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2006 Fox 36 TALAS RC2 review
The Fox 36 is one of the most heavily hyped suspension products to come out for mountain bikes in years. Since it was first released last year reviewers from major publications and smaller web-based outlets alike heaped praise on the fork for its stiffness, adjustability, and overall performance. Despite its high price tag, the 36 was hailed as a high water mark for mountain bikers.
Back in February, I posted up some thoughts on the 2006 Fox 36 TALAS RC2, and I was quite taken by the way the fork looked and worked. I thought highly of the 36’s broad range of adjustments, the stiffness of the fork, the general ‘feel’ it provided on the trail.
So, did a couple of months of change my opinion of the 36? The answer is a straight-forward, ‘Sort of’…
Product specifications
The Fox 36 TALAS RC2 is targeted at the all mountain / enduro / freeride crowd: last year, I saw it on bikes on local trails and at places like the Whistler Bike Park, and endurance rider Mark Weir has one on his Santa Cruz Nomad. It’s meant to meet the needs of a wide range of riders and based on what I’ve seen, in terms of the number of 36s ‘out there’, Fox’s marketing department is getting the message out.
The 36 TALAS has a claimed weight of 5.23lbs, adjustable travel (between 110mm and 150mm), an external rebound adjustment, and externally adjustable high and low speed compression settings. The fork requires a hub with a 20mm thru-axle and can accomodate disc brakes from all major manufacturers (with adapters).
The fork used for this review was mounted on a 2005 Giant AC with Swinger 4-Way coil rear shock and set at 5.3″ travel. It was used on rough and technical single track, fast and rocky downhill runs, and the occasional jump and drop.
MSRP: $995 usd / $1400 cad
Manufacturer website: www.foxracingshox
The good
Quality product. The 36 looks great and all of the fork’s dials and adjustments work the way the way they were intended. The anodized aluminum dials make distinct ‘clicking’ noises at each point of adjustment and, by and large, they were easy to turn without tools. The exception is the high speed compression dial, which requires a little more effort to get moving. The lowers are gorgeous and, comments about the ‘loam’ colour aside, are burly to boot.
Better yet, the fork felt pretty good straight out of the box, and moved through its travel smoothly without a lot of break-in time.
Stiff and relatively light. The Fox 36 is really stiff and, while it’s not on par with most of the big dual-crown forks, most riders won’t have any real issues with the way the fork performs when the going gets rough. The 36 isn’t the lightest 6″ fork out there — the Manitou Nixon and the Rock Shox Pike are lighter — but it’s light enough, and most riders who are in the market for this style of fork will take the tradeoff for the added benefits that the 36 brings to the table.
Adjustability. The 36 TALAS RC2 has a tonne of external adjustments — an air spring, fifteen clicks of low and high speed compression damping, rebound damping, variable travel that is changed in 3mm increments — and these options give the rider a chance to match the fork perfectly to the terrain and personal preference. As mentioned above, the dials and knobs are easy to access and easy to use.
For some, the infinite range of adjustability offered by the Fox 36 is a turn off because it makes dialling in the ride more difficult. To this end, Fox is changing the 36’s rate of travel adjustment adjustment for 2007 — after this year, you’ll only be able to set the fork in three travel settings (4″, 5″, 6″).
Tip: If you are a new owner of a 36, make sure that you spend the time to get the fork tuned correctly: start with the factory settings, make little adjustments, write down settings and take notes, ride familiar sections of trail, and repeat. Eventually, you’ll ‘get it’, and that moment of optimized performance makes all of the ‘dialling in’ worth the effort. If you don’t know where to start, Fox offers some basic tuning tips on their website.
The not so good
My initial look at the Fox 36 was based on only a handful of rides so, really, it was impossible for me to offer a thorough review of the fork. Now that I’ve had more time to spend on the trails, my overall impression of the 36 is still high, although my initial raves are tempered by a couple of complaints.
