FOX Racing Shox

36 Float 27.5 Grip 2 Factory Boost Fork - 2020

If you're looking into throwing a 36 Float 27.5 Grip 2 Factory Boost Fork on your steed, there's a good chance you already know how a bit about the plush and supportive feel of FOX's 36 Float fork when you're charging into unforgiving territory, and pushing yourself through the gnarliest terrain you'll find without requiring a chunky dual-crown fork. And it's no surprise to us, with its stiff chassis, buttery smooth damping, and powerful stanchions that have a knack for precision tracking through the rubble, the 36 Float 27.5 Grip 2 Factory makes light work of beefy terrain. It offers sleek, Kashima-coated stanchions, the top-tier Grip 2 damper with Variable Valve Control, low-friction seals, and a supportive mid-valve design that has a knack for resisting nasty doses of brake dive when the trail points downhill sharp.

The current 36 Float with Grip 2 has lower friction levels for improved small-bump sensitivity and elevated traction on rough and rowdy trails. FOX aimed to lower the friction from its previous 36 Float by using low-friction deals alongside the silky-smooth Kashima coating. The revised mid-valve design in the Grip 2 damper also improves performance, helping the fork resist brake dive when you're coming in hot and need to ditch some speed before blasting into a berm, or cooking it down a steep rock line.

The Grip 2 damper with Variable Valve Control gives you four separate knobs to independently tune the high-and-low-speed compression, as well as the high-and-low-speed rebound. The additional high-speed rebound damping circuit lets you control how fast you'd like the fork to rebound after taking a bigger hit — a feature that sets the Grip 2 apart from FOX's FIT4 forks, allowing you to better prepare for park days and speedy DH runs that challenge ever millimeter of your forks travel. On the high/low-speed compression side of things, there's a larger range of tunability, so you can precisely dial in the level of support you desire, without any harshness detracting from your ride.

This particular model of 36 Float Factory Fork continues to use FOX's EVOL air spring, which features increased negative air spring volume to improve traction, and higher levels of small-bump compliance when you're cooking it over rocks and roots. It's available for 27.5-inch hoops, and can be run with either 44-or-37-millimeter offsets to best suit your bike's characteristics and geometry. The fork is built with Boost spacing for elevated stiffness, and clears wide trail tires up to 2.6-inches if you prefer a loftier feel and boost of plush traction on the dirt.