I just got back from the first ride with my new fork, and it was superlative. Not really a proper ride, but dropping down the side of the hill next to our building a dozen or so times.

I’m on my first proper mountain bike, a hardtail, which used to have a Fox34 Rhythm on it, but I’ve been looking for something sturdier, and bagged a cheap (430 €) Fox 36 rc2. I’m not fast, but counterbalance the lack of speed with considerable heft.

Now, I was planning to twiddle with the knobs to see what everything does, but after the first run with the Fox baseline settings, the plan was out and I just wanted to get maximum laps before it got too dark.

The first rock garden I hit just disappeared. With the 34 I’d have been pinging and ponging from rock to rock getting a workout for my wrists, but now I just went straight through everything.

Just wanting to share my excitement. Really hope to have time for a longer ride tomorrow.

I don’t think there’s a better way to spend money on a MTB than on a good fork!

Wait till you get rear suspension then instead of ploughing into rock gardens you’ll jump into them and let the bike work it out!

What year was the Fox 34?

And where was the 36 from? Which model. Sounds like a good price that!

Good work! New fork for the hardtail before winter for me I think.

Om with you op.

When you change a bike part and you can actually feel the improvement. It’s a great thing!

Yes @beagle. That caught my eye too! Interested.

can actually feel the improvement.

Or can’t.  Last year I bought a Clockwork Evo 27.5 with my first 35mm fork – a 130mm Revelation.  Aptly named, I swear I can’t feel it moving on general trails yet it does, and on big compressions such as plummeting into a bomb hole I get all the travel out of it.   Its very impressive.

Quite surprised you felt such a difference when the fork you started with wasn’t exactly poor.

If you been starting with a 20 quid elastomer based RST fork and then went to a fox 36 rc2 then fair enough. But a fox34 rhythm is not bad fork by any definition.

Wonder if the 34 was very badly setup, and the 36 was by fluke reasonably well setup.

If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend you give them a lowers service. They feel 10x better again. Fox ship them with about 3/4 ton of grease.

OP, where did you get those 36s from for that price?

Felt the same when I replaced my old Sektors with Pike and then again when going from the Pike to Fox 36’s. I agree that great forks are the best place to stick your money.

I used to ride with a guy from work, whenever we hit anything remotely rough he was off into the bushes, it was so bad that I genuinely thought he just couldn’t ride.
Until the day he swapped his bog standard rockshox tora for a mid range fork, I can’t remember which one, but instantly he was able to keep up with me.
He raved about it for weeks.
The difference was actually bizarre.

The 34 was a 2017 model, the cheap ones from Bike-Components.de couple of years back. I only rode it for about six months,but did a lowers service and cleaned out the grease in February. I tried different pressures and token amounts, but never got it to both stay up and not be harsh, either off the top, or due to ramp up “wall” two thirds into the travel.

The 36 is a 2018 model, performance elite rc2. Got it second hand, sorry. It was last serviced by professionals in February, and the csu was replaced too and was unridden since. Like I said, just the recommended settings work brilliantly, it’s both firmer and smoother at the same time.

I was out for a few hours today, and can also feel the difference in my wrists.

@chestercopperpot my first thought was along the lines of “with rear like this, it would be like riding a hovercraft!”