Fox’s recently re-launched 36 fork has undergone an internal refresh, getting the option of two new dampers and reworked bushings inside the lower legs.
Identical to the orange or black-coloured Factory GRIP X fork, this 36 Podium Gold model stands out with Fox’s limited-edition 50th anniversary paintjob.
The latest 36 is available with both the new trail-focused GRIP X (tested) and the gravity GRIP X2 damper, giving riders the option to choose the fork best suited to their needs.
All of Fox’s new dampers – the GRIP X included – are claimed to offer more traction and control thanks to an increase in overall damping, while having a broader adjustment range.
Costing £1,259 / $1,199 / €1,449, the trail-focused 150mm variant weighs an impressive 2,015g.
On the trail, the new 36 GRIP X’s feel is dominated by an abundance of mid-stroke support.
It’s almost impossible to overwhelm the fork, even when you’re riding at your limit or pushing hard into the deepest compressions, highest-load turns or fastest hits.
There’s plenty of smoothness on tap, whether you’re rolling along a fire road or pounding into rocks and roots, but the Fox fork lacks the outright plushness of some of its competitors.
Being picky, it could use more of its travel more effectively to neutralise the trail, without impacting performance elsewhere.
Active rather than neutral riders will get the most from Fox’s latest damper tech; pushing into the terrain to make the most of the support on offer feels most rewarding.
Fox 36 Podium Gold GRIP X details and specifications
If it wasn’t for the gaudy gold paint, you’d be hard pressed to know this is a new Fox 36; its chassis, including the lowers, crowns and stanchions, is identical to the old model.
That means you still get the single-sided pinch bolt axle, pressure-release valves on the backs of the lower legs, a bolted-on cable guide and pre-threaded holes for mudguards on the rear of the arch.
Internally, the lowers have been fitted with reworked bushings. Previously, Fox’s bushings had a groove running their length to allow oil to move past them, but this has now been removed thanks to the oil flow channel in the rear of the lower castings.
The uninterruped bushing is claimed to reduce friction, resulting in a smoother action.
GRIP X damper
Fox wanted to make the GRIP X damper easier to set up, have more usable adjustments, and be lighter than the GRIP X2.
Atop the right-hand leg are high- and low-speed compression adjusters, with the high-speed adjuster’s 170-degree sweep function doubling up as a firm mode as it closes off the low-speed circuit with its final click.
While the GRIP X shares the same 24mm base valve with the GRIP X2, the damper’s low-speed compression adjuster uses a needle and orifice design found in the previous-generation GRIP and FIT4.
Fox claims the increase in base valve diameter increases oil flow within the fork, essentially creating more ‘leverage’ on the shims, which should equate to a smoother, suppler feel.
Also different from the GRIP X2 are the number of shims in the GRIP X’s compression stack. That figure is down to 16, but each damper uses a different shim-stack design, so performance should be similar.
At the bottom of the leg is a single low-speed rebound adjuster, forgoing the high-speed dial seen on the gravity-focused X2 version and outgoing GRIP2.
By removing an adjustable high-speed rebound circuit, Fox claims it saved around 70g with a smaller mid-valve piston and shaft, also stating this makes the fork easier to set up.
In terms of design, the high-speed rebound damping relies on a shim stack, while the low-speed has an orifice/port, which is opened and closed by the adjuster.
The low-speed compression adjuster has 16 clicks, the high-speed 15 clicks and the low-speed rebound nine clicks.
Float EVOL air spring
The Float EVOL air spring remains unchanged for this iteration of the 36, using the tried-and-tested cartridge design.
Fox is clearly happy with how the latest Float EVOL spring performs, removing it from the list of things it deemed upgradeable.
How much does the Fox 36 Podium Gold GRIP X weigh?
My 150mm-travel, 29in wheel, 44mm offset Fox 36 Podium Gold GRIP X fork with uncut steerer tube (245mm), brake hose guide and front axle (110x15 Boost) weighs 2,015g, slightly more than Fox’s 1,929g claims.
Fox 36 Podium Gold GRIP X performance
I tested the Fox 36 Podium Gold GRIP X on my Marin Rift Zone long-term test bike.
