Boasting class-leading performance and that highly-desirable Kashima gold finish, the Fox 36 Float Factory fork with Grip 2 damper has been the benchmark suspension fork for many years now. So it’s a big deal when Fox announces a raft of significant damper updates aimed at giving riders more control over support independently of sensitivity. That includes the introduction of a completely new damper level – Grip X – aimed at providing the performance of the multi-adjustable Grip X2, with less complexity.

Furthermore, according to Fox, Grip X has a more all-mountain/trail remit, while the Grip X2 is designed primarily for gravity applications. There’s a £90 upcharge from Grip X to Grip X2 (in the UK at least – US prices are identical), with the top end Fox 36 Grip X2 now costing an eye-watering £1,349, leaving a fairly considerable gap to the flagship RockShox Lyrik Ultimate with the new Charger 3.1 damper at £1,079.

Has Fox had the Midas touch with its latest Grip X and Grip X2 dampers?

Fox 36 Factory Grip X need to know

• Top-of-the-range hard-hitting trail fork
• Three-way adjustable damping with new Grip X damper
• Larger diameter base valve packs in more shims than Grip 2 for better damping control
• 160mm and 150mm travel options, black and orange paint options, and e-bike specific tune also available
• Same chassis as previous MY24 model, with opportunity to upgrade last year’s forks to MY25 spec

The Kabolt X floating axle lets you set the alignment to reduce binding.

Design and specifications

Outwardly the Fox 36 chassis (and, for that matter, the 38 and 34) remains unchanged, so it’s only the new damper that’s really new. Well, aside from the Podium Gold finish found on 1974 forks in each series to celebrate 50 years of Fox. Personally I like the gold, and think it looks fantastic on every bike I’ve seen them fitted to, but I also understand that some riders find them OTT and chintzy. For them, there’s also the traditional black and orange paint options.

Leaving the chassis unchanged opens the door for existing Fox fork owners to upgrade their dampers to the latest models, which is to be applauded. A complete Grip X2 damper costs £469.95, so it’s a significant upgrade, but I’m happy to see Fox offer it.

Bleed nipples make it quick and easy to release excess pressure, while the lube channels keep seals and bushings coated in fresh oil.

There’s a lot to like about the current Fox 36 chassis as it is, with the lower leg bypass channels feeding fresh oil to the bushings and adding volume to help prevent pressure build-up. Bleed ports also allow excess pressure to be purged quickly on long descents, and Fox’s dropout design allows riders to set the lower leg alignment to reduce binding. All of which has helped Fox stay at the top of the suspension fork game against RockShox’s improvement in build quality and ease-of-adjustment.

From left to right, the new Fox Grip X2, Grip X, and Grip SL dampers.

So the main event with this MY25 Fox Factory fork is the new Grip X damper, which saves around 120g over the older Grip 2 and loses the high-speed rebound adjustment to give riders one less dial to worry about. It still boasts high and low-speed compression adjustment at the top of the right leg, along with low-speed rebound control at the base of the right leg.

The new Grip X compression dial has a small nub to make it easier for a full sweep into the ‘locked out’ position.

Fox has tweaked the design of the dials for 2025, with a more pronounced tab on the blue outer high-speed ring that makes it easier to fully close the compression for climbing. The black low-speed dial is familiar in size and shape, but the detents are a little vague and far apart compared to the high-speed adjuster. And RockShox’s Charger 3.1 arguably has a much easier system to understand and fettle, with a neutral position from where you can increase or decrease damping.

Grip X is the third from top – note the larger diameter base valve at the top of the damper compared to the Grip 2 damper below it.

Inside the damper is where the really important updates have been made, with a much larger diameter base valve – confusingly the part of the damper that sits at the top of the fork – packed with more shims. Grip already uses a spring-backed internal floating piston (to stabilise pressure through the fork and eliminate cavitation of the oil) but the new larger piston allows the additional oil flow needed to run through these additional shims. To be specific, the diameter has been increased by 4mm to 24mm, and there are now 23 shims instead of 16 in the Grip 2. Which gives Fox much greater control over the damping fluid at different velocities, as well as more tuning potential.

