Fox 36 Float Fork Lowering Guide

Hello again,


After riding my Mega in it's 130/160 configuration since I built it up (240 miles ago). I came to realise that the big 160mm fork was having a negative effect on the bike's handling. Even though the frame is recommended to use a fork between 140mm and 160mm, I didn't feel like the bike was quite balanced properly. Having the bars nice and low is something that I'm comfortable with and suits my riding style but with the fox 36 fork on my mega set at 160, having a low bar was just not possible. Even with just one small spacer between the headset and stem.

Running this much travel at the front also had an effect on other things. I found it difficult to rail certain corners because of the raised bottom bracket. Another result of the amount of travel is that the head angle was very slack, and so was the seat tube. This made it hard to keep the front wheel down while climbing.

After doing a bit of research into my forks, I found out that I could lower them with additional spacers. This was the ideal solution! I just had to decide how much to reduce them by.

The axle to crown length of a 150mm RockShox Revelation (spec'd on a standard 2013 Mega TR) is 529mm. The axle to crown length on my Fox Float 36 is 545mm at 160mm travel. So at 150mm it would be 535mm, and at 140mm, it would be 525mm. It would have been perfect to have a 15mm spacer but unfortunately I could not find one. This would have meant the axle to crown would be 530mm, pretty much the same as a revelation.

After some thought I decided to go to 140mm. I didn't think I would be able to feel much of a difference if I only dropped them to 150mm. Another reason was that I used to run a pair of 140mm Fox Van 32 R's on my reign and I never had a problem with running out of travel. I just needed something stiffer.

Anyway, I managed to find a few vague tutorials showing how to lower forks but I didn't feel any were particularly helpful. So I decided to write one myself.

What you will need:

• 32mm machined flat socket - I bought mine from eBay but you can pick them up from Mojo here.
• Hex keys - to remove the fork from the bike and the brake calliper from the fork.
• 10mm wrench - To remove the bottom foot nut.
• Long thin thing - I used a screwdriver bit to prod out the shaft assembly.
• Rubber mallet - I used a hammer and a rag as I'm a poor student and can't afford fancy tools.
• Shock pump - to re-pressurise the fork once you're done.
• Measuring jug - to measure 30ml of oil.
• At least 30ml of 10wt suspension fluid - to lubricate the fork lowers.
• At least 5ml of Fox Float fluid - To lubricate the air chamber.
• Stendec suspension grease - To lubricate the negative spring and shaft assembly.
• Oil pan (or washing up bowl) - To catch the old fluid.
• Fox Forx travel spacer - Not pictured as I forgot to take this picture before I started.

Parts needed

Step 1:

Remove the fork from your bike, make sure it's clean and de-pressurise it by pressing the schrader valve under the blue cap.

One de-pressurised 36 fork ready to be lowered.

 
Step 2:

Use your 10mm wrench to remove the foot nut and crush washer on the bottom of the calliper side of your fork and store them in a safe place. Keep the fork upside down to avoid fluid leaking out at this point.

Nut removal

Step 3:

Using a rubber mallet, firmly knock the protruding bolt till it dislodges and falls further into the lowers. Now turn the fork the right way up to allow the fluid to drain into the oil pan.

Out with the old fluid

Step 4:

Once all the fluid has drained away in step 3, use your 32mm socket to remove the air side top cap assembly. Make sure your tool has enough purchase on the top cap as it is only made of aluminium and can be easy to bite into. Once you get the top cap assembly off, store it in a safe place. Then turn the fork upside down to empty the fluid seen below.

Unscrewing the top cap assembly

More old fluid

Step 5:

Use a long thin rod (I used a screwdriver bit) to prod out the shaft assembly. This can be a little stiff.

Pushing out the shaft assembly

 
Step 6:

The shaft assembly should look like the picture below. To install the travel spacer(s), slide the negative coil spring to the left if you are holding it with the threaded end in your left hand. Then clip the travel spacer(s) in the space you have just created between the spring and the bumper.

Once you have added the travel spacer(s), use Stendec suspension grease to generously lubricate this whole unit. Next, insert it back into the top of the fork, thread side first. Make sure it goes most of the way in, but not far enough that the bolt pokes back out through the bottom of the lowers.

Before the spacer

After the spacer

Step 7:

Measure 30ml of 10wt suspension fluid and pour it into the lowers of your fork. Next, compress the fork so that the threaded end of the shaft assembly pokes out of the lowers then re-attach the crush washer and nut and torque to 50 in-lb.

