For a few years now, the 34 Step Solid was the go-to XC fork for lots of manufacturers–it was stiffer than the 32, and had 120mm of journey to match up with most fashionable XC bikes.
However Fox wished to take that light-weight really feel and make it stronger, stiffer, and enhance the journey, all with out including weight. The result’s the all-new Fox 34 SL–XC bred, Downcountry prepared.
The 34 SL is really a wholly new fork, from the bottom up. Nothing about it carries over from the 34 SC. Listed below are the important thing options, all defined beneath:
Generative arch & crown
Full-size chassis (no Step Solid)
Elevated bushing overlap
Inboard bypass channels
Extra journey
The actually spectacular factor is that they didn’t cease with power and stiffness. It’s additionally markedly smoother, due to small however necessary design adjustments. Mixed with the brand new dampers launched in 2024, this really is the very best 34 fork ever. I’ll have a separate evaluation, however first, right here’s the tech:
Generative Design
The 34 SL borrows the identical generative design philosophy from the brand new 32 SC, with a punctured arch to save lots of weight, and dramatic sculpting and machining of each the arch and crown.
Why no reverse arch? As a result of over 100mm journey, it turns into much less sensible for body clearance causes due to how the fork rake is achieved … the 32 SC does this by angling the crown greater than the axle offset, however the others use extra conventional angles and axle dropout positioning.
It’s 29er solely, and is simply obtainable with a 44mm offset.
Full Measurement Chassis, Mainly the Identical Weight
The brand new 34 SL replaces the 34 SC, utilizing a standard-width chassis slightly than the narrower SC design.
This opens up tire clearance and improves torsional stiffness. Total stiffness is 17% higher, journey goes as much as 130mm now, and it matches 2.5″ tires:
Better of all, all of those enhancements include only a 3.5% weight enhance over the 34 Step Solid.
To do this, Fox utilized all of the methods, like black anodizing the crown slightly than powder coating, saving 7-8 grams. And internally butting the damper-side stanchion, as a result of it doesn’t want straight inside partitions just like the air spring aspect. They usually skipped the stress bleeders.
The end result? A claimed weight of 1,475g. That’s solely 33g heavier than the outgoing 34 SC’s weight of 1,442g. Oh, and that’s for a 130mm journey 34 SL versus a 120mm 34 SC.
Greater Brakes
One other change is it now matches a minimal 180mm rotor. OK, but when that is their new XCO race fork, why 180mm rotors? As a result of it’s additionally their downcountry race fork, and a few of these people need 200mm rotors. They are saying a lot of their XCO professionals had been operating 180mm rotors anyway, so why not cut back the variety of adapters?
Smoother Than Ever
Right here’s the place it will get actually fascinating. To make the fork smoother, Fox made three main redesigns:
Longer Stanchions = Extra Bushing OverlapFirst, they gave the fork longer higher tubes (stanchions). This allowed for extra bushing overlap (20mm extra!), which suggests decrease binding forces (friction) underneath fore-aft loading.
Inner Bypass ChannelsEver observed these graduated ridges on the backs of Fox’s fork legs? These are bypass channels, permitting the air from underneath the damper or air spring to entry the house between the bushings.
They’re necessary as a result of that air is trapped contained in the fork, and it’s not a tunable ingredient like your regular air spring. But it’s principally a second air spring, as a result of it will get compressed each time your fork compresses. So it, too, ramps up and impacts suspension efficiency.
Sure, Fox (and certain each different model) tunes the fork based mostly on this, as a result of it’s a identified amount. However anytime they will make that air quantity larger, they will reduce its impact on efficiency.
For instance, in a Fox 36, with out these bypass channels, at backside out, there could be about 45psi within the decrease legs, on both sides. However with the bypass channels, that drops to about 15psi, which has a lot much less impression in your fork’s efficiency.
Which is nice, buuuuuuut……
Fox upgraded their FEA software program and located new hotspots on the bushings round these channels. Forks see a lot greater fore-aft masses than lateral masses, and so the bushings may deform ever so barely over that channel, which created stress factors and thus friction.
So shifting the bypass channels to the perimeters offered extra help for the decrease bushing the place it wanted it, yielding extra even contact stress with the stanchions. Growth, much less friction.
Longer Air SpringsLastly, the air springs at the moment are longer, so there’s extra detrimental quantity, which makes for a plusher fork.
However wait, there’s extra… or, notThere are literally different applied sciences they developed to additional enhance smoothness, however discovered that for this fork and its shorter journey utility, these concepts didn’t transfer the needle sufficient to offset the small weight achieve. However, you would possibly see these later… I simply can’t inform you about them but.
Dampers & Different Upgrades
They’ve switched the air spring cap to a Shimano Cassette Lock Ring interface. Till now their forks used a particularly low profile socket, requiring particular flat-faced sockets to keep away from rounding it off. Now, they’ve joined Rockshox in utilizing the cassette software interface for safer, simpler servicing with a typical software.
Choices & Specs
The 34 SL will probably be obtainable with the next choices:
110 / 120 / 130 mm journey choices
Journey adjustments require swapping the air spring
Trim Ranges
Manufacturing facility – Kashima, Kabolt SL through axle
Efficiency Elite stage – OE solely
Efficiency – Kabolt SL or QR through axles
Damper Choices
Grip Damper (Efficiency solely)
Grip SL Damper (lightest damper, all journey choices)
Grip X Damper (extra tuning, 130mm journey solely)
Fox 34 SL Pricing
$649-$1099 USD
$869-$1469 CAD
€869 – €1469 EUR
1149-1899 AUS
£749 – £1259
It’ll be obtainable with or with out Distant lockout (Grip SL damper solely), and to function it there’s an all-new…
Fox Twin Stick Distant
Twin operate remotes are sometimes huge and clunky, however the brand new Fox Twin Stick does a fairly good job on each aesthetics and ergonomics. Two small paddles offer you straightforward operation of each a dropper submit (bigger, decrease lever) and your suspension’s lockout.
The lockout portion is appropriate with both 2-position (Open/Agency) or 3-position (Open/Medium/Agency) suspension setups. Push it to lock it, then push it once more to launch it. It may be arrange for fork solely, shock solely, or fork and shock concurrently. Weight is 66g (76g with clamp), and value is $149 USD ($199 CAD / €199 EUR / 269 AUS / £184.95).
Movies & Daring Claims
Fox says this new fork offers the lightest XC ecosystem, of their phrases:
“If you mix Fox SL components – 34 SL, Float SL, Switch SL – you get the lightest general full XC suspension and dropper system from any main model, 333 grams lighter than our closest competitor with equal spec, and 489 grams lighter than the competitors’s digital XC system, each of which supply a most 120mm journey fork vs. Fox’s 130mm max journey.”
Keep tuned for the trip evaluation…and extra.
RideFox.com