Although the Marin comes fitted with a RockShox Lyrik from the factory, the 36 has the same 150mm travel and a similar axle-to-crown measurement, which made it a natural fit for the Rifty.
I tested the fork on the widest range of my home trails in Scotland’s Tweed Valley. From tackling the hardest enduro-style runs to easier undulating singletrack and trail-centre loops, they were put through their paces on repeatable test loops.
Fox 36 Podium Gold GRIP X setup
Those who have owned previous-generation GRIP or GRIP2 Fox 36 forks will find setting up the 2025 model familiar.
For my 75kg kitted-up weight and 178cm height, with a relatively hard riding style but a preference for grip and comfort, I inflated the air spring to 82psi, giving 44mm or 29.33 per cent sag. Having prior experience with the Float air spring, I installed two volume-reducer spacers.
Fork sag, while useful for getting an initial setting, should only be considered in context with how it feels on the trail. Dynamic sag (how much the fork sits into its travel when you’re riding) will be vastly different from static sag, and will change depending on terrain type and gradient, rider speed and confidence.
I’ve given my sag measurement as a point of reference only. I measured it in my standing riding position by applying the same 43kg to the front wheel (measured by putting scales under the front wheel) for each pair of forks I tested.
After trying Fox’s recommended damper-setting starting points and experimenting with other settings, I ended up with +2 clicks (from fully open) of high-speed compression damping and +4 clicks (from fully open) of low-speed compression damping. The rebound damping was fully open.
If you want faster rebound speeds, while official tunes aren’t available off the shelf, your local Fox service centre can re-jig the high-speed rebound shim stack to your specific requirements.
Fox 36 Podium Gold GRIP X ride impressions
Fox’s latest GRIP-X damped 36 feels supple and smooth at the start of its travel, tracking the ground impressively.
Very little breakaway force is needed before it starts moving into its travel. The imperfections of a rough fire road or worn trail-centre surface are ironed out accurately and smoothly.
In terms of comfort, this latest GRIP X fork feels very similar to the free-moving GRIP damper of old, which has never been described as harsh.
Increase trail speed and hit small to medium high-frequency bumps, such as smoother root or rock sections, and the 36 works impressively. It freely and smoothly dips deeper into its travel reserves to insulate you from buzz and keep the bike rolling.
Not only does it reduce hand and arm fatigue, it also has a control-rich, grippy ride. Sticking lines across cambers or ploughing into roots and rock gardens becomes a formality rather than a puzzle.
On deep-travel, high-speed compressions – such as hammering around a bermed turn littered with braking bumps, or at the bottom of a g-out covered with square-edged bumps – the fork is noisy.
Plenty of whooshing and sucking is emitted as the fork transfers between compression and rebound strokes. This reminds you it's working hard, but it can be distracting – especially if you’re used to silent forks, such as those with RockShox’s Charger 3 and 3.1 damper.
In smoother banked corners or compressions, the 36 GRIP X’s character is distinctly different from the previous-generation GRIP or GRIP2.
Support is plentiful; it rides relatively high in its travel and it doesn’t use up precious millimetres unnecessarily.
Where, previously, you’d add more spring pressure and volume spacers to reduce dive, the GRIP X’s increased low-speed compression damping does the hard work.
This can be felt on the trail and keeps the bike’s dynamic geometry from shifting dramatically as the terrain undulates, but the fork doesn’t work as hard as it could do to keep the bars level with the horizon.
Dipping and rising with the terrain, the fork feeds the ground’s contours back into your hands and arms rather than flattening them.
This feels great when you’re riding actively, pumping and pushing to drive speed, and highlights how high in its travel the fork runs, saving the remainder for sharper, harsher hits.
While this feedback-rich ride isn’t fatiguing, it’s far from muted. Rider neutrality isn’t an option if you’re looking for the smoothest ride; you need to act and react to the terrain to keep the bike from being overly influenced and pitching back and forth.
But, when you pick up the pace or aggression, the support equates to control that’s doled out generously.
Riding at your limits and banging or pushing hard into steep, on-the-brakes turns doesn’t cause the front end to dive or become overloaded. Instead, it resists over-compression, remaining propped up in its travel.