Adding the new fluid

tightening the crush washer and nut.

Step 8:

Turn the fork the right way up. Add a the contents of one 5ml Fox Float pillow packet to the air chamber, but leave a little left over to lubricate the threads on the top cap assembly.

TOP TIP: You can add slightly more Float Fluid to the air chamber if you want your fork to ramp up more through it's travel!

Adding float fluid to the air chamber.

Step 9:

Lubricate the top cap assembly threads with the remaining Fox Float fluid. Screw the assembly back into the top of the fork and torque to 220 in-lb. Now use the shock pump to re-pressurise your fork. That's it, you're done!

Tightening the top cap

Finished!

Ready to rip!

Looking more balanced now

I hope some folk out there found this useful. Feel free to leave a comment! I will be happy to receive any feedback. I shall report back soon to give you an update on how the bike rides now and any improvements.

Happy Riding!

Video: Winter in Wales

On one Friday morning we felt it had been too long since we were out on the bikes. The weather had been grim that week and was still grim on the Friday but we had to get out. After a while of sitting indoors I get fidgety and need my fix of trails.

Dan and I chose to go and film on a track which we had discovered just weeks before. Unfortunately Dan's bike was in the local bike shop having a new shock bushing fitted meaning that he would be fixed behind the camera rather than occasionally in front of it. This was OK though as he wanted to test his new Canon EOS 70D which he had bought over Christmas.

The weather was horrendous when we arrived in the car park, so bad that we considered heading somewhere else on lower ground. The car was blowing around while we were in it taking cover from the rain. After 15 mins we got a break in the rain and quickly put the bike together and scrambled to the forest for cover.

The track was fairly wet and slippery but with grippy rock underneath in some parts. This made it difficult to judge when the wheels were going to slide. Some people have criticised the video because there's not enough mud in it to justify it being winter! It's not a sloppy track because of the rock underneath I think. It was wet though! Anyway, you can judge for yourselves.

It took me a few goes at some of the corners to make it look fast and aggressive and after a couple of hours we had all the footage we needed. I am pretty happy with the final result!

Feel free to leave feedback in the comments!

Mega Photos!

I forgot to share these with you guys! When I arrived back at uni after Christmas with a clean bike I thought it would be a good idea to try and get some good photos. My friend Dan had just got a new camera which he wanted to test out so...

 

Here's the results:

And here's one I added a HDR effect to with Photomatix.

Flats vs Clips

This has been a choice which splits riders since the beginning of time. I've always been a flats man till now. Since I started riding properly in around 2007 I've used flat pedals and have never had any problems with them in general. They suited what I ride which is a great variety of stuff! When people ask what I ride I usually just say 'trails'. Under that umbrella comes downhill, freeride, trials (not trails), all mountain, enduro cross country... I could probably name more. My point is that the flat pedal allows you to ride all of this. Ok, so maybe you don't have the security of your foot being clamped to the pedal through a rooty downhill section like you would on clipless pedals and shoes. Or not having consistent power for those steep loose climbs, but I felt like flats were a good compromise at the time. I'd grown up on them and gained confidence, so why change?

Cleat

The simple answer is that I wanted to experience clipless shoes and pedals properly to see if they could offer me any advantages. Some people would say "don't fix it if it ain't broke" which is a good point but what if it could be better? I opted for a pair of Shimano M647 DXs as I wanted something durable with a big platform. This is exactly what you get with the DXs but at the expense of weight. For shoes I went for the Shimano AM-45s as I have used Shimano's flat pedal equivalent AM40s and AM41s for ages and have had good experiences with them. Lots of people use this combination and rate it highly.

AM45s

Old and New

Unfortunately due to the bad weather and workload at uni, I've not been able to test them out on proper trails. However, I have managed to squeeze in a few street rides where I have also ridden up and down Constitution Hill here in Aberystwyth. I managed to get my PB climbing up Consti on a windy and rainy night. So climbing, tick. Clipless definitely makes a massive difference in that department. On the descent I was a little hesitant to give it full beans just in case I had to dab. I was practicing getting my foot in and out on the switchbacks so that clipping and unclipping would become a natural reaction. I was definitely more hesitant than usual on the descent but I am going to be persistent with till I am as confident with them as I am with flats.

Shimano DX

At this point there is not much more to say. I shall report back once I have done a bit more riding on them!