Travel loss. I recall reading accounts of people dealing with travel loss on their 36s, so I kept careful notes during the review period. At the fork’s highest travel setting, I measured an average of 146mm, which is 4mm less than what is claimed on the Fox website and in the fork documentation, but I never felt put out by the discrepancy. At the shortest setting, I typically got the fork down to about 110mm. It’s a niggling criticism, but I do know that it bothers some of you…
The compression tradeoff. The 36 has more ‘bob’ than forks with lockouts or platform valving. To compensate for this, riders must either live with it or crank up their low-speed compression damping. At a certain point, the increase in damping has an effect on the ‘plushness’ of the fork and makes it less supple over the rocky stuff. Coming from an SPV-equipped fork, I was still pretty happy with the compression / plushness balance on the 36.
Packs up a bit. I found the fork to pack up a bit on fast, downhill-style runs with lots of rocks and roots. I spent a lot of time playing with the rebound settings and eventually got to a point where it was preferable to deal with a little bit of unwanted stiffness than a pogo stick.
Price. The price tag on the Fox 36 TALAS RC2 isn’t for the faint of heart. With an MSRP of $995 usd / $1400 cad, the 36 is easily the highest priced entry in the 6″ single crown fork market.
Scoring
First impressions: 8 / 10. The Fox 36 looks great, straight out of the box. All dials and knobs are anodized aluminum and have a distinct, high-quality feel to them. Adjustments are easy to make and the documentation included with the fork is well-written and easy to follow.
Performance: 37/40. The 36 does everything pretty much the way that I expected. Most riders will need to make certain tradeoffs with their adjustments, but these decisions are few, and the negatives are outweighed by plenty of positive traits.
Durability: 16/20. I haven’t had any problems with blown seals, leaky valves, or faulty damping. Some riders will be concerned by some apparent travel loss over time, but I don’t feel hard done by when it comes to 4mm of missing travel on a 150mm travel fork.
Pricing: 14/20. Do you get what you pay for with the 36 TALAS RC2? Yep, but that price is pretty high, and that’ll keep all but the most avid away from the aftermarket version of the fork.
Wild Card: 8/10. Many people don’t like the colour of the 36 TALAS. The fork’s adjusments can be difficult for some riders to understand.
Overall: 83/100. Extremely good.
Summary
The Fox 36 TALAS RC2 is a good all-round fork that would be a solid match for a wide range of mid-travel (5″-6″) bikes. It looks and feels good, provides solid and consistent performance, and is extremely adjustable. While the 36 TALAS seems to be losing favour to the 36 Vanilla as Fox’s ‘freeride’ capable single crown fork, it’s still burly enough to take some pretty heavy abuse.
As long as you can afford the price tag and are ok with the weight, the Fox 36 TALAS is a great addition to most riders’ arsenals.
The Fox 36 TALAS RC2 is for you if:
- You’re into having the latest and greatest technology, a highly-adjustable fork that is versatile while delivering solid performance.
- You aren’t overly concerned about weight, although it does play a factor in your purchasing decision.
- You’re also willing to trade off some of the plushness that comes with a coil-based fork for an air sprung one.
- You do the odd drop and hit jumps on occasion, but these things aren’t the main reason you ride. I get the feeling from the stuff I’ve read and the people I’ve talked to that the TALAS is less desirable as a freeride fork than the 36 Van.
- Price is no object.
The Fox 36 TALAS RC2 isn’t for you if:
- You don’t like spending time fiddling with dials, adjustments, and variable travel.
- A typical ride sees you going large and hitting big gaps. While the 36 TALAS can take these type of hits, you’ll probably appreciate the Van a little more if you’re a freerider.
- You are looking for fork that weighs less than 5 pounds. If you’re in this camp, you might want to consider the Manitou Nixon or the Rock Shox Pike.
- You have live on a relatively limited budget.
Do you have any questions, praise, or criticism for the Fox 36 TALAS? Feel free to add your thoughts using the comment box below.
1. Posted by Week 17 » The Biking Hub: Mountain | 5:40 pm, 4 May 2006
[…] On Monday, I posted up a review of the Fox 36 TALAS RC2 that’s been mounted on my all mountain bike for the past couple of months. For Tuesday, Guitar Ted recounted the running of the 2005 Trans Iowa endurance event; you’ll have to wait until next week for the recap of this year’s event, but do a little digging and you can find lots of good stuff to tide you over. Ashwin wrote a good article on block ‘training’ — a useful training technique for the Everyman. Dan’s opinion piece on brick-and-mortar retail outlets versus online purchasing went live yesterday, and it has created a good amount of discussion on both sides of the fence. […]