Take a look inside the new Fox 38! This is its first full redesign since 2020, so marks a major upgrade in terms of the design of the chassis, air-spring, and damper.
Compared to the outgoing Fox 38 there’s a new generatively designed arch and crown, where A.I. software helps optimise structural elements within certain design parameters. Fox has extended the length of the upper and lower tubes, allowing for 20mm more bushing overlap.
As you’d hope for from what could be one of the best mountain bike suspension forks, this helps keep the fork aligned and friction reduced under load, such as cornering, braking or harsh landings.
Fox says the fore-aft stiffness has increased by almost 10%, while torsional stiffness has been reduced by 6% to allow the fork to find the path of least resistance in janky rock chutes. Other updates include new mudguard fixings, 200mm direct caliper mount, improved bleeders and lubrication channels on the inside of the lower legs.
On the spring side the Glidecore air-spring has been introduced, allowing the piston head and negative plate to flex under load when the shaft is not perfectly aligned with the upper tubes. The air-spring shaft now slides fully inside the upper tubes now, and there’s an extended top cap to further increase the air volume. This means you will run lower pressures than in previous 38 forks – around 20% less.
On the damper side there have been updates to the Grip X2 assembly that were sneakily introduced on the Podium last year. These include chit shims and a larger bleed port that, combined, are said to improve oil flow and tunability. Price for the MY27 Fox 38 Factory fork is £1,439, or $1,369 in the US. A Performance Elite version without the Kashima coating costs $1,259 in the US. That’s the same MSRP as the MY26 version here in the UK.