# Fox 40 vs. Fox 36 fork for light freeride bike?



## TacoMan (Apr 18, 2007)

I am building up a new bike that will be for all mountain, freeride, and some downhill use but not racing. 

I have originally designed it for a Fox 40 and have already bought one for a good price. But now I am thinking that maybe a 36 might be a better fit for the bike. The frame is not built yet, so I can change the head tube location for either fork.

The rear travel will be 7.5" so a 6.2" fork might be a better match than 8" travel. Also the claimed weight has the 36 at 1.5lbs lighter? is that right? I will run triple chainrings so I intend to climb every hill I go down.

I'm am trying to keep the rest of the bike light, but not too light since I weight 210lbs. I want to use coil spring only, don't like air forks. Has anyone bent or broke the steerer on a 36, that would be my biggest worry.

Will the stanchion tubes flex and bind be more noticable on the smaller 36mm tubes?

So what do you think, should I keep the 40 or sell it and get a 36?


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## kuksul08 (Oct 8, 2006)

Well with the 40 you're only adding about 1lb with the R and tad bit more with the RC2, so I would think that is negligible for the added suspension travel.

Right now my VP Free has 8.5" rear travel and i have a 7.87" fork and it feels level to me if that serves as any reference.

When it comes to climbing, the lower front with the 36 is beneficial, but the 40 is adjustable at .5" increments down to 6 inches internally if you really chose to make it that way (correct me if I'm wrong). Also you could always raise the forks in the crowns to lower the front end for climbing.

I dont think you have anything to worry about regarding flex or binding.

Bottom line: I'd keep the 40 if I already had it and adjust it to better climb hills.


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## Rover Nick (Jul 13, 2006)

Keep the 40 and drop it down to 7". What frame is it for?


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## M1_joel (Mar 9, 2004)

keep the 40 and drop the travel down.


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## IndecentExposure (Sep 25, 2006)

The 36's aren't a freeride fork, they're more of a heavy trail fork that blows out a lot.

I don't know about the 40's.

If you're looking for a great fork, and you haven't tried them out yet, go for a 66SL from Marz. Light, reliable, and travel adjust.


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## Dusty Bottoms (Jan 14, 2004)

The 36 is a FAR more versatile fork for the applications you have listed. The 40 is a full blown world cup downhill racing fork. You won't break the steerer of a 36 any faster than you would on the 40. In all honesty, you should be looking at a Totem or 66 for AM and FR. Fox doesn't have anything in their lineup that compares to these forks for your applications.


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## Blaster1200 (Feb 20, 2004)

Since you already have the 40, I'd say use it. I've been using one on my VPX, and I've really liked it so far. I recently removed that fork, and installed it on a newly built M3. In its place, I installed a Totem 2-step which, by the way, has nearly the same axle to crown height as the 40, but with less travel. Although I haven't done any rides with it yet, it's not nearly as plush as the 40 when it was new. 

Also, if you lower the 40 an inch, it'll have about the same axle to crown height as the 36, but with an inch more travel.


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## AKRida (Feb 26, 2004)

Blaster1200 said:


> Since you already have the 40, I'd say use it. I've been using one on my VPX, and I've really liked it so far. I recently removed that fork, and installed it on a newly built M3. In its place, I installed a Totem 2-step which, by the way, has nearly the same axle to crown height as the 40, but with less travel. Although I haven't done any rides with it yet, it's not nearly as plush as the 40 when it was new.
> 
> Also, if you lower the 40 an inch, it'll have about the same axle to crown height as the 36, but with an inch more travel.


your Totem wont get as plush as a 40 either, it's an airfork  ya can set it up to feel really nice, but at the very top of the travel you just cant get it set as sensitive as a coil/oil fork can, took me quite awhile to get my 2-step set up to be as plush as i can get it without bottom out on every drop lol. One tip to setting it up, ignore the *recommended* psi's for your weight, i tried those and it felt like complete crap way to stiff, i'm 190 pounds and got it setup for rockshox recommended psi for a 140 pounder.


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## ebxtreme (Jan 6, 2004)

For true FR application, I'd definitely keep the 40 and drop it to 170mm of travel.

For a more versatile fork, the 36 would be a good option. Note that you'll need to install the firm spring in for your size on the Vanilla. I've now got 7 or 8 buddies on '07 36's and none of us has had any issues. I've personally dropped a couple of 7+ footers on my talas, but another buddy has hit a 10 foot drop (to tranny) on it with no issues on his Talas version.

The 66 or the Totem coil might be the better option though as both come with 180mm of travel and are definitely more on the burly side. As for bending a steerer tube, you usually have to really screw something up to bend one. I cased a gap something fierce on my old Stinky and bent the steerer tube (thick steel) on my 66 a couple of years ago. The amount of force it took to bend that sucka, I was surprised my headtube didn't rip off the bike. :eekster: I was glad to just walk away from that one.

Cheers,
EB


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## Rover Nick (Jul 13, 2006)

IndecentExposure said:


> The 36's aren't a freeride fork, they're more of a heavy trail fork that blows out a lot.


