FOX Racing Shox

34 Float SC 29 FIT4 Factory Boost Fork - 2021

FOX introduced its 32 Step-Cast Fork a few seasons ago as a cross-country weapon that shaved every last gram for efficiency. While it did lose a touch of stiffness and tire clearance, rail-thin XC pilots rarely run anything wider then 2.1-inch tires and simply clamored to the 100-millimeter travel fork and its svelte 32-millimeter stanchions. FOX realized that trail riders and marathon cross-country racers were after a bit more travel yet still wanted a lightweight fork, so it now offers the 34 Float Step-Cast Fork to drop grams from the traditional 34 Float while maintaining stiffness and rigidity.

The secret to its lightweight build comes from those stepped lowers legs of the 34 Step-Cast, which are sculpted and hollowed out to reduce weight, complete with shortened shaft lengths and the same 8-millimeter damper shaft as used in the 32 Step-Cast Fork. In terms of actual weight savings, you'll find it's approximately 0.3lb lighter than a comparable 32 Float with 120 millimeters of travel and a substantial 0.5lb lighter than a 34 Float with 140 millimeters of travel. Both of these figures might not seem like a big deal, but they're pretty significant seeing the lengths some riders go for weight savings, especially in a world where carbon components will cost you a pretty penny and likely not reduce as much weight as running this 34 Step-Cast Fork.

Instead of being solely intended for cross-country domination, the 34 Step-Cast sets its sights on everything from epic trail rides to marathon events and 24-hour races where you'll find a mixture of trail conditions ranging from buff singletrack to bumpy root and rock sections. Seeing it sports 34-millimeter stanchions, it's inherently stiffer than the spindlier Float 32. In fact, FOX claims it's a whopping 15 percent stiffer than a 120-millimeter Float 32 Fork and it's on par with a 34 Float with 140 millimeters of travel. This equates to a move responsive fork and one that tracks better at high speeds and offers support on bigger hits and technical terrain. Ultimately, this means you'll be able to use a trail-worthy fork on your cross-country race machine or short-travel trail bike without sacrificing efficiency or losing the support you've become accustomed to with a 34 Float.

Delving into the air spring and damper available with the 34 Step-Cast, you'll find it's similar to what you've likely been riding on FOX for the past couple of seasons, which is a good thing if you enjoy bump-smoothing compliance and traction, as well as three on-the-fly adjustable settings and separate low-speed compression tuning. The Float air spring has EVOL, which is FOX's term for increasing the negative air spring volume for a suppler feel that's more responsive to soaking up bumps, rocks, and roots along the way. FOX then uses their Fit4 damper with 3-position adjust, which is carried over from 34 Float to give you Open, Medium, and Firm settings with the simple flick of a knob, plus the ability to dial the low-speed compression to your exact liking in the Open mode.