The Fox 36 gets a new air spring, chassis and a new 36 SL version
Fox's all-mountain fork gets the SL treatment as well as a near complete redesign.
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Hot on the heels of the recently unveiled 34 SL cross-country fork, Fox has announced a further two new forks. The first is a new 36 that's received a well-deserved update, ushering in a new air spring and chassis, and the 36 SL, which gets a similar treatment to the 34 SL. Here's everything you need to know.
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The 36 gets stiffer without the weight penalty
For 2025, Fox has brought heaps of updates to the 36, promising greater torsional stiffness and smoother action throughout its travel.
But the most obvious change is the 36's new chassis. Like the 32 SL and 34 SL, Fox has taken advantage of its generative design technology to create an arch that's claimed to boost torsional stiffness by 20%. The result is a level of stiffness not too dissimilar to the 38, however, the 36 is set to be 275g lighter than the enduro-focused fork.
2025 fox 36 hero.jpg, by Liam Mercer
As well as a new chassis, Fox has adorned the 36 with a new air spring. With it, the brand has aimed to boost smoothness by reducing any level of binding that occurs between the air spring and the stanchion when under a severe enough impact. This new air spring is said to move with the fork under these bending loads as the air shaft has been decoupled from the stanchion.
The fork gets more bushing overlap, too. Extended by 30mm, the new 36 promises less friction and a smoother feel all while the greater bushing overlap adds another boost to stiffness, says Fox.
Bypass channels were first added to the 2021 forks from Fox, and now, the brand has paid more attention to them for 2025, moving them inboard of the fork. These channels aid lubrication of the fork's internals by allowing oil to flow more easily, but now that they're inboard of the fork, Fox states that they're no longer in the fore-aft load path. Apparently, this reduces friction and wear while boosting the fork's sensitivity.
Another neat feature, and one that's made me incredibly happy, is that the air spring's top cap uses a Shimano cassette tool for removal - there's now no need for a specific top cap tool, the machining of an old socket or rounded-out top cap interfaces.
The new Fox 36 is available to suit 29-inch and 650b wheels, 140, 150 and 160mm travels, 37 and 44mm offsets and to fit 200 to 230mm rotors. The fork also runs either the Fox Grip X or Grip X2 damper.
The 36 SL brings lightweight for aggressive trail rippers
Fox claims the new 36 SL is the lightest 36 ever, with a sub-1,800 g weight. But where the 34 SL replaced the 34 Step-Cast, the 36 SL is planned to replace the 34. It's said that through a similar arch design as the new 36, stiffness has been boosted by 20% but without adding grams.
2025 fox 36 sl hero.jpg, by Liam Mercer
The 36 SL gets much of the same technology found on the new 36, including the air spring, bushing overlap, air springs and inboard bypass channels, but coming in travel from 120mm to 140mm, it sheds weight against the all-mountain specific fork. For example, a 29in, 140mm Grip X fork is slated to weigh 1,755g. This fork can accommodate 180mm to 230mm rotors.
Prices for the 36 start at £876 and go up to £1,399, while the 36 SL will set you back £809 up to £1,259 for the Factory model.
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