Weighting the 36 with deliberate, marked body shifts is a penance-free affair, with control and stability its stand-out traits.
How does the Fox 36 Podium Gold GRIP X compare to RockShox’s Lryik Ultimate MY25 and the Öhlins RXF36 M.2?
Coincidence is a beautiful thing, because both RockShox and Fox launched updated versions of their dampers in the earlier part of 2024.
While the new GRIP X and Charger 3.1 get the same level of external adjustments, and the Lyrik (2,044g) and 36 (2,015g) have just 29g between them, there’s a bit of a gulf in other areas.
Cost-wise, the Lyrik looks like a bargain at £1,079 compared to Fox’s £1,259 – and out on the trails the forks feel distinctly different.
Sitting lower in its travel, the Lyrik has a stuck-to-the-floor feel as it traces every bump, contour and undulation with absolute precision. This suits a neutral riding style, where the fork can be relied upon to do almost all the heavy lifting.
Feeling muted and composed without being sluggish, the fork likes to work hard and feels best when it does.
On the other hand, the 36 sits higher up in its travel and feeds back more of the terrain into your body. The trail’s undulations aren’t smoothed over, but this can be used to your advantage, especially if you’re an active rider who likes pumping and working the bike.
Surprisingly, the Lyrik is no less supportive than the Fox, and with a few turns of the external adjusters it can be set up to have a very similar feel to the 36. The Fox isn’t quite as adaptable; no number of adjustments can change its distinct character.
The Öhlins feels very similar to the Lyrik; it likes to ride low in its travel, feels incredibly supple and has loads of support. Unsurprisingly, the differences between it and the 36 are very similar to those felt with the Lyrik.
The Öhlins is £51 more expensive (£1,310), and weighs 111g more (2,126g).
Although the external damper adjustments are identical, the highly adaptable Öhlins air spring is a clear benefit over the volume-spacer design from Fox and RockShox, even if it’s harder to set up.
Internal damper adjustments are plentiful on the RXF36, which means it can be easily adapted to different rider needs – something the GRIP X 36 currently doesn’t offer.
Trail suspension forks | How we tested
In a three-way shootout, Alex put three of the biggest names in mountain bike suspension forks against one another.
RockShox’s newest Lyrik Ultimate MY25, Fox’s recently launched 36 Podium Gold GRIP X and Öhlins’ bougie RXF36 m.2 were all bolted to the front of the same bike and tested back-to-back on trails Alex knows like the back of his hand.
This type of comparative testing meant Alex could do a deep dive on each fork’s performance, firstly judging whether they meet the manufacturer’s claims and secondly how they fare against one another.
To be a top performer, they must feel supple at the start of their travel by absorbing smaller bumps to provide comfort and traction without spiking. Deeper into their mid-stroke, they need to have support in high-load situations such as berms or compressions. Finally, the forks must have plenty of smooth bottom-out resistance.
But that’s not all; they need to be relatively easy to set up and offer plenty of usable adjustability so they’ll work for people at the extreme ends of the riding style and weight bell curves.
Forks on test
- Fox 36 Podium Gold GRIP X / Fox 36 Factory GRIP X
- Öhlins RXF36 m.2
- RockShox Lyrik Ultimate MY25
Fox 36 Podium Gold GRIP X bottom line
The 2025 GRIP-X damped Fox 36 is a fantastic fork, no matter the terrain type.
It prioritises damper control and support over all else; pummel and pound into high-load situations and the bars barely dip or dive, with the impressive damper keeping your bike’s geometry awesomely stable.
There’s plenty of smoothness on harsher, square-edged hits to boot, but compared to the RockShox Lyrik it doesn’t use its travel quite as effectively as it could.
Active riders will get the most from the latest 36, while more passive ones could be left looking for a silkier feel.
Product
| Brand | fox |
| Price | 1449.00 EUR,1259.00 GBP,1199.00 USD |
| Weight | 2015.0000, GRAM () - uncut 245mm steerer |
Features
| br_wheelSize | 29in_700c |
| br_offset | 44.0000 |
| br_offset | MILLIMETER |
| br_travel | 150.0000 |
| br_travel | MILLIMETER |
