Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

Modded Fox 36

26K views 131 replies 47 participants last post by  Enel 
#1 ·
Modded Fox 36 for the 29er application:

I have ridden this fork for about 18 months on my Lenz Behemoth.
I bought it used on MTBR, had Alex Morgan from Buffalo Composite Design (BCD) mod it-(his idea, not mine). From my understanding he uses a CNC machine to machine the arch for clearance of the 29inch wheel and he adds an aluminum spacer to limit travel in one leg of the fork. Last I heard Alex races DH with a Fox 40 with the same mod. I bought the fork for $4hundy, paid alex $120ish for the mod, add shipping, I was into it $550 (not including a new 20mm TA wheel).

After 18 months of use, I love this fork. It is UBER stiff. Had some flex at first, but it was a POS velocity hoop, this was solved with a wheel change to a ZTR flow.
The fork performed like every other fox I have had- smooth and supple w/o a lick of problem. Set it up and ride. My first few rides I pinch flatted the front several times. Varied air pressure w/o success, finally went tubeless and have had zero problems since.
The TALAS option still worked, it was the older model, so I had to dial it up and down, which was a bit of a pain, but at least it still worked. Am tempted to try the new version with the push button TALAS, but have heard the push button travel adjust is finicky.

As far as the machined arch goes, I am a Behemoth rider for a reason. Clyde central- 6'6" 230 buck nah-ked. I had no problems with flex or cracks. I am also NOT a big jumper, so it didn't take huge jump style hits, but 245lbs geared, barreling down a trail into a G-out, rock garden or step up is good enuff for me.

There is not a lot of space between the tire and the arch, small rocks stuck in my tread would get wedged in the honeycomb of the back of the arch requiring stoppage for removal- this happened 4-5 times in 18months- not frequently enough for it to be a hassle. I ran the biggest Nevegals made for 29ers (2.3 me thinks). I have only seen the Dissent tire in photos, I see no way it would fit under the arch.
I ride in SoCal, dry and dusty (thanks for the H20 OR and CO). I would NOT consider this fork anywhere there is mud as you would quickly get impacted, requiring enemization. That being said, I think you could easily take a few more mm out for more space.

Travel was just over 5"- I measured it at 5 and an 1/8th when I first got it.

This was a sweet combo with my Behemoth.

FYI- this may shock some of you, but this is not a Fox approved modification to one of their forks. They have posted a warning on their website, voids your warranty, blah, blah, blah.
The fact that they know there is this mod should be a sports slap to the head for R&D to get us a Fox F29 36.

I have sold mine, to try out the new Marzocchi fork, mainly due to itchy feet on my part and desire to try new gear. If it doesn't pan-out I will mod a newer version of the 36.
 

Attachments

See less See more
6
#19 ·
FoShizzle said:
Can I modify a 26er WB fork similarly to work with my 29er wheels?
You can modify any fork, as long as you limit the travel so the tire don`t hit......and cut the arch. I might be doing surgery on a friends behemoth next month....He is looking on a last year`s production of a nixon comp 160mm.......:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Erling

(ps) I love my dorado boxhemoth.
 
#26 ·
Haahahha

TIGMAN said:
Did you at least tell the sucker you sold the bastardized 36 to that Fox has a warning not to do this modification posted on their website ? Well , if enough fools keep doing this mod........maybe Fox and RS will be forced to finally produce a longer travel 29er fork with bigger stanchions so carry on ! TIG.
You have to just love the haters that come along with there sayings on this topic, I have been on my modified 36 about 2yrs now still pimpin. Don't hate the player hate the game:cool: It blows away 32mm forks hands down no comparing.:thumbsup:
 
#48 ·
ghawk said:
Yes, I was mainly commenting on the shorter travel talas 100-140 32 for smaller guys in an XC mode, but I doubt if I would do the mod if I were taller guy only looking to go 140mm.
I concur would not run a modded 32 if I was over 180# or ride serious gnar. A Through axel (TA) is a MUST as well.

ghawk said:
Btw, Alex at BCD is not doing the mod anymore is that right ?
I am not aware of this, he is currently modding a fork for me, and just did one.
I would not be surprised as I am sure it is a lot of work for not a lot of scratch.
 
