Fox 36 or Totem on an SX Trail
- Thread starter crombie
- Start date
Arkayne: its funny to see an actual pic of you, that isn't animated or 'chopped! 
I have a 36 TALAS RC2 and love it. Super tuneable and stiff, great damper and the axle system works very well. Can't go wrong with a new Fox, IMO. A Totem may be too much travel and/or too tall.
(I'm coming off an '06 66 RC2X, which is still one of the best forks ever.)
I have a 36 TALAS RC2 and love it. Super tuneable and stiff, great damper and the axle system works very well. Can't go wrong with a new Fox, IMO. A Totem may be too much travel and/or too tall.
(I'm coming off an '06 66 RC2X, which is still one of the best forks ever.)
ive got a totem on the sx i built up yesterday. still waiting to see how it rides.
ive got the high bb mounts in as it felt waaay too slack just sitting on it with the low bb
ive got the high bb mounts in as it felt waaay too slack just sitting on it with the low bb
I've had both a Totem Solo Air and 36 Van RC2 on my Bottle Rocket. Both are very, very good. I've got the Totem lowered to 160mm, because it was a little tall at 180. That's one thing to consider about the Totem- if you get a Solo Air, you can lower it to whatever you'd like using spacers internally. Other random thoughts: the Totem has much better bottom out resistance than the 36, but slightly worse midstroke support. The 36 would bottom kind of hard on some larger (for me, nothing huge) drops. The Totem uses full travel pretty well, but it does a much better job of keeping things under control. On the other hand, it has a little more brake dive than the 36. I've got it tuned out pretty well, but it took some messing with, and I had to sacrifice a little small bump compliance to get it to where I wanted it. I can't tell any appreciable difference in stiffness- both are very good. The Totem is a few ounces heavier, but they're quite close. Both have been pretty reliable, but the 36 wore through its stanchions after a few years, which prompted me to get the Totem. The Totem is a little easier to work on, but neither is particularly hard.
In a nutshell, I don't think you can go wrong here. I'd give a small edge to the Totem, but both are great forks.
In a nutshell, I don't think you can go wrong here. I'd give a small edge to the Totem, but both are great forks.
I responded to your thread over on bustedspoke but heres some more info if your still undecided...
I have been on a sx trail for several seasons now and ran it with a 36 van for the first several, however after cracking through the lowers and bending the internal rebound rod I had to trash it and move onto a solo air totem. I have the totem lowered to around 160mm as of right now, i might raise it to 170mm if I have any early season races next spring. The 36 was great however it had TERRIBLE bottom out control, i sent the fork back several times to have the bottom out turned up but still was blowing through travel, i fixed this by running the fork on the stiffer side. The totem ramps up much nicer but has much more brake jack, and is a bit heavier. The poplock/floodgate is amazing however, i went on a 8 mile xc ride today with my bike locked out and it cruised for a 38lb bike.
However what you have not revealed on this board is that you only weigh 130lbs and are not racing at the current moment, a better choice for you would be the 36 or if you wanted the sram features go lyrik.
I have been on a sx trail for several seasons now and ran it with a 36 van for the first several, however after cracking through the lowers and bending the internal rebound rod I had to trash it and move onto a solo air totem. I have the totem lowered to around 160mm as of right now, i might raise it to 170mm if I have any early season races next spring. The 36 was great however it had TERRIBLE bottom out control, i sent the fork back several times to have the bottom out turned up but still was blowing through travel, i fixed this by running the fork on the stiffer side. The totem ramps up much nicer but has much more brake jack, and is a bit heavier. The poplock/floodgate is amazing however, i went on a 8 mile xc ride today with my bike locked out and it cruised for a 38lb bike.
However what you have not revealed on this board is that you only weigh 130lbs and are not racing at the current moment, a better choice for you would be the 36 or if you wanted the sram features go lyrik.
Hey, thanks for the help. I decided that i am going to stick with the 36. Unfortunately i have com across another problem. I have both a 36 Talas and a 36 Vanilla. Both are 08s and are in good condition. So im going to keep one, and sell the other. Which one do you think I should use on my SX Trail?
If you do lots of technical climbing the TALAS may be worthwhile to put your weight more over the front wheel when climbing. Of course you have to be willing to stop and adjust it, so if you're going up down up down etc. you'd probably just leave it.
Personally, I would go with the van for high quality, low complexity travel. set it and forget it.
Personally, I would go with the van for high quality, low complexity travel. set it and forget it.
and thanks for the deal on your 66! i'm loving the fork (perfect fit) on my SX although i'm still waiting for my warranty frame to come in since i cracked the headtube on it a few weeks back.
dont make me paranoied....
cracked headtube? Details please.
As for which fork, I use a totem coil on my SX Trail and love it. Granted I don't do XC rides on it, but it is a good big mountain/DH bike. If I were going to do XC rides I would stick with the 36.
i just got my new warranty frame today from specialized (awesome, fast service). i had a crash at highland that i think might have caused the cracked headtube... it's pretty substantial. specialized hooked me up with a new '08 frame as a replacement for my '07. i have pics of the headtube failure but am not sure how that would go over with ever getting another specialized warranty in the future???