Fox factory 38

[thealchemist]

I've been looking into getting a new fork for my Levo. I love the Fox 38 but I'm unclear on which is best. I know you can get the E Tuned & E Optimised easily in the 36's & not so in orange in the 38's, but can't I just run the Fox factory 38 as standard & not either E Tuned or optimised? Is it true the Fox 38 is ok for Class 1 in it's own right?

 

[Dax]

It’ll be fine, they are very adjustable. You can always get a custom damper tune if it’s not working for you.

 

[deereatingapplesauce]

I'm very uncertain of the differences between theoretically tuned fox forks, but I can say that my Shockcraft-tuned 38 is so much better than my other forks that it's insulting. Next best thing I've used was EXT, but it wasn't beefy enough at my weight. Good luck!

 

[Paulquattro]

Welcome

 

[mustclime]

Regular fox 38 is race tuned out of the box. The e tuned is tuned for riding. Are you racing or riding? I have 3 buddies that run the e tuned forks and none of them wish they got the race fork.

 

[thealchemist]

Welcome

Thanks & hello to you.

 

[thealchemist]

Regular fox 38 is race tuned out of the box. The e tuned is tuned for riding. Are you racing or riding? I have 3 buddies that run the e tuned forks and none of them wish they got the race fork.

Merely riding for me. I've just been thinking about upgrading from the stock fork thats all.

 

[thealchemist]

It’ll be fine, they are very adjustable. You can always get a custom damper tune if it’s not working for you.

Cheers.

 

[RickBullotta]

I've been looking into getting a new fork for my Levo. I love the Fox 38 but I'm unclear on which is best. I know you can get the E Tuned & E Optimised easily in the 36's & not so in orange in the 38's, but can't I just run the Fox factory 38 as standard & not either E Tuned or optimised? Is it true the Fox 38 is ok for Class 1 in it's own right?

If you're in the market, I'd recommend getting the new Fox 38 with the Grip X2 cartridge. Sounds like they've addressed some of the issues with previous generation forks with this one. You don't really need the eTuned if you can't find one.

 

[Jmc123]

I'd send your old forks away for a service and tune. You'll be surprised by how much better they will be

 

[RickBullotta]

I'd send your old forks away for a service and tune. You'll be surprised by how much better they will be

At a minimum I'd wait until the Grip X2 cartridges are available as upgrade kits, then replace it and do a service. But the new 38's also have different bushings.

 

[thealchemist]

If you're in the market, I'd recommend getting the new Fox 38 with the Grip X2 cartridge. Sounds like they've addressed some of the issues with previous generation forks with this one. You don't really need the eTuned if you can't find one.

I've been looking at the 38's with the Grip2 damper today with a whopping 48% off.

 

[Mr Tonka]

Benefit of buying a factory 38 now is a discount. Sometimes, big ones. It's a great fork, for sure.

Benefit of waiting for the new Grip X2 factory 38 is latest/greatest damping fox has to offer. Just a guess, but maybe 25% (or less) of riders will consciously notice a difference between a Factory Grip 2 38 and a factory Grip X2 38.

Great time to buy a Grip 2 Fork.

 

[thealchemist]

Benefit of buying a factory 38 now is a discount. Sometimes, big ones. It's a great fork, for sure.

Benefit of waiting for the new Grip X2 factory 38 is latest/greatest damping fox has to offer. Just a guess, but maybe 25% (or less) of riders will consciously notice a difference between a Factory Grip 2 38 and a factory Grip X2 38.

Great time to buy a Grip 2 Fork.

Ahh. Appears I may have got the wrong end of the stick on that one. Cheers for enlightening me. I may just hang on a bit then.

 

[RickBullotta]

FYI I have a Fox 36 Factory Grip X2 arriving Friday - once I get a couple rides in on it I'll report back.

 

[BIT_IFFY]

I'm a bit late to the party for this thread it seems, but for what it's worth, Fox's own website is selling Factory 38s for under half price or their MSRP right now.

 

[Godzra]

Picked up a 38 on sale

 

[Gavalar]

I've been looking into getting a new fork for my Levo. I love the Fox 38 but I'm unclear on which is best. I know you can get the E Tuned & E Optimised easily in the 36's & not so in orange in the 38's, but can't I just run the Fox factory 38 as standard & not either E Tuned or optimised? Is it true the Fox 38 is ok for Class 1 in it's own right?

I have just installed a new X2 damped Fox 38 in factory orange on my Yeti 160e, not ebike tuned, the regular 38 is suitable for a combined weight of 26 stone so don't get caught up in the "e-bike specific" talk, tuning a regular fork to your liking us what matters, the "e-tuned" sticker on the fork does not matter.
Rob took his Crestline to the Fox launch event and I believe the Gold stanchioned 38 was regular flavour.

 

[timpuparts]

I’ve got a 2023 Fox 38 Grip 2 I purchased on sale and running on an Intense Tazer MX. It is a BEEFY Fork! I’m running low and high speed compression all the way out (softest setting) and it’s finally where I want it on the dampening side. I’m 230 lbs and the bike is about 53 lbs and I ride hard but not a lot of jumping. The 38 is made for big drops & jumps. I may be looking for a custom tune on the damper. I started in the middle and it was way too much. For trail riding the 36 would probably be better.

 

[thealchemist]

Picked up a 38 on sale

Picked up a 38 on sale

I have just installed a new X2 damped Fox 38 in factory orange on my Yeti 160e, not ebike tuned, the regular 38 is suitable for a combined weight of 26 stone so don't get caught up in the "e-bike specific" talk, tuning a regular fork to your liking us what matters, the "e-tuned" sticker on the fork does not matter.
Rob took his Crestline to the Fox launch event and I believe the Gold stanchioned 38 was regular flavour.

