature is on the HSC dial, you have your normal positions or clicks to adjust HSC, but when fully closed off (to the right) the fork has a firm mode. Not nearly as firm as a Grip SL damper, but Firm to match the Float or Float X rear shock firm mode. So now you can mostly lock out your trail bike for those steep climbs or road sections to get maximum efficiency when needed. The Grip X is also 160g lighter than the new Grip X2, not only saving you weight but giving you all the performance you need and nothing you don't!

Grip X2:

The Grip X2 holds nothing back on performance, picking up from the already great Grip2 damper, the Grip X2 is made to give you even more control and traction than ever before. One of the main improvements is on the base valve, the base valve diameter has been increased from 20mm to 24mm and the amount of valves has gone from 7 to 23. While those numbers won't matter to any of us riders, the main takeaway is this Grip X2 is the most tunable damper from Fox… ever. The Grip X2 retains the same 4-way adjustable damper as the Grip2 did, with HSC, LSC, HSR & LSR, and claimed less cross talk. Cross talk essentially means when you adjust LSC it also doesn't have an effect on HSC or even rebound adjustments. Each adjustment should only adjust that circuit. 

On-Trail Performance:

Jared and I were lucky enough to head to Fox HQ in Santa Cruz, CA for 3 days of learning, riding, and testing the new dampers. I was put on a Fox 38 Factory at 170mm (Grip X2 damper) travel to pair with my Revel Rail 29. Jared was put on a Fox 36 Factory at 150mm (Grip X damper) for his Forbidden Druid V2. 

The setup was pretty simple and made easier by the Fox crew, helping me get air pressure and compression set for the first ride. I set but I like a pretty even rebound, I’d say it’s down the middle, not fast, not slow, predictable rebound is what I aim for. On the first afternoon Jared, myself, and some other riders headed out for a quick ride before the next day's official rides. We went to ride my favorite zone in Santa Cruz, and while I won't name it, it's steep and can get wild. A few runs in and the fork was feeling pretty good right away, but I wasn't using full travel, and a few other changes had my front end raised 20mm, 10mm from the fork, and 10mm from the bar. I didn't do much tinkering as just wanted to get a feel for it. But for day 2, I dropped down bar rise 10mm and adjusted the fork. I dropped 5 psi in the fork pressure but added 4 clicks on both LSC and HSC, normally I wouldn't make such a major adjustment but one of the Fox employees suggested I go that route. The result was a still very supple fork that had enough support on the steep trials while I was getting closer to full travel by the end of the day. The final day at the media camp was spent riding another well-known area, and I had the pleasure of chasing some extremely fast riders down and up these trails. Yeah, some solid uphill efforts on the Rail 29 chasing some short travel and very fit riders was type 2 fun. The fork felt super balanced after a day of riding, I didn't make any changes from the day before and I didn't need to. I was able to push as hard as I was capable of while going pretty well on the downhill. The balance of support with traction was very welcomed as I tried to keep up. 

Jared’s Ride Impressions:

Getting set up on the GripX in the 36 was a straightforward process as I typically get along well with Fox’s recommended settings for my riding weight. I typically stray towards the lower end of the air pressure setting spectrum for my weight since I do prefer my suspension to have that soft off the top feeling, and find that most air forks allow me to have enough progression with high speed compression and air ramp in order to run the air pressure I prefer without experiencing harsh bottom outs. If I’m doing some really aggressive riding I’ll typically add up to 5psi or so and a couple of clicks of compression in order to not absolutely clap the front end on big hits. 

Once we were dialed in, I immediately got along with the GripX out on the trail. The best way for me to sum up the experience of this fork and damper combination is that it feels as though you have the best of both worlds with the impressive descending performance and front wheel traction that you’d find with a Grip2 damper yet with the versatility and ability to firm up the fork for long periods of fire road climbing or out of the saddle pedal mashing that you’d be able to do with a Fit4. The latest crop of all mountain bikes are so versatile that having the ability to firm up the front end for long slogs and open it back up for plummeting down techy and fast descents is a great feature to have in your back pocket, especially without sacrificing downhill capability. I typically like my compression to be mostly open with only a couple of clicks in when necessary and I found this setup to work quite well with the steep, technical terrain we were riding as well as on the fast and rooty descents. The GripX was quite predictable and as I mentioned it was nice and supple off the top while remaining composed and planted during repeated compressions, plus plenty of ramp up and progression for the myriad of trails we found ourselves on. Santa Cruz was a great testing ground for this product for this reason alone. The 36 is a great all mountain chassis and works very well in a ton of environments and trails, and paired with the GripX damper it makes for a formidable suspension product. 

What's Worldwide's Takeaway?

With 3 new dampers from Fox for my25, you now get purpose-built and tuned dampers to match your exact needs. The Grip SL, Grip X, and Grip X2 are made to pair with the rear shock of the same category, carrying this theme across the fork and shock range makes it really easy for consumers to know what damper they should get. The dampers are also found in the forks they should be, no more compromising (if you ever did before), the Fox 32TC, 32SC, and 34SC all get the Grip SL damper. The Fox 34 & 36 get the Grip X damper. And the Fox 36, 38 & 40 get the Grip X2 damper. From weight savings to better firm modes, to increased valve size and amount of valves, the new Fox Grip damper range is better than ever!