The latest Fox 36 Grip X is a sexy fork, whether you go for gold or not.

Furthermore, Fox says it has worked hard to balance the pressure within the fork to improve response times to bump inputs, so the fork should be able to switch direction faster, giving improved grip while still supporting rider instigated forces from braking and when loading up the bike through compressions and landings.

Fox sums this up as being able to offer more damping support without adding extra harshness.

On the rebound side, the Fox 36 Grip X only gives you external control over the low-speed circuit.

Performance

Initially I rode the new 36 Factory Grip X for a couple of days in Santa Cruz, California, near Fox’s HQ. Following that I rode another fork extensively at home in the UK, even racing an enduro on it, as well as the 38 Float Grip X2 both at home, and on enduro trails in Wales and Austria on the latest YT Decoy SN.

Those first impressions formed in California were of a damper that provides stacks of support – just as Fox had promised – but not without the penalty of extra harshness. These conclusions were reached after multiple bracketed runs on the same track playing with the low-speed compression damping, and where the fully open compression setting gave the least harshness through my palms. Yes, support was there in abundance, keeping the front end propped up under braking, and from diving when landing off drops and steps, but trail chatter and braking bumps transmitted forces sharply to my palms. Grip was not on par with what I’d come to expect from the older Grip 2 damper, and that meant the bike would start to deflect and ping off hits, needing a firm hand and fresh arms to ride fast. The damping was racy, like a sports car, rather than a trophy truck.

One of the bikes we’ve spent the most time on with this new 36 fork is the Orbea Rise LT M10.

At first I put this down to the fork being box-fresh, but having now ridden several forks over many weeks and months, this is no feeling that bedding-in will cure. Such that I’ve run the compression damping fully open on all the Grip X and Grip X2 forks I’ve ridden now. Even going as far as to instinctively keep reaching down to wind off the dials, despite being at the end of their range.

I’m not alone in my thoughts – Bike Test Editor Alan Muldoon has also commented on the harshness of the new Grip X damper when he tested the latest Orbea Rise LT recently, saying “the new GripX cartridge in the Fox 36 fork has too much damping and support, even when running all of the dials wide open”. A trait that gave the Orbea “a pronounced imbalance front and rear in the suspension behaviour”.

But Guy has also ridden it on the latest Santa Crux Bronson.

Guy Kesteven has also remarked on the characteristics of the 36 Factory Grip X2 on his review of the new Santa Cruz Bronson, explaining “Even with the Grip X2 compression circuits fully open and well below recommended rider weight pressure the 36 still very obviously sat on its shims rather than sinking into its travel”.

Specialized has gone for a lighter custom tune on its latest Stumpjumper 15 Pro to better match the rear suspension.

What’s interesting is that Alan has also ridden the new Specialized Stumpjumper 15 with the Fox 36 Float Factory Grip X fork, and he had no complaints about the damping. But dig a little deeper and you’ll discover that Specialized has fitted a custom Grip X damper to the fork on the Stumpy, with a much lighter tune. According to Alan the “lighter damping felt very smooth and active on the Stumpy and should give lighter riders a more usable range of damping adjustment. It also felt really balanced with the rear suspension”. So there you have it. All of which points to Fox going too firm with the tune on its latest Grip X2 damper, either favouring heavier riders, or feedback from hard-charging World Cup DH and EDR racers over the needs of average Joes.

The good news is that it should be an easy fix to move the damping window a little towards the lighter end of the spectrum. Something RockShox has done with its new Charger 3.1, and ended up with a range of forks that can be set up to be super active, or solid and supportive, without giving up grip and sensitivity.

One thing that may not be so easily solved is the noise. While the Grip X2 damper is totally silent, the Grip X is noisy on the rebound side, slurping and wheezing with every impact and movement. According to Jordi Cortes from Fox, this is a byproduct of getting the damping characteristics they were searching for, and muting the squelch would mean a loss of performance. I’d rather not compromise on performance when spending over £1k on a suspension fork, but there’s no denying the slurp is annoying.