Fox 40 Float FIT RC2 Review
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- New air spring - 152g weight savings vs. Ti spring
- New chassis (crowns, upper tubes, lower legs) - 307g lighter
- New RC2 damper - lighter weight and revalved
- Total Weight Savings - 1.16lb / 526g
- Crowns reshaped for increased downtube clearance
- Details: air bleed system, mudflap mounting bosses, replaceable pinch bolt hardware
Specifications
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Fox has been making shocks for mountain bikes since the late 1990's. It wasnt until the early 2000's they entered the fork market with the Fox 40. It was a grey legged 40mm monster. At that time the Marzocchi Monster T was also 40mm but was in the 9 lbs range. The 40 was a lighter animal and was offering High and Low speed compression adjustments.
Jump forward to Fox's current state and they are making everything from XC to DH suspension for mountain bikes. The 2012 coil sprung Fox 40 weighed in at just over 7 LBS. The new 40 Float is 1 LB lighter than it's coil brother. The chassis has been altered by removing excess material and also tapering the lower legs. This shaves weight and also makes the fork a bit more forgiving in the rough chunder which in theory can help cut down arm pump. The crowns also saw some weight saving along with drilled holes underneath in case a mud guard was being installed on the Float.
Fox also added pressure relief valves to the back of the fork legs. This will allow for riders to release pressure build up from heat, elevation and before any tuning is done to the fork. This has been common on MX forks since the early 1990's and it is good to see it finding its way into the MTB suspension world.
Overall Fox has made some major changes to the Float versus the coil 40. It has lost one pound and is now closer to a Boxxer WC weight but still offeres a stiffer chassis. The fork mounted easily and without issue. Our fork weighed in at 6.20 with a full length steerer.
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Having spent about 90% of ride time over the last 3 years on a Dorado the stiff chassis was probably the most noticeable thing. The fork held its line through rough stuff and showed little signs of flex. The last time I had ridden a Fox 40 was 2011 so it would not be easy to compare the two. Weighing 210 lbs with gear I can usually notice flex in frames, wheels and a fork. The new Float 40 felt just right it had some give but not much. So Fox by shaving some weight out of the chassis and tapering the lower legs accomplished a more forgiving fork with a lower weight, just what they were after.
I ended up running 80-85 PSI in the fork and sag was about right. I rode it for awhile and was not able to get more then about 6 inches of travel from it. I moved the air spring compression to make it more linear by one. I rode the fork for another 4 weeks. It was still too pogressive. I ended up moving it up one more spot and it now seems about right. This was the biggest gripe with the fork. It came set in the middle and that seemed way to progressive even with almost no compression.
"The 2014 40 FLOAT uses a simple air chamber volume adjustment system as part of the air topcap assembly. By switching the position of internal spacers to change the location of the compression bulkhead on the shaft, nine different compression ratios are available. The stock position for the compression bulkhead is in the middle (3.04 compression ratio).
- Increasing your forks compression ratio will make your air spring curve more progressive.
- Decreasing your forks compression ratio will make your air spring curve more linear.
Use the following instructions to change your 2014 40 FLOAT air spring compression ratio."
Both the rebound and comprssion adjustments both made noticeable differences in the way the fork felt on the trail. One click on rebound or either compression makes a noticeable difference while out on the trail. Overall its adjustability is very broad and once you lock in the air chamber volume adjustment the Fox 40 Float should be easy enough to tune. Keep in mind changing the chamber alters the compression settings slightly. I went about this wrong and tried dialling in LS compression and Rebound before locking down the air chamber setting. So I had to increase compression once I made it more linear.
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The Fox 40 Float FIT RC2 does well as a racing fork. It has a big range of useable adjustments, the weight is decent, has a stiff chassis, and seems realiable. We had the fork for about 6 months and it never had a seal issue. In that time the Rebound Adjuster was ripped off the lower fork leg. The adjuster essentially sticks about 2 inches out of the lower leg if you live where it is very rocky I can see this possibly being a problem. The fork legs never hits large rocks at high speeds but in older 40 fork models many people in this area had problems piercing the fork. Luckily we didn't encounter this issue with the fork.
Conclusion
Overall the Fox 40 Float Fit has proven to be a good fork. Its tuneability, weight and responsiveness are all up to the task. A fork as a component on a bike can have a big influence on how a rider handles the terrain they are riding it can be a vital component. Riding the 40 for the last six months I always felt the fork to be very prcise. Where you pointed it the bike would go and once you dial in the Air Chamber its small bump compliance is pretty good. The Air Chamber was the one issue with the fork. Being able to adjust the way the fork behaves from linear to progressive via it is a good idea. But upon opening the fork and finding it being set to the middle was a shock. It would be hard to imagine someone running it full firm and being able to use all the travel. It is very possible that I am just not pushing hard enough to ride it with a more progressive air volume. Just dial this in first and your experience with the 40 Float should be great! We would suggest the Fox 40 Float RC2 to the racer looking to find a fork that can be set to varying track conditions and cannot handle the more flexy Boxxer chassis. Take your time setting it up and the fork will reward its rider with a confident and controlled ride.
Fox 40, Fox 40 Float, Fox Float FIT RC2 Review |
