RELEASE AND FIRST RIDE

FOX’S 2024 GRIP DAMPER TRILOGY

Words by Robert Johnston  |  Photos by Cole Gregg

Today Fox launched their new 2024 lineup of backwards-compatible, next generation Grip dampers. There’s three new dampers in this lineup, from the Gravity-focused Grip X2 to the Cross Country-spec Grip SL. So far we’ve only put time on the middle child – the new Fox Grip X damper – which is designed for the broad spectrum of All Mountain bikes. Read on to learn about the new dampers, and how the Fox 36 with Grip X damper has performed so far.

ABOUT THE NEW FOX GRIP DAMPERS

FOX GRIP X2 DAMPER | Fox designed the new Grip X2 to improve upon the well-proven performance of their Grip 2 damper, with the aim of increasing traction and tunability. It continues to use very similar architecture with the spring-backed IFP and a pressure tube housing the damper internals, but Fox made tweaks throughout to boost performance. Retained is the four-way adjustability with independent high and low-speed compression and high and low-speed rebound adjusters; and without looking closely for the “Grip X2” logo on high speed compression adjuster you may not be able to see a difference. But inside, there’s a few key details that Fox says yields improved traction, quicker damper response and reduced rider fatigue.

The first update is the move to a larger 24mm Base Valve (up from 20mm), reducing overall damper pressure to increase sensitivity and opening up increased real estate in which to add valves. With this increased volume, Fox was able to increase the number of Valves (or shims) from 7 up to 23, yielding increased tunability and a faster damper response.

Fox claims that by “Pressure Balancing” the Grip X2 damper and reducing the overall damper pressure, damper response time has been reduced to just 5-10ms, ensuring both rebound and compression strokes are controlled from start to finish. A large focus of the new damper was to ensure the full range of compression adjustment was usable, from fully wound off to fully wound on, ensuring riders at all points of the range would receive the same high performance. The four-way adjustability receives less cross talk, ensuring riders can hone in on their exacting feel without compromising the other adjustments.

The Grip X2 damper will be offered in the 36, 38 and 40 chassis aftermarket with a range of travel options, as well as in the 34 platform for OEM customers.

FOX GRIP SL DAMPER | On the other end of the performance mountain bike spectrum from the Grip X2 is the new Fox Grip SL damper. This damper is designed with light weight and pedal efficiency in mind, but also to provide increased control to cater to the increasingly technical and rowdy descents found on the Cross Country race circuit.

Of course, as their endurance racing damper, pedaling platform was of paramount importance in order to allow both casual riders and racers to maximize their efficiency on the fly. The Grip SL damper is compatible with remote lockout to allow for easy on-the-fly adjustability, and Fox also worked to lower the force required to switch the damper modes when the bike is weighted.

Fox equipped the Grip SL damper with a three-position compression lever, giving Open, Middle or Firm compression modes. Open and Middle aim to offer improved small bump sensitivity over the outgoing FIT4 damper, with the Middle setting adding an optimized level of compression to balance bump compliance with pedal efficiency. Firm adds further compression damping to provide a highly efficient platform, which features a smooth blowoff designed to keep riders comfortable even when locked. Low Speed Rebound is user-adjustable, with the High Speed Rebound set from the factory.

Reducing weight of the damper was a big focus for Fox once they were satisfied that its descending performance and pedaling platform were dialed in. The result is an impressive 60g weight reduction compared to the FIT4 damper in a 100mm travel configuration. One of the ways Fox was able to drop the weight was to make each Grip SL damper optimized for the chassis in which it is fitted. Available in the 32 TaperCast, 32 Step-Cast and 34 Step-Cast, each are given unique Grip SL dampers to minimize weight.

FOX GRIP X DAMPER | With the new Grip X damper, Fox started with the architecture of the new Grip X2 and set about making it more versatile with functionality to ensure it performed for riders looking to ascend as much as they descend. Featuring the updated Base Valve, Grip X promises to offer up descending performance that’s close to their Gravity damper, but with reduced weight and easier setup.

