Fox Racing Shox F32 29?er Talas Terralogic QR15 Factory Series Fork:Mid-Term: by c_g

OK, another two months on board the FOX RACING SHOX F32 29″er Talas Terralogic QR15 Factory Series fork (called FTTF from here on :) ). In my first impression post I went to great length (something I am infamous for :}) telling you about all those different technology features involved – so if you want to recapture them, go here.

The ride impressions then were based on my experiences on board the OS Bikes Blackbuck II hard tail. There I had stated that that despite all the fork´s adjustability, I ended up liking the far ends of the range (either fully open or mostly locked) best for my riding style and terrain. I was aware that this was hugely dependent upon personal preferences, only to find them confirmed by several of our readers comments. Seems it was more than just my opinion there. But how would it be on a full suspension bike? Well to find out, the FTTF went onto my ROCKY MOUNTAIN Element 970 and has been ridden there for the last 2 months.

Trying not to be biased by my own preferences I tested all different TERRALOGIC settings once again on the Rocky and guess what? In complete contrast to my prior judgement I found myself liking the medium setting best for this bike. What? Yes – after having tired the full range I ended up running the fork anywhere from 7 to 10 clicks closed (15 clicks being the full range) and loved how the out of saddle stability made the Rocky accelerate oh soooo nicely, helped me hammering up my trails and kept me in control for the rough sections and the downhills. When riding the Element with its original fork, the SID RL (100 mm) I commented how this fork felt too active for the rear … now with the FOX in medium Terralogic, the bike´s suspension balance was spot on. Nicely firm and stable all around and probably the most efficient full suspension bike I have ridden :) . And when things went rough, the Terralogic would allow the fork to open up upon the first hit and allow for speeds and control that was plain amazing. In this setting I could detect that initial hit ever so slightly, but it was a price I willingly paid for the exceptional stability when things got smoother again. Remember, once open (and as long as the hits keep coming), the fork feels just like any regular FOX fork.

Another thing I noticed on the Rocky: On nasty drops or huge steps (those, where you don´t ride over with out a thought, but approach with caution and at slow speed), the Terralogic´s initial resistance keeps the fork from diving too deeply into its travel on the first blow already, yet still allows for a very controlled recovery in the following meters (by being open then). Though this again is my personal impression – I liked this trait a lot.

To my own surprise I didn’t use the TALAS 2 all that often on the Element as I had on the Blackbuck. I went for the full travel on particularly fast or rough downhills only – and was dearly happy for the added stability then – but otherwise I kept it at 100 mm for most of the rides. When going for the full travel (120 mm) the Terralogic´s stability was a lot more tangible than on short mode … and greatly welcome, I may add. More than once I forgot to switch back to 100 mm travel in the following sections and the thing that made me realize was the difference in steering feel, but never the pedaling efficiency. It is safe to claim, that the Terralogic works equally well in both travel modes (and why shouldn’t it), but that the effect of course is far more pronounced in the longer travel.

I don´t need to recap on all the other features – so only this much: Still, absolutely no signs of wear on the KASHIMA coated stanchions, and believe me this fork has seen plenty of sticky and sandy mud. I am stating this not to claim Kashima to be more reliable than the standard coating (for that the ride time would have to be a LOT longer) … the lower friction though, sure is detectable. The FIT damper cartridge keeps on working like new. As a matter of fact pretty much the only sign of wear I could detect is how the TALAS knob would start to turn a it harder, and that was just from some friction by mud build up and has been easily cleaned.

OK – with well over 4 months on the FOX F32 TALAS Terralogic, what do I think? One thing has become clear to me riding this fork: It can meet (almost) every rider´s needs. It can
be just as plush as any other FOX fork, but honestly – if you want that, you´d be just as happy with a RL or RLC ;) … and it can be as efficient as you´d like it to be. With the Terralogic engaged you can have the ride sensation an ever so slight platform damping all the way to a rigid fork – and once an adequate size hit disengages the Terralogic, the fork absorbs the hits just like the above stated RL or RLC. With this fork you won´t have to think about throwing damping or lockout levers anymore. Great for some … pure extravaganza for others.

So who will benefit most from a fork like this? If you predominantly ride seated position or hardly ever need to adjust your fork for more efficiency (be it higher platform, compression damping or a lockout), then having a Terralogic won´t make much difference for you. Same if you ride epic trips with long up- and downhills, where throwing a lever occasionally doesn´t bother you. But if you favor maximum pedaling efficiency and ride in mixed terrain that does have you dial your fork frequently – the Terralogic is great. If you often ride out of the saddle – single speeding and racing come to mind, yet want the benefit of a suspension forks control in rough sections – then the current
Terralogic is hard to beat. If you have plenty of technical ups and downs and reaching down to lock out the fork in every climb is something you don´t like or simply can´t (e.g because taking a hand off the grips would be dangerous), then there is no way around a fork like this.

FOX´s claim for the FTTF to be the “fastest fork existing” seems to be provocative but not untrue – for racing applications where you want to have your head 100% focused on performing yourself (rather than thinking about your equipment), the Terralogic equipped forks are hard to beat. personally, I found that I absolutely loved the FTTF on my ROCKY MOUNTAIN Element full susser while I merely liked it on the OS Bikes Blackbuck hard tail.

What would I go and modify if FOX was to ask me? Add an easy to reach ON/OFF switch to the Terralogic (or maybe a remote lever). By this I´d be able to simply keep my preferred Terralogic setting – and my experiences so far tells me that once this is found, you usually won´t change it much anymore – and still enjoy its full sensitivity by only one lever flick. Coming to think of it – it would be just like FOX´s Adaptive Logic on a fork.

So much from me but there is still one final testing stage that the FTTF has to go though and that is some time under an experienced single speed rider – stay tuned for M1´s impressions of the FOX RACING F32 29″er Talas Terralogic QR15 Factory Series fork coming your way in a couple of weeks.

RIDE ON,
c_g