Tell that to the guys who do slopestlye on them


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## Pistol2Ne (Apr 2, 2006)

Rover Nick said:


> Tell that to the guys who do slopestlye on them


 haha yeah also tell that to bearcloth Hes not even that big of a freerider


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## jamesdc (Oct 31, 2005)

Sell the fox 40 and get a marzocchi 888 sl ata, it has adjustable travel and is nice and light.


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## ebxtreme (Jan 6, 2004)

Pistol2Ne said:


> haha yeah also tell that to bearcloth Hes not even that big of a freerider


The claw just switched to Fox so he's not really a good barometer, but Kyle Strait has been using the 36 for his slopestyle bike for a while and he definitely pushes the limits on it.

One thing though is that it's hard to judge a forks durability just because certain pro's ride them. For instance, they get them custom tuned for the type of activity they're doing and they've got spares sitting around in case something goes awry. I usually prefer to hear from Joe-average about how well they handle and hold up to abuse.

Fox will have a 180mm singlecrown out likely next year (rumor has it at least), but that's a ways off.

EB


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## Blaster1200 (Feb 20, 2004)

jamesdc said:


> Sell the fox 40 and get a marzocchi 888 sl ata, it has adjustable travel and is nice and light.


Um...the 40 has adjustable travel (albeit internally, but how often do you need to do that?), and it's nice and light. Note that Marzocchi doesn't seem to post weights - why is that?

He already has a top-notch fork, so why would he bother to sell it to get something less?


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## captain spaulding (May 7, 2006)

Rover Nick said:


> Tell that to the guys who do slopestlye on them


Most of those guys could run Fox 32 and be happy.. doesn't mean that it's the best choice for us mortals..


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## Easy_J (Apr 5, 2004)

3 rings and a fox 40 seems like a bad combo. I was in a similar situation, I moved from a first gen V10 to a 06 stinky, I transferred over most of the parts including the 40. I set it at 7 inches to match the travel of the stinky. I also trail ride the stinky and that 40 kinda sucked on the climbing and tighter trails. I replaced it with a vanilla 36 and the bike feels much better. For downhilling, nothing ever came close to the 40, but for day to day riding I like the 36 much better.


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## Quarashi (Aug 23, 2006)

I run an 06 36 Talas on my freeride bike (Yeti ASX) which also has 7" of travel. If you do any extended climbs definitely go for the 36. A lot of people say it's not "perfect" for downhilling but in reality it's pretty darn good. When you garage test it you do feel sticktion but i never notice this on the trails, it usually sags bellow the sticktion(sp?) point anyway, and also below the 5mm or so of travel loss making those problems irrelevant. 

I've done some 6 footers to flat and if you land it right it doesn't bottom. But on bad landings it did bottom but never harshly. There is no flex at all the fork but make sure your wheel is true because wobbly wheels are incredibly annoying on stiff forks!


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## TIMBERRR (Feb 24, 2006)

ZOKE 66 or TOTEM that rig.


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## Freerydejunky (Sep 21, 2006)

I know a guy (ride with alot) who rides a 06 Nomad. Fox 36 AIR. Hasnt blown it super light. Rides DH and Free ride. Has never had any problems. Id go with a 36.


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## TacoMan (Apr 18, 2007)

Thanks for the feedback.

The 40 would definitely be a better performing fork. I'm wondering if the added performance would be worth the added weight for the riding I'll be doing? The 40 is 6.9 lbs and the 36 is 5.45 lb, so 1.5 lbs would be like having a big front tire that weighs nothing.

My local mountain trail ride consists of 60 minutes of climbing followed by 12 minutes of descending. The grade is pretty steep so a light bike would climb better, but at the same time the steepness also brings high speeds going down requiring good suspension.

I am building my own frame from steel that will be fairly light and strong. I am trying to keep that theme throughout the bike. At first I was planning a heavy-duty downhiller and bought the 40. Now I'm leaning towards something a little lighter and thought the 40 would now be out of place on this bike. I have all the suspension geometry worked out and the frame is fully designed in CAD. Now I am specing the tubes based on the anticipated loads. If I stay with the 40 I will want to use thicker tubes, but if I go with the 36 I will spec some thinner tubes. So it is not just the weight of the fork, but I can also save some more weight in the frame.

Does the 36 use a single coil spring? That is what the manual seems to say. The 40 has a spring in each leg. I am wondering if the 36 having only spring will create more bind?

I took a look at the Totem, it weighs 6.3 lbs so the weight saving would be less than half of what I would get with the 36. Don't know the weight of the 66, but it has smaller stanchions than the 36. I've always got the impression that Marzocchi have smooth action at the cost of added weight.

I've been using Fox products since the 80's with their original Air Shox on dirt bikes and have been happy with the quality, plus they are made in the USA. I'm also going to use a Fox shock on this bike, but that will be replaced soon with a custom made shock that I designed.


