FOX Racing Shox

40 Float 27.5 203 HSC/LSC FIT Fork - 2016

Believe it or not, you have something in common with names like Atherton and Carpenter, and it's not (just) injuries from bailing. With the 40 Float 27.5 203 HSC/LSC FIT Fork, FOX Racing Shox puts the fork that precedes the rainbow stripes of the current DH world champions into the hands of the everycyclist. Sort of. This isn't actually the exact fork that the two Britons rode to gravity glory, as another round of R&D gave FOX the opportunity to make it stiffer, more tunable, and a claimed 130g lighter than the models ridden in 2014's world championships, making the new 40 Float just a little bit better than the best kit in the world.

While the 40 Float features many of the innovations that have pushed FOX back to the top of the fork game, its DH-specific qualities are what make it the best at getting to the bottom of your local circuit. These include the obvious elements, like 40mm stanchions and 203mm of travel, and the not-so obvious but equally important features, like the high- and low-speed compression tuning options, which dial the suspension to precisely match a given track's particular ins and outs. Dialing the two settings separately gives the 40 Float a forgiving approach to square edges and landings that doesn't wallow in G-out purgatory in dips, berms, and sudden rises, which in turn gives the competitive DH rider a more dynamic platform to constantly push the speed.

The crown and magnesium lowers are stiffer and lighter, which makes for easier work cleaning steep climbs between downhill fun zones. The changes also net shorter axle-to-crown measurements across the board, so the frame's head angle doesn't drastically change between forks. While the materials in the chassis are roughly the same, FOX opts for a newly formulated, higher-viscosity proprietary fork oil for smoother, more responsive travel.

The new Float air spring also enjoys significant revision, with FOX seeing off the old negative coil spring in favor a dual-chamber air spring. This neat trick of metal-to-air alchemy may be the single biggest contributor to the fork's weight loss, and when it's paired with the reduced number of smoother seals, it means the fork requires less force to initiate travel. The DH version has a titanic negative chamber, and the fork can be dialed to ramp-up harder by customizing its compression curve with volume spacers. The other leg houses FOX's HSC/LSC FIT damper, which lets you tune the fork's behavior for big hits, slow inputs, and everything in between.