I've soon begun to realise that this is a bit of marketing ploy to get ebiker's to part with more of their pennies! I'm waiting to strike for a pair of Fox 38's in orange when the time presents. Cheers for the heads up.

 

[thealchemist]

I’ve got a 2023 Fox 38 Grip 2 I purchased on sale and running on an Intense Tazer MX. It is a BEEFY Fork! I’m running low and high speed compression all the way out (softest setting) and it’s finally where I want it on the dampening side. I’m 230 lbs and the bike is about 53 lbs and I ride hard but not a lot of jumping. The 38 is made for big drops & jumps. I may be looking for a custom tune on the damper. I started in the middle and it was way too much. For trail riding the 36 would probably be better.

I'm not on the aggressive side of emtb'ing so perhaps a 38 isn't really essential for my style of riding? I guess I thought the 38 would be better as I'm not the lightest.

 

[Gavalar]

I’ve got a 2023 Fox 38 Grip 2 I purchased on sale and running on an Intense Tazer MX. It is a BEEFY Fork! I’m running low and high speed compression all the way out (softest setting) and it’s finally where I want it on the dampening side. I’m 230 lbs and the bike is about 53 lbs and I ride hard but not a lot of jumping. The 38 is made for big drops & jumps. I may be looking for a custom tune on the damper. I started in the middle and it was way too much. For trail riding the 36 would probably be better.

X2 damper

 

[timpuparts]

I'm not on the aggressive side of emtb'ing so perhaps a 38 isn't really essential for my style of riding? I guess I thought the 38 would be better as I'm not the lightest.

The air supports the weight. Now the larger fork keeps everything rigid and not flexing hammering into and out of corners. I rode a friends Fox 36 and it was buttery smooth. It’s all in the balancing on the damper side. I thought the same thing as I’m 230lbs, 16.4 stones or 104 lbs. I just don’t ride hard enough for the 38 grip 2 the way it’s valved from the factory.

 

[Downhillr]

I've been looking into getting a new fork for my Levo. I love the Fox 38 but I'm unclear on which is best. I know you can get the E Tuned & E Optimised easily in the 36's & not so in orange in the 38's, but can't I just run the Fox factory 38 as standard & not either E Tuned or optimised? Is it true the Fox 38 is ok for Class 1 in it's own right?

Fox did away with etune late ‘23 and new, updated forks for 2024 are using different damper (modeled after their Moto line). I wouldn't buy anything but the latest model if you want to truly be able to adjust ride, saving couple hundred $£ on outdated version wouldn't work for me

 

[thealchemist]

The air supports the weight. Now the larger fork keeps everything rigid and not flexing hammering into and out of corners. I rode a friends Fox 36 and it was buttery smooth. It’s all in the balancing on the damper side. I thought the same thing as I’m 230lbs, 16.4 stones or 104 lbs. I just don’t ride hard enough for the 38 grip 2 the way it’s valved from the factory.

I'm looking at a 38 with 160mm travel & can't for the life of me wonder why this hasn't sold? It's reduced by 48% & has the green on black colourway. Or theres the orange 36 but more money oddly.

 

[thealchemist]

Fox did away with etune late ‘23 and new, updated forks for 2024 are using different damper (modeled after their Moto line). I wouldn't buy anything but the latest model if you want to truly be able to adjust ride, saving couple hundred $£ on outdated version wouldn't work for me

Makes perfect sense to me & pretty sage advice.

 

[Downhillr]

I've soon begun to realise that this is a bit of marketing ploy to get ebiker's to part with more of their pennies! I'm waiting to strike for a pair of Fox 38's in orange when the time presents. Cheers for the heads up.

New Fox forks did away with etune last year (made no sense because setting was actually lighter… I think they set ‘em up originally thinking an ebike was a beach cruiser). The new 2024 Grip X dampers have more sensitivity, more rider tuneability and less cross-talk between comp/rebound, side by side damper comparison shim stack are far more sophisticated, ala Moto forks

 

[thealchemist]

New Fox forks did away with etune last year (made no sense because setting was actually lighter… I think they set ‘em up originally thinking an ebike was a beach cruiser). The new 2024 Grip X dampers have more sensitivity, more rider tuneability and less cross-talk between comp/rebound, side by side damper comparison shim stack are far more sophisticated, ala Moto forks

It seems the American market can have their cake & eat it with the new model of forks but over here they are taking a while to filter through & are pretty costly. Makes sense to me to buy the grip x or grip x2 though but will have to be patient.

 

[RickBullotta]

Fox did away with etune late ‘23 and new, updated forks for 2024 are using different damper (modeled after their Moto line). I wouldn't buy anything but the latest model if you want to truly be able to adjust ride, saving couple hundred $£ on outdated version wouldn't work for me

Actually, I'd wait until July and simply purchase an X2 damper cartridge, which can be installed into an existing Fox 36 or Fox 38 very easily. About a 20-30 minute job.

 

[Downhillr]

Actually, I'd wait until July and simply purchase an X2 damper cartridge, which can be installed into an existing Fox 36 or Fox 38 very easily. About a 20-30 minute job.

I agree, that’s what my son & I are doing since we already have 38’s on our ride, so we’ll just do the drop-in whereas I believe alchemist was saying he was looking to buy new fork which is why I advised getting 2024 model 38.