RockShox Recon RL Remote vs Fox 32 Rhythm

Took delivery of a Canyon Exceed hardtail recently and It came with a Rockshox Recon RL.

Fairly underwhelmed with this fork and thinking of upgrading. Merlin have a seemingly excellent deal on Fox 32 Rhythm forks for £250!?

Are these going to be an upgrade at all on the Recon RL’s or should I fork out 500 notes for a pair of Fox 32 Float Factory SC FIT4 (which are the forks I like!)

Any thoughts?

The GRIP damper is basic but functional, however Rhythms use heavier materials for the lowers and stanchions so if weight is a concern you might want to go for the Float Factory model. If not then it’s probably still an upgrade over the Recon RL.

Yes, it’s an upgrade and GRIP is better than motion control imo. A small weight saving too. The rhythms will be stiffer than the 32 stepcast too, but heavier. So only really worth spending lots on the 32 SC if you need the weight saving. If not, the rhythms will be good.

Another small consideration is that the rhythms are far better in claggy mud than the 32 SC as the whole fork is wider, like all boost forks, giving more mud room. Stepcast pulls the legs closer together so clogging at the arch in claggy conditions happens, unless you run narrow tyres.

I’ve no experience of the rhythm forks, but know rockshox MC damping pretty well and have a set of 32SC performance forks with the grip damper.

I’d say the grip damper is about as responsive to the MC damper, but where it is miles better is control and anti dive. earlier MC’s would dive horribly and although RS did improve this a bit, there’s a reason MC is found on more budget models.

from a stiffness perspective, the recon shares the same chassis as many of the older models, they’re stiff enough not to find them wandery, probably on par with the SC fox I have, maybe the fox is a little stiffer than my previous SID’s and REBA’s.

anecdotally, I have read on several places that the fit4 damper is a little more ‘XC’ than the grip damper, in that it’s a bit less supple over small ripples, but I’ve not ridden one.