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Anybody had any time on a 36 180 yet?

2K views 22 replies 18 participants last post by  bullcrew 
#1 ·
looking to order a 36 float 180 rc2 and was looking for feed back.
 
#3 ·
Not a float, but I have a Van 180 that has been sick so far.

More adjustable, Fit damper better performing than the Van 36 RC2 it replaced.

Pulled the lowers and put fresh oil bath and slick honey in the seals and it is smooth as silk.

It is pretty blingy, don't ride at night in the 'hood!
 
#4 ·
I have a 180 Talas. Overall it's pretty awesome. The perfect fork for my new Delirium. I think that for bigger riders (220+) it's really more of a heavy duty AM fork. I wouldn't want to ride this fork in the bike park. But as a general purpose long-travel fork it's awesome. Talas works great. A good balance of light weight and toughness.

Some mid-stroke wallowing that I haven't yet been able to tune out. Still hopeful, though. Suspensionwerx in Vancouver did some great work on it already, and will probably need a few more tries to get it perfect.
 
#5 ·
Running a Fox 36 180 Talus on my Canfield Can Diggle.
Three days of riding on it, in St. George, UT. Did some 15 mile days techy AM/XC then as the final trail for the trip, the Grafton Mesa DH.
Wow.
I'm selling my Fox 40.
This fork, out of the box, was/is shockingly good (pun intended).
I had a Talas 36 on just before this trip, this is WAY better. Bottomless feel to the travel. I hit some nasty rock gardens and piles, at some very high speeds, never felt even the slightest deflection, and the fork stayed well up into it's travel, except for some bigger drops to flat, on Little Creek and Gooseberry Mesa's, exactly as you would hope.
Drop down the travel, and go climb Zen or Barrel, both about 45-50 minute long grinders. No bob, no worries.
Truly incredible fork . Best Fox fork yet for me, and I've owned, (and ridden extensively) : 32 Talas and Float, 36 Vanilla and Talas, 40 Fit RC2 DC.
Seriously, I'm selling the 36 Talas and Vanilla, and the 40 I had been swapping out on my do it all bike.

Fox 36 180 Fit RC2: a true do it all wonder fork.
I can't say enough about it.
 
#6 ·
i have the VAN 180 myself - coil all the way. i do dh/freeriding though.

it rides better than the 2010 boxxer team, better than the 2009 lyrik u-turn, better than the 2009 totem that i've been on prior to owning it.

what do i mean by better? the damper, the feel.

the only con to the fox IMO is the maintenance. it takes a lot more work to rebuild a fox damper.. the rock shox forks is like working with legos.

the seal change is super easy though.. i just did a full season on the van 180 and it finally sprung a leak on literally the last day. this was after 10+ days of HARD full lift-access riding.

swapped the seals out, good as new. didnt have to touch the damper this time.

one note: the lowers were really low on oil (obviously i was leaking) but there wasnt really any grease in there either. i cleaned everything out and packed the **** out of the new seals with some slick honey, and put a little slick honey on the damper shaft... if it makes a difference i dunno, but i did it anyways. i would suggest at least adding some to the new seals when you decide to change them.

obligatory picture :)



also :p :those are the new 2011 codes .. i almost went with saints, but wanted to give these a shot.. SUPER BEEFY one piece forged. they are better than the last gen codes for sure, modulation, factory bleed, power... and they look way more burly while somehow shaving weight? super cool black chrome look in person.
 
#8 ·
I have about 7-8 days of riding on my fox talas 180. So far it feels great.

I rode a 2010 totem dh coil before it and it probably handled big stuff a little better but the talas doesn't have me worrying at all. I have yet to bottom it.

The only negative i can see is that its a rock magnet!!!! I have never badly scratched the stickers or lowers on any of my forks but i have successfully scratched both sides of the fork multiple times. All from crashes and all about 1/3 the way up the fork. Luckily the stickers are crazy thick and can take abuse. I may have to replace them after a few more rides at this rate, ha ha.

