Fox 34 SL Review – Yes, it’s as Good As They Say

The brand new Fox 34 SL is what occurs once you mix three generations of particular person upgrades of an amazing suspension fork with much more superior designs.

No, it’s not lighter than the 34 Step Solid mannequin it replaces, however it’s inside a couple of grams, and the efficiency is a lot better. Which is saying one thing, as a result of I actually preferred the 34 SC. Lots. However the brand new 34 SL is healthier. 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 greater 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 capable of deal with diving into a decent nook…

…and maintain 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 driving mine at 130mm on the brand 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 evaluate later.

Climbs like a Light-weight

…and that’s a praise. The fork looks 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 tremendous. Nevertheless it tops out at 100mm journey, and most racers at each stage are on 120mm forks lately.

You possibly can even get it with a distant lockout, if that’s your jam. It’s not mine, and I hardly ever take the fork out of full-open mode. Possibly on lengthy street 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 numerous 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 provides loads of assist for seated hammering. Yeah, it bobs a bit when standing and hammering (or simply utilizing plenty of physique english), however that’s a tradeoff I’m personally OK with to have an uncluttered cockpit or not have to achieve down and fiddle whereas I’m driving.

As a substitute, I tune my fork with the air spring quantity and stress, and even right here I’m working it extraordinarily gentle.

How gentle?

Fox’s chart suggests about 95 psi for my driving 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 gentle and it’ll really feel wonderful and it’ll nonetheless have loads of assist for many of what you’re going to do on a brief journey bike, as a result of…

It additionally Descends Actually Effectively.

I put the video overview on the backside of this evaluate in the event you wanna see shifting photos, however right here’s the deal:

On the launch in Arizona, I ran just a little extra air stress (in regards to 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 stress saved it driving mid-stroke the place it ought to be with out bottoming out on massive hits.

Again residence (not pictured), I added the amount 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 stress.

None of that’s unique to the brand new Fox 34 SL. You possibly can tune nearly any fork’s air spring to realize comparable outcomes.

The place this one actually shines is simply how a lot smoother it’s, which lets these delicate tweaks to the air spring actually shine. That is arms down the smoothest quick 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 many of the iterations over the previous 5 years).

When you like a fork to take in all of the little stuff however nonetheless want it to deal with massive hits, give the brand new Fox forks a great, laborious look. The brand new 36 and 36 SL take the smoothness efforts much more significantly, with options that the 34 SL doesn’t get.

These are in all probability nice for greater bikes (I additionally haven’t ridden these but). However in the event you want a 110-130mm fork on your race bike, I’d advocate 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 ought to be the final word litmus check for any suspension fork.