Greg Minnaar shows off the 2023 Fox 36: The King gets a new crown

Who better to introduce the king than a world champion?

Photo by: Fox

Terry McKall April 7, 2022

Fox is giving its self-proclaimed “King of All Mountain” a new crown. Quite literally. For 2023, Fox is updating the crown on the 36 fork. Which seems small but, with riders asking more and more from their forks, it’s kind of a big deal. Just like Greg Minnaar, which could be why Fox tapped the G.O.A.T. to roll out the new 36.

More CSU contact should improve durability

Stronger, 20g lighter.

Fox 36 has a new crown.

2023 Fox 36: A new crown

While much of Fox’s 36 line stays unchanged, the crown gets a complete overhaul. A complete redesign gives the crown more steer tube overlap at the CSU. This should make it stiffer and more durable. A new crown may not sound like the most exciting update but, with longer travel forks being ridden harder, a fork that doesn’t creak at the CSU sounds real good.

Fox also shaves 20 grams off the crown, and overall fork weight, in the process.

KaboltX Axle

Lower leg bleeders

Lower leg channels

And a chiseled arch

Returning features

While the crown is new, it’s not the only feature that Fox thinks makes the 36 worth of coronation. Many features are borrowed from the All Mountain fork’s bigger, Enduro race-bred brother, the 38.

Kabolt X, the lightweight bolt-on floating axle is back. It keeps the 36′ weight down while increasing torsional stiffness compared to a sleeveless single-sided pinch bolt. The 36 still comes with the option for Fox’ 15QR lever, which combines benefits of a pinch bolt with the quick-access of the QR lever.

More recent updates are the lower leg bypass channels. The slight bumps running down the back of Fox’ fork legs helps reduce the building up of unintended pressure ramping. Lower leg bleeders take this to the next step, allowing tool-free atmospheric pressure equalization.

The lower leg arch is also modernized. It now sticks out further, to allow the 36 to work with the larger head tubes and shorter fork offsets common on modern enduro and trail bikes. Fox has shaped and chiseled every gram off the arch it possibly can to keep weights down. Fox is leaving the optional fender mounts in place, so you don’t have to put zip-ties on your fancy orange fork.

Grip2 damper

It's whats inside that counts

What’s most important, of course, is what’s inside the Fox 36. The Grip2 damper enables precision adjustability and external fine-tuning, using Variable Valve Control (VVC) design. In addition to the many, many clicks of adjustment on the Grip2, Fox delivers its Float Evol air spring for a plush ride and mid-stroke support.

With the new crown, weights for the 2023 Fox 36 creep under 2,000g. The fork now starts at 1,942g for the 29″ fork at 160mm travel, and get a bit heavier depending on fork configuration.

Greg Minnaar Tests Out the New Fox 36

The only thing left is to let the Fox 36 ride. Enter the G.O.A.T. Fox continues to supple reigning downhill world champion Greg Minnaar with his suspension, both on race bikes and trail rig. It’s not surprising that Minnaar can pull off amazing riding on the 36, but it sure is fun to watch.

Find the 2023 Fox 36 at the All Mountain fork’s own landing page.