Fox really nailed it with these forks. Also really the only working travel adjust 180 fork at the moment (totem two step is not a working option :D )
 
#9 ·
Been running the TALAS 180 for several months now and it still amazes me with the performance. I even ran it on my DH bike for a week and it really livened up the front end. The best thing I did was to actually spend time getting the sag set properly, the recommended air pressures are very much just a starting point. I ended up 12 psi lower than the chart had me and I thought it was pretty decent at that setting. Now it's even plusher and I just dialed in a little more comp. to dial it in. The new travel adjust is also pretty cool and easy to operate, even while moving (slowly :p).
 
#10 ·
My friend has a new 180 talas, did some parking lot test, jumping on road humps, 3 feet drop, fork felt impressive no swooshing sound like my 66 rc2x. I noticed that it had a little bit of bushing slop though (I did the fore and aft test on the crown) not very significant but you can tell that it's there, anyone had similar experience? And this is on the day it was just installed, should he send it back?
 
#11 ·
ustemuf said:
...



also :p :those are the new 2011 codes .. i almost went with saints, but wanted to give these a shot.. SUPER BEEFY one piece forged. they are better than the last gen codes for sure, modulation, factory bleed, power... and they look way more burly while somehow shaving weight? super cool black chrome look in person.
mmmm nice, new Codes! Been looking to get on those, they are on my shopping list for sure. Sadly the list is too long already, and there's another list (the wife's), and there's already no money...and...and... :mad:

Nice looking ride too, congrats.
 
#13 ·
I tested my buddy's 180mm Fox 36 on his Mojo HD. It was IMPRESSIVE.

If it feels 1/2 as good as my Vanilla 160mm 36, then it should be a very well built and smooth fork.

It seems to have all of the plushness of the old 888's without the brake dive, and all of the stiffness of the Rock Shox forks with all of the adjustments without any of the downsides.
 
#14 ·
Have a few hours now on the Van 180, its nice and supple and the damping feels good to me,
Im leaving the compression damping fully off at the moment, but its a new fork on a new bike so I havnt really pushed the thing yet.
Progressiveness is spot on too, just the right balance between small bump sensitivity and using all the travel without harsh bottoming
One thing I did notice is its a fair bit more flexy in the for/aft direction than the Totems on my other bike, but thats hardly surprising.

Oh yea, it came with the correct oil levels too

P.S. Just noticed your putting it on a 2010 SX Trail...........thats what I put my Van 180 on..I can tell you the extra travel feels just right on it
 
#15 ·
darkzeon said:
My friend has a new 180 talas, did some parking lot test, jumping on road humps, 3 feet drop, fork felt impressive no swooshing sound like my 66 rc2x. I noticed that it had a little bit of bushing slop though (I did the fore and aft test on the crown) not very significant but you can tell that it's there, anyone had similar experience? And this is on the day it was just installed, should he send it back?
Bushing slop on a new fork is not normal. I'd first re-check the headset install thoroughly then call Fox.
 
#18 ·
Had to give the 2011 Fox 36RC2 180 mm kashima coated bad boy fork a try.... 1st impressions aside of needing to put the heavy spring in is WOW..... for a non custom tuned fork im completely floored at its performance........ this is not the fox forks i had in the past...... GOOD JOB FOX!!!! .. as of right now its probably the badest fork (single crown) out of the box.....

 
#22 ·
Quick update now that I've had maybe 20 hours of riding on it. I had a second tune by Suspensionwerx. Fork is now super well-supported. Mid-stroke wallowing is nearly gone so my bike rides at the proper height and doesn't dive nearly as much. All good.

I was suspicious of the fork's chassis stiffness but it turns out that this sensation was related to damping performance. Fork is burly and feels great. Total win. Best all-purpose fork I've owned. It's the perfect fork for my new Delirium and as a general Shore slayer.
 
#23 ·
Don't know about burly lol its a great fork it definentky flexes and twists but I wouldn't call it a bad flex or twist it acts like the old 32mm bidders which I liked.... the mid stroke issue you had was definently a dial issue it has great mid speed to it when knobs are turned....

Great fork nothing bad to say about it at all.......
 
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