Fox 38 Factory GRIP2 £1,299

Adjustments LSC, HSC, LSR, HSR, air-spring pressure, air-spring volume (spacers) Travel 160 180mm (650b, 29in); travel change requires new air shaft Offset 37/44mm (650b), 44/51mm (29in) Weight 2,363g (29in, 170mm)

Yes, the 38 is heavy and expensive, but its big-terrain performance is second-tonone. The air spring’s soft beginning-stroke allows this burly fork to track over small bumps and rooty cambers with reassuring sensitivity and finesse. Yet when deeper in the travel, the support builds predictably and consistently, so there’s plenty to push against. This keeps handling consistent through big steps and under heavy braking. But it is possible to use all the travel on the biggest impacts, without it lacking support in the middle of its travel.

Like on the 36, the compression damping isn’t very firm even with the adjusters fully closed. But because the spring has plenty of mid-stroke support, it doesn’t need much damping to hold it up. Fully closed is usable for short, steep tracks, but it never lacks support even when fully open. At 85kg, we used 97-105psi depending on the terrain, which tallies with Fox’s set-up chart. We ran the lowspeed rebound much faster than recommended – nearly fully open – while keeping the high-speed firm to prevent excessive springiness. The soft beginning-stroke makes this fast rebound (which improves tracking) possible, without overshooting towards top-out.

The 38 really shines when smashing through big rocks and holes, or when loaded up into rough berms, where it remains composed, smooth and predictable. It keeps your handlebar a little more level over big bumps than flexier forks. The ZEB excels here too, but the 38 pips it for off-thetop sensitivity and traction, while offering more consistent, predictable support.

After six months of hard use we’ve had no reliability concerns, and degradation between services is quite slow. www.silverfish-uk.com