New Fox Grip X and Grip SL Dampers: Fit4 No More…

The GRIP damper was quietly introduced in 2017 and has come along way since its humble beginning. The original was developed with the goal of having a reliable, low-cost damper for forks on OEM-spec and budget-friendly mountain bikes. However, suspension engineer Damon Gilbert’s creation exceeded expectations in performance and reliability. FOX GRIP forks began appearing on world-cup downhill bikes and were becoming requested by athletes more and more. Consequently, the GRIP damper found its way into most of the forks in FOX’s line up, marking a pivot in FOX’s flagship mountain bike fork technology. Today, FOX took the GRIP damper a step further, nixing the FIT4 damper completely and announcing a full range of GRIP suspension products. Here’s a summary of each of them.

FOX GRIP X2

The GRIP X2 is the most complex damper of the bunch. FOX claims to have sought the level of tunability found in motocross racing suspension for this update. In technical terms, they designed it based on the previous generation GRIP but enlarged the 20mm base valve diameter to 24mm and replaced the seven valves (aka shim stack) on the Grip 2 with 23 valves (higher count shim stack). The result is the a more fine tunable, supportive, and smooth descent-focused fork, which FOX claims will improve cornering traction. One interesting point is that this is what a lot of custom suspension tuners were producing for riders interested in very precise tuning and fork characteristics for previous generation FOX forks. That makes this update a relatively obvious evolution to the high-end GRIP damper tech.

The GRIP X2 is available on FOX36, FOX38, and FOX40 forks, and some OEM 34 models. Find details on the new FOX GRIP X2 forks here.

FOX GRIP X

To me, the GRIP X is the most interesting damper in the new FOX lineup as it replaces the GRIP 2 and FIT4 dampers, which might make a lot of diehard FIT4 fans gasp. However, the GRIP X appears to offer the best of both worlds with high-speed and low-speed compression adjustability and a lockout. Plus, the GRIP dampers are arguably more durable than FIT4. FOX didn’t specify too many other changes with the GRIPX vs. the GRIP2, but the big gain is the adjustability and the fact that you can now simply rotate the high-speed compression adjuster clockwise until you feel the final distinct click, which simultaneously closes both high and low-speed compression, providing a firm feel for efficient climbing. Theoretically, this should be a simple way of allowing riders to tune it for their desired long-term ride quality with inner black knob (LSC), then use the outer blue knob (HSC), to quickly tweak it during the ride, depending on the terrain.

We’re excited to try the GRIPX, which is available on new FOX34, 36, and 38 forks. Find details on the new lineup of GRIP X-equipped forks here.

FOX GRIP SL

The Grip SL is a short travel-specific damper built for XC racing and endurance pursuits with reduced weight, a three-position compression dial, and a firm lockout. FOX claims the SL maintains a smooth blowoff force when you hit a bump with the lockout engaged, and when the compression knob is in Middle or Open mode, it offers a supple stroke at the top of the travel with an optimized pedal-to-bump efficiency compared to the 3-position FIT4.

The GRIP SL is available on the 32 and 34 Step Cast and Taper Cast forks. Find details on the new lineup of GRIP SL FOX34SC and FOX32SC forks here.

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