FOX 32 Step-Cast fork
Emily was quite excited to receive her XC World Cup weapon for the year (click to enlarge).
FOX has been on a roll lately so they decided to attack the ‘unicorn’ of the fork world, a sub 3 pound suspension fork that is stiff, plush and tuneable. They constrained the parameters to only 100mm of travel and Boost front hub compatible only.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Video: Emily Batty checks out her World Cup race fork for the first time and she is pleased.
Features
- 15QR x 110 Boost and 15QR x 100 Kabolt axle options
- 27.5” and 29” wheel options
- 100mm travel
- Fit4 and Fit Grip three position damper for improved control
- Lockout for increased efficiency
- Factory Series models feature Genuine Kashima Coat
- Gloss Orange, Matte Black, Gloss White
Lowers are completely milled out for weight (click to enlarge).
They accomplished the goal by rethinking the fork chassis and shrinking it. Even with Boost 110mm hub compatibility, they reduced the chassis to be optimized for the task at hand. They limited the travel to 100mm so they can have a set damper length that didn’t extend all the way down the fork leg. They then used the open space at the bottom of the fork leg and and used a ‘stepped’ design to make room for the Boost hub and brake rotor without requiring a wide fork.
- 120mm upper tube spacing (32 model uses 130mm)
- Max tire size 2.3”
- Max rotor size: 27.5”- 180mm, 29” – 203mm
- Rake: 27.5” – 44mm, 29” – 44mm or 51mm
The genius is in the space created for the rotor without interfering with the damper (left). Svelte profile (right) of the 29er fork (click to enlarge).
Once they had the structure of the fork dialed, they went to work with the milling machine and shaved material while balancing the stiffness requirements. What they achieved is quite remarkable as they came up with a fork that is truly under 3 pounds with an uncut steerer tube and a front thru-axle installed.
Weight with a cut steerer tube and without axle for the 29er version (click to enlarge).
- 32 SC 27.5 100mm = 1,355g / 2.98lb
- 225g / 0.49lb less than MY16 32
- 32 SC 29 100mm = 1,360g / 2.99lb
- 255g / 0.56lb less than MY16 32
- 165mm steerer tube with star nut installed and Kabolt axle
Continue to page 2 for more on the FOX 32 Step-Cast fork and a full photo gallery »
The post FOX 32 Step-Cast fork appeared first on Mountain Bike Review.