# Fox 36 or 32?



## euroford (Sep 10, 2006)

UPS says a brown truck should stop by and drop me off my new vertical dropout Mob today. so the next issue is to buy a fork for it.

I'll be putting a Fox Float on it, the issue is to decide if i should get a 32 Float RLC or a 36 Float RC2. as i see it, they both have certain advantages and disadvantages.

32: 
Plus: Lighter, cheaper, Push tunable if i decided i wanted it tweeked.
Minus: Not as durable, not as rigid, no 20mm axle.

36:
Plus: Very rigid, no question about durability, 20mm axle, looks stylin
Minus: heavier, not Push tunable, more cheese.

the weight isn't a huge issue, i don't think it will be any trouble keeping the bike below 34lbs either way. but i am always thrilled about lighter, especially on the front end. the 20mm axle is a bit of an issue, i would like to be able to swap wheelsets back and forth between the Mob and my Bottlerocket. though likely i'll have a convertible hub, it would be nice if its a 1 minute swap job and not a 10 minute swap job. Rigidity and durability is a question, how tough is a 32? they do look a bit beefy for a smaller fork, and i've seen other riders running them, but its definitly not something that i want to have issues with.

The Mob will be used for Urban, Dirtjump, mountaincross/ds/4x, commuting, heck i'm sure i'll even take it out to Palos every now and then.


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## cully (Jan 4, 2006)

Personaly, I'd say run the 32, but this comes from a guy who runs a reba on his park bike. I will make a few points though.....

If you don't have a front wheel yet, build one up with a bolt on hub. I'd go with a bmx hub. it'll add some stiffness over a qr.

as far as durability goes, I've heard bad things about the 36, I guess that it was the talas but a rockford area shreader blew one of those up riding park on it, though he does do alot of nose heavy tricks like g-turns and nose picks that may have put undue stress on the fork.

so thats all i've got to say about that.


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## Demo-9 (Mar 24, 2006)

cully said:


> If you don't have a front wheel yet, build one up with a bolt on hub. I'd go with a bmx hub. it'll add some stiffness over a qr.


Huh?? I don't see QR mentioned in the OP thread.

Are you going to use a front peg? If not then why not think about an Argyle? Stiff, not too bad for weight. 318 for coil or 409 for air. Either way you will love it. Plus the maxle is great for swapping out hubs quickly.


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

I personally think fox forks are overpriced, but between the two I'd go for the 32 if you're very smooth, 36 if not.

Fox likes thin lowers and that's what I'd be most weary of if I was riding one. Have you considered a pike at all?


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

32 would be a nice choice IMO, and gotta second the bolt-on hub/bmx hub! Now a requirement for 9/10mm dropouts for me.
I had an old '03 Float100 RLC (Before they were called "32") and I liked it a lot. Took more abuse than it probably should have actually, but it did flex somewhat noticeably with a QR skewer. With their recent new casting for the lowers, it probably did gain some stiffness though, sure looks beefier.

36Float lowered if you're tough on bikes and got some cash for it too (and good point about you wanting to be able to swap wheelsets in just a few minutes. You won't be able to get bolt-on with a convertible hub, as far as I know...). 
I like my 36Van, but honestly, for the riding I do on my street/dj bike, it's way more fork than I'd care to have or need.


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## kamikazee ideki (Jul 2, 2007)

pm zachdank on what he thinks. he has a lowered 36float on a tranny double


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## terrible (Jun 25, 2007)

Why the rlc or rc2? I'd go for a leftover talas r in 36 then run it in the 100mm setting. You could save a little $ that way (if it matters)

Good job on the mob purchase! Thanks for buying american!


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## zachdank (Jun 15, 2005)

kamikazee ideki said:


> pm zachdank on what he thinks. he has a lowered 36float on a tranny double


I'm running an 80mm 36 float on my Double, and on my T.O.P.
They rip.


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## bobbyOCR (Feb 11, 2007)

08 fox forks have the nicest feel. end of story. if you are smooth and/or light, 32s are fine. I run rockshox recons (the before the restyle, so much more beefy) @ 130mm with QR and they feel amazing. Can't notice any lateral flex. 

And go for at least an RL, otherwise you miss out on the new compression circuits.


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## the_godfather (Jan 19, 2007)

dont get QR. 20mm or bolt on is the way forward. rockshox 360maxle is the best out there at the moment IMO. stiff/hard to break 20mm axle with all the benefits of a QR. you can easily swap wheels tooless in a minute or so


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

the_godfather said:


> dont get QR. 20mm or bolt on is the way forward. rockshox 360maxle is the best out there at the moment IMO. stiff/hard to break 20mm axle with all the benefits of a QR. you can easily swap wheels tooless in a minute or so


New '08 Fox 36 series forks use a tool-less 20mm quick-release system too... competes with Maxle... 
Doesn't look as smooth as they used to... but apparantly helps out those who are inefficient with the ol' allen. 

...wish they had an option to choose between the QR20 lowers, or reg. pinch bolt 20mm thru.

And same with the Maxle. Wish you could get rid of that stupid qr "handle". Maybe just have some mod where you can open it with an allen or another tool as a lever... 
Nothing more than a pet peeve of mine I guess, but still something I think about when I look at some of those forks.

I no longer really buy into the "RC2" or "RLC" either at this point... had a couple of "rlc's" about 3-4 years ago, and I honestly never messed with'em. Just set'em and forget'em. I'm not that picky I guess, unless I'm getting catapulted from some ridiculous rebound setting.


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## rlee560 (Jan 6, 2008)

> I no longer really buy into the "RC2" or "RLC" either at this point... had a couple of "rlc's" about 3-4 years ago, and I honestly never messed with'em. Just set'em and forget'em. I'm not that picky I guess, unless I'm getting catapulted from some ridiculous rebound setting.


I'm thinking of getting a 32 float. I am going to lower it to 80mm for my blk mrkt. I'm trying to decide between the R and RLC. Is the stiffness of the fork set with air pressure? Or the C in RLC?

Also do these forks come with a pump? And do they come with spacers? I was looking on the fox site and it looks like they make travel spacers that snap on the shaft.


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## euroford (Sep 10, 2006)

thanks for all of the feedback yall. just got back from ripping at ray's for the weekend on my bottlerocket. had a ton of fun on that bike, but after popping my ray's cherry i'm in a full on mode to get this mob built up! 

i think the 36 sounds like the logical choice at this point. i sure as heck ain't a smooth rider yet, i'm not a big guy, but i'm not small either, and being able to swap the wheelsets back and forth from the br and the mob is a huge plus for me. 

besides, i think it will just be kind of cool, i'm going to do an almost identical build between the mob and br.

everybody always raves about the maxle, but to me its a huge downside. i'm going to be looking out for an 07 fox to keep it a bolt on. obviously some don't lockup around the city all the time like i do. not too mention, i find the switch from black to silver doesn't work for my taste.

on r vs. rc2, obviously on a dj bike i'm going to run the air pressure high enough that its not going to be that important, but i've found it critical for tuning the van on my br and will be getting an rc2 fork for the new bike as well.


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## euroford (Sep 10, 2006)

saweeet, got the new toy in me hands!


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## XSL_WiLL (Nov 2, 2004)

Nice Tim. It looks good.


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## euroford (Sep 10, 2006)

thanks man, i just spent the weekend riding at rays, i'm sooooo jonesing to get the hardtail up and running!

time to spend some dough!


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