Fox’s Grip X damper offers three-way adjustability, losing the High Speed rebound adjustment (with a factory-set HSR) but retaining independently tunable High and Low-Speed Compression and Low Speed Rebound. This allowed them to shave 70g alone thanks to a different Mid Valve, so the total Grip X damper weight is 120g less than the Grip X2.

The High Speed Compression (HSC) adjustment has an added trick up its sleeve to cater to riders concerned about pedal efficiency. For the first half of the 165-degree sweep of the HSC adjuster, it acts as a conventional HSC adjustment. Past the halfway (3 o’clock) point, it begins to add some LSC to produce a pedaling platform. For the last click, a needle closes off the LSC entirely to produce a Firm platform for ultimate pedaling efficiency. This platform features a blowoff, allowing the damping to open up if an unexpected heavy hit is sustained. The HSC dial features a tab to allow the rider to quickly glance and see the HSC and pedaling platform setting. The LSC retains its independent adjustment and ensures that the desired setting is always retained for the descents.

The Fox Grip X damper is offered in the 34, 36 and 38 platforms as standard, in a range of travel offerings. Longer travel bike riders are given the choice of ultimate tuning potential in the Grip X2 or improved pedaling performance of the Grip X, whereas shorter travel bike riders can choose ultimate pedaling performance with the Grip SL or to increase tuning potential with the Grip X.

THE DIRT

Fox invited us to their launch event for their new Grip family at their Scotts Valley HQ in California. During this event we were educated on their new dampers and had the privilege of having their limited edition Podium Gold 50th anniversary 36 Grip X fitted to the front of my (Fezz)Ari Delano Peak test rig.

SETUP | Fox updated their air pressure recommendation chart slightly to accompany the new Grip X damper compared with the Grip 2, with the maximum pressure for each weight band slightly rising. Even so, to get the best feel for the differences of the Grip X damper, I opted to run the 110psi number I would typically run in a Fox 36 for my 100kg/220lbs mass. Tuning the Low-Speed Rebound (LSR) and Compression (LSC) adjustments to feel, I ended up 6 clicks off of closed (Fox recommends 4-1) for LSR and 8 from closed on LSC. High Speed Compression (HSC) was the item I experimented with the most, given that it’s the most obvious talking point of the Grip X damper due to its new functionality. For the descents, I settled on 6 clicks from open of HSC, sitting around the 2 o’clock position. Climbing I experimented with various settings depending on the terrain in question, from 3 o’clock on the roughest to fully closed on road and smooth hardpack.

CLIMBING | With the HSC adjustment fully wound on to the final more pronounced “click” of the adjuster – at around 5 o’clock – the Grip X is effectively locked out. This produces a notable boost in efficiency when standing up and pedaling, and leads to a very pleasant pedaling bike on smoother terrain when combined with a rear shock lockout. The blow off functions well, never allowing the fork to wallow under my weight alone but the fork to move and ease the blow of a compression when still locked. Make no mistake though, you’ll want to unlock the fork for any rough climbs, traverses or descents to maximize traction and comfort.

In lesser settings of the HSC, there’s a gradual ramp up of pedaling support towards the full lockout. There is notable platform added, but crucially the fork still allows for mid to high speed compressions to be dealt with without choking, making the firmer settings of the HSC adjustment useful for flow trail and undulating terrain.

DESCENDING | With limited time to experiment with tuning the new Grip X damper-equipped Fox 36, I can’t say for sure if the descending performance is better than a Grip 2 equivalent. What I can say is that the Grip X damper feels smooth, controlled and familiar, and that the tuning potential is sufficient to keep all but the most tinker-friendly happy.

As mentioned in the climbing section, one notable benefit of the new Grip X system is the easier tuning of the HSC to the terrain ahead. Its dual functionality with the added low speed platform allows you to treat the HSC lever as a “terrain smoothness” lever in essence, helped further by the easy visualization of where you are in its setting.

We’ll be logging many miles on the range of new Grip damper-equipped forks for reviews in the coming months, so stay tuned for that. For now, it’s safe to say the Grip X damper is showing great promise for mountain bikers in that Trail to Enduro space, and that we’re excited to get to the bottom of it. 

VISIT RIDEFOX.COM TO LEARN MORE.