While the Fox 36 has fallen out of the Enduro spotlight ever since the launch of the Fox 38, let's not forget when it was the pinnacle of burly single crown forks before 2020. Today, the storied Fox 36 gets a complete redesign, and brings with it the all new Fox 36 SL and Fox 34 SL. Each of these forks have nestled into a specific mountain biking niche, and come with a long list of features to make them the ideal choice for certain riders. We’ve got completely new chassis and air springs to complement Fox’s new dampers released last year, and Fox is prioritizing a low weight without sacrificing performance on their new forks.

Let’s quickly cover Fox’s intentions with each of these forks, as that will help give some context to the rest of the article. The new Fox 36 is replacing the previous 36, surprise surprise. The 36 SL is taking the place of the 34, and the 34 SL is filling in for the 34 Step-Cast. Both the Fox 34 and 34 Step-Cast are saying goodbye for this generation of forks, which may be a surprise to some. Fox has left their 40, 38, and 32s untouched, and focused on updating the mid travel forks for their 2026 lineup.

There are three versions of the Fox 36: Factory, Performance Elite, and Performance, each featuring redesigned bleeders. At the highest levels, the Factory and Performance Elite 36 comes with your choice between the GRIP X and GRIP X2 dampers. Both offer incredible performance, but with different priorities. We already compared the two in depth in this article, but the gist is that the GRIP X is lighter and less adjustable, while the GRIP X2 is the downhill specialist with more adjustability and more weight. All MY26 36s come with Fox’s new NA3 air shaft, and the Performance 36 will only come with the less adjustable GRIP damper.

We’ll see the Fox 36 on the same bikes as before, coming equipped on trail and all mountain bikes with between 130 and 160mm of rear travel. The days of the 170 and 180mm travel 36 are behind us, and long travel enduro bikes will be equipped with the burlier 38. While the 38 is the choice for longer travel bikes, it’s interesting to see the new 36 with 200mm post mounts while the 38 still uses 180mm. It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day, but I can’t imagine there are many riders running a 180mm front rotor on their 38 equipped bike. The Stumpjumper 15 is pretty much the perfect bike for the Fox 36. With less travel than many full blown enduro bikes, but capability that keeps it in line with any of the biggest hitters, just like the Fox 36.

One last change to the 36 is the redesigned fender. With a new bleeder design, the OEM Fox fender no longer uses them for bracing, and instead bolts directly to the arch and the lowers. Overall, this is a cleaner design, with improved aesthetics and robustness that will only fit the new 2026+ Fox 36s. Because the 38 and previous 36 doesn’t have the mounting points on the lowers, this new fender is not compatible with anything besides these new forks. Luckily, this new fender plays way better with basket style bike racks, including my Velocirax and the Whistler bike park lift.

You can choose between the Kashima coated Factory version, or the black anodized Performance Elite and Performance versions. In the Factory and Performance Elite 36 SL, you have your choice between the GRIP X and GRIP X2 dampers, while the Performance 36 SL uses the GRIP damper. All 36 SL forks use the new compliant air spring design to reduce friction within the chassis by keeping the air spring properly aligned. Using the same bleeder valve design as the new 36, the new Fox fender is compatible with the 36 SL, meaning no more snapping fenders where they attach to the bleeders. Rejoice!

Where some of the weight is saved in the 36 SL is in the double-butted damper side stanchion. Double-butted means the stanchion walls are changing thickness at two points on the stanchion, so the top and bottom of the stanchion are thicker than the middle. Don’t worry, your stanchion won’t buckle when you miss your landing. Fox has done their homework and found that they can save some material here to bring the weight down without sacrificing stiffness or safety. Along the inside of the lowers, the lower leg bypass channels are visible and allow bath oil to lubricate bushings and seals as the fork compresses.

Quite a few of the features of the Fox 36 SL have shown up in the 34 SL too, with the same Lower Leg Bypass Channels for improved oil flow, 2.5” tire clearance, and Double-Butted damper side stanchion for weight saving. Riders can install a remote to lockout the fork with the press of a button, and get max efficiency off the starting line. If I were to build up a proper XC bike, the 34 SL is definitely the fork I’d jump for. It’s got a low weight and impressive descending performance for such a skinny fork. Modern XC courses are only getting gnarlier, and I’d be surprised if we didn’t see this fork on the start line of world cups this season.

Fox has gone above and beyond this year, bringing us three entirely new forks for just about every style of riding. With these new forks, Fox has listened to the consumer, bringing more stiffness, bushing overlap, and overall performance to their xc, trail, and all mountain forks. We can’t wait for the sun to come out and start logging some big miles on these new forks, so stay tuned for some long term reviews coming in the future!

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