REVIEW: 2008 Fox Van RC2

Words by Derek Timmerman. Photos by Derek Timmerman.
Date: 2008-05-12

Vancouver’s North Shore generally means highly technical terrain. Large roots and rocks are everywhere, with frequent step-like rock/root sections littering the trails. Cramped approaches to larger drops with challenging, tight, technical landings are also common. It’s easier to bottom out your suspension on this kind of terrain.

The best solution to these unique riding conditions is a progressive fork that offers more resistance at the end of its stroke, compared to the initial and mid regions. It also makes such riding easier, safer, and reduces maintenance downtime.

Over the years, some people have described the top-end Fox coil sprung forks as too linear and too easy to bottom out on the Shore. Can the 2008 36 Van RC2 be set up to ride the Shore just as well as other top Shore forks? That’s what I set out to discover.


The 2008 Fox Van RC2 mounted to a Knolly Delerium T - the perfect combination of weight and durability?

Suspension preferences are often so personal that conversations about suspension can be pretty hilarious. One can be raving about their suspension performance to their friend, then the friend takes the bike for a spin and completely disagrees. “This feels like crap!” “What are you talking about? This feels perfect!” Consider this article a starting point to set up the Van RC2 for freeriding and a starting point to such conversations.

For fine details on set up and maintenance I highly recommend reading the online Van RC2 manual completely whatever your experience level. Fox has some of the best resources you'll find for doing your own maintenance including excellent photos of the work in progress.

Technical details and set-up

The '08 Van RC2 boast the following features and technical details:

• 160mm/6.3” of single crown, steel coil sprung travel
• 1 1/8” steer tube
• 5.2 pounds/ 2380 grams (with medium spring)
• 160mm to 205mm disc rotors with appropriate adapter
• 20mm quick release axle
• 36mm stanchions
• externally adjustable coil spring preload, rebound, high/low speed compression damping
• no travel adjustment or lockout
• no titanium spring option
• no nickel plated stanchion option (for increased durability)
• 545.5mm axle-to-crown length
• uses standard 20mm ID x 110mm wide hub
• max tire width of 2.8”
• downhill/all-mountain/freeride rating
• warranty period of 1 year, with 90 days on the seals
• designed, tested, assembled in Santa Cruz County, California
• three steel springs included for three different rider weight ranges

Setting up the RC2 was fairly straightforward. A sag of 25mm was achieved with the medium spring before a first ride, but as expected, it took a few days for this new fork to settle in and loosen up to my freeride abuse schedule. I went through an initial setup before the first ride and again a few days later to fine tune after the fork had broken in, with sag finally settling at my preferred 30mm after two days of riding.


The protective cap ... and the compression adjustment knobs. High- and low-speed to fine-tune your ride.

Rebound was set five clicks from wide open, and after a few days sped up slightly. My preferred fast rebound setting allowed the fork to expand quickly over chop during high speed runs. Slow this down if you’re a less aggressive rider or you feel the fork is bouncing back too quickly. One thing to note – there was a significant change in rebound as I clicked through the 15-click range.

High (H/S) and low-speed (L/S) compression settings were key to making the Van RC2 perform well on the Shore. Low speed compression reduces fork dive on steppy terrain. I suffered from severe fork dive over such terrain on my first ride but the problem was immediately solved by increasing the L/S six clicks. Over the next week the L/S was increased to maximum as I rode increasingly technical terrain. Even though there were 15 clicks of low-speed compression, I found that there was minimal difference between eight and 15 clicks.

High-speed compression adjusts the progressive characteristic of the fork and bottom-out characteristics. H/S was set at eight clicks out of 15, resulting in a comfortable, progressive feel. The ‘08 Van RC2 H/S adjustments include a Hydraulic Bottom-Out System (HBO) and a Boost feature