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## Freerydejunky (Sep 21, 2006)

As I said the guy who rides the 36 Air is not a small guy. He beat up his bike (riding style) the fork still preforms like the day he got it. Its seen everything from heavy DH runs to hardcore XC. Very versitile fork. If your doing that much climbing a 36 is the way to go. (If you want to stay with fox)

40's + climbing = walking


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## bikenweed (Dec 22, 2005)

TacoMan said:


> The 40 has a spring in each leg. I am wondering if the 36 having only spring will create more bind?


Nope, the 40 only has a spring in the left leg. At least, if you have an RC2, like I did for 2 years, the left leg houses the spring, and the right leg houses the sealed dampener unit.

If you build down the bike in order to accomodate the single crown, 36, then you'll be stuck to only riding with a 6" single crown. If you build the bike burly enough for a dual crown fork, (and the bike really doesn't have to be all that much more beefy) then you can always downsize to the 36 crown if you find the 40 to be too much fork for the job.

Spend your time getting your bike built up and riding rather than worrying about the fork, and just build the rig strong enough to handle both. It's way better to have a slightly over-built bike than an under-built ride. One of the really cool aspects of the 40 is that you can adjust it very, very easily from 6 to 8" of travel, so you can lower it to see what the ride would be like with the smaller fork before you actually get rid of the fork with options.


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## memimeman (Jun 24, 2005)

Well, i suppose that i should chime in, i have both forks. I weigh in at about 199 w/o gear and ride all mountain and moderate freeride and downhill. i have been riding the 36 talus model for about two years and have loved it. I wouldnt worry about stiffness with it, its a solid fork. I cased a 10 foot drop (granted it was a pretty good tranny) but bad enough that everyone thought i was gonna go face down into the dirt, and that fork saved my teeth. It didnt flex, bend, or snap. I bought the 40 because on the faster dh runs the 6 inch talus just packs up and makes your hands hurt. I dont know if this could be eliminated with the coil version, never used it, but it does a pretty good job at the dh stuff. The 40 on the other hand does stand a bit taller than the 36 in the 8 inch mode and the front end wanders a little more on the climbs. I took both forks with me to moab with the intent of swapping them out depending on what trails i hit, but laziness and excitement took over and i just left the 40 on the whole time. I rode everything from slickrock to porcupine with the 40 set at 8 inches. With the exception of being a little out of shape, i did not notice a very large difference on the cross country ability of my bike (yeti asx). It climbed well and was not too heavy. Haven't had a chance to do a lot of downhill with the 40, but that will come in july when i get up to keystone. Hope this helps. I think either fork will be fine, whoever thinks that the 36 is too flexy probably has a flexy front wheel. btw, I never take the time to change the travel on my 36, still climbs well.


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## Snowpug (Apr 23, 2007)

For what you want the 36 would be better than the 40, but both are great forks either way...36 just suits your riding better.

I'm 6' and 200lbs and hit 6-8ft drops to tranny on a Fox Talas RLC all day long on my Switchblade and both fork and bike hold up fine (I do ride very light though). I wouldn't be concerned with durability either way. Good luck.


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## TacoMan (Apr 18, 2007)

I have decided to keep the 40 and set it up at 7" travel. I will change the geometry of the frame for the 7" height, then I can always add or subtract an inch without it affecting the handling much.

Also the 40 at 7" should be about the same axle-to-crown as the 36 at 6.3" travel because the 36 has a taller lower crown.

If later on if I think the front end is too heavy or I find 6" travel is enough, then I can try out a 36 fork. Since I already have the 40, I might as well run it for a while, otherwise I would never know what I may have been missing. Weight wise it is a lot heavier than a 36, but not that much heavier than some of the other 6" coil spring forks.

I should have less friction too with the fork set at 7" travel since there will be more overlap in the bushings.

I'm also going to spec the frame tubes a little thicker since a difference of 0.1 or 0.2mm wall thickness is not much added weight at all.


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## ridiculous (Feb 20, 2007)

zocchi 66 sl


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## tacubaya (Jan 27, 2006)

66 RC2X or Totem Coil


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## wormvine (Oct 27, 2005)

Blaster1200 said:


> Um...the 40 has adjustable travel (albeit internally, but how often do you need to do that?), and it's nice and light. Note that Marzocchi doesn't seem to post weights - why is that?
> 
> He already has a top-notch fork, so why would he bother to sell it to get something less?


Uh. All posted weights right on the website.
Don't insinuate if you are not going to look!

http://marzocchi.com/Template/listSPAForkStatistics.asp?IDFolder=229&LN=UK&Sito=usa-mtb

Zoke 66sl weighs 5.8lbs and has 35mm stanchions by the way!


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## TacoMan (Apr 18, 2007)

The 66 SL is an air fork. The coil spring 66 RC2 weighs 6.6 lbs compared to the FOX 36 at 5.45 lbs with 36mm stanchions, but it does have 0.7" more travel.

With the FOX 40 at 6.9 lbs, that is very light for a 8" travel coil spring fork.


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