#49 · (Edited)
Cool, I sent him pm a few months ago and got no response so I just figured the big F had put the hammer down.
I would probably not take all the time to do another, much easier and time/cost cheaper and cleaner (my cuts did not look that good as the above picture) to send to him.
Sure would like to do a new Tlogic Talas if the lockout were firm enough.
I'm out for awhile.
 
#58 ·
If the 160 gives 5 1/8", then the 180 will give 5.9".

I'd sure like to see what sort of tweaks could be done to extend this. Screwing with the negative spring can help on air forks, and I'm really curious about tire-to-crown clearance.

Are the 36 lowers aluminum or magnesium? Exposed Magnesium corrodes horribly.

Too bad there's not a 36-200, huh?
 
#2 ·
D3DO said:
I have sold mine, to try out the new Marzocchi fork, mainly due to itchy feet on my part and desire to try new gear.
Is it the Marzocchi 44 Ti QR15 you are talking about? Have you ordered it yet? I'm interested in getting one for an Intense Tracer 29 and would love to know what you think.

Ronnie.
 
#5 ·
D3DO said:
No it is the non-ti version- seen here.
It is at the shop waiting for the CK 20->15mm conversion kit.
That's the one Intense had on their show bike at Interbike. Maybe I'm being silly but the Ti is reported by Marzocchi to be 390g.(0.86lb.) lighter. I'd still be very interested to find out what you think of it.

Ronnie.
 
#7 ·
Torsional flex would send the tire into the sides of the fork in corners, but I think on an XC trail you'd probably be able to limp home.

I wouldn't want to have it snap, then still have another 1000' of knarly terrain to descend.

D3DO Could this same mod be accomplished on say, a RS Pike or really any other fork?
 
#8 ·
D3DO said:
The fact that they know there is this mod should be a sports slap to the head for R&D to get us a Fox F29 36
There's the question right there. What the heck are they thinking? Maybe their not thinking :skep:

Enel's correct as is bcd, if it cracks, big deal, new lowers. Great post D3DO :thumbsup: Good looking baby too, takes after mom I'm sure :D

You still in San Diego?
 
#9 ·
PaintPeelinPbody said:
Torsional flex would send the tire into the sides of the fork in corners
I can't imagine something too drastic happening. The bridge would likely show stress cracks well in advance of snapping. Heck, I still have an '04 DC Shiver in great shape that has basically the same thru axle and no bridge at all.
 
#10 ·
Enel said:
Here's a question:

Say the arch of the fork failed. How would that cause a catastrophic failure of the rest of the fork? You wouldn't want to ride it permanently, but it seems to me you could still ride it out. Am I wrong here?
I agree- lets say the arch cracks or even complete break, what then? you have an arch-less fork like the Maverick-
Maybe they are worried about arch vs tire and it sending you OTB.
 
#11 ·
PaintPeelinPbody said:
D3DO Could this same mod be accomplished on say, a RS Pike or really any other fork?
You would have to ask Alex is current, I asked after my mod about a pike, 1.5years ago- He said it depends on the thickness of the arch. The Fox was his best candidate due to it's thickness. The RS was the thinnest, so no, the Marzocchi 55 a maybe-
You could probably talk him into it if you are going to give him a 500-800 dollar fork to tinker with.
 
#12 ·
PaintPeelinPbody said:
Torsional flex would send the tire into the sides of the fork in corners, but I think on an XC trail you'd probably be able to limp home.
I doubt it would be a problem with the 20mm TA. Even with Magnesium being fairly weak, these mods seem to leave a good amount of meat.

I'll be really interested to hear how the Marz (140, I assume) compares. My short list of bikes is a Lenz Behemoth or Lunch Box, Niner WFO, or Sultan, any of which I'd like to have something over 120mm on, and there sure aren't many options.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top