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

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

No, it’s not lighter than the 34 Step Forged mannequin it replaces, nevertheless 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 appreciated the 34 SC. Rather a lot. However the brand new 34 SL is healthier. Right here’s why…

Corners like a Champ

Fox went again to a typical “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 sooner than me, so it’s good for them. However I’m rather a lot heavier than them, so it’s additionally in a position to deal with diving into a decent nook…

…and maintain me popping out the opposite facet, 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 using 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 heart for the 120mm air spring swap as a result of, nicely, 130mm is superior. However I’ll get there, after which I’ll add a bit to this evaluation 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 appreciated it nice. But it surely tops out at 100mm journey, and most racers at each degree are on 120mm forks lately.

You may even get it with a distant lockout, if that’s your jam. It’s not mine, and I not often take the fork out of full-open mode. Possibly on lengthy highway 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 plenty of 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 affords loads of help for seated hammering. Yeah, it bobs a bit when standing and hammering (or simply utilizing lots 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 using.

As an alternative, I tune my fork with the air spring quantity and stress, and even right here I’m operating it extraordinarily comfortable.

How comfortable?

Fox’s chart suggests about 95 psi for my using weight.

I’m at 85 psi.

I additionally added a quantity spacer. Extra on that in a minute, however simply know this: You may run this fork actually comfortable and it’ll really feel wonderful and it’ll nonetheless have loads of help for many of what you’re going to do on a brief journey bike, as a result of…

It additionally Descends Actually Nicely.

I put the video overview on the backside of this evaluation in case you wanna see transferring photos, however right here’s the deal:

On the launch in Arizona, I ran just a little extra air stress (concerning the really useful quantity) to account for the larger drops and more durable hits on the descents. This was with none quantity spacers, so the additional air quantity stored it extra linear, and the additional air stress stored it using mid-stroke the place it ought to be with out bottoming out on massive hits.

Again dwelling (not pictured), I added the quantity spacer (and I’d add one other) so the fork would ramp up sooner 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 may tune virtually any fork’s air spring to realize related outcomes.

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

In the event 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, arduous 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 case you want a 110-130mm fork on your race bike, I’d suggest 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 last word litmus take a look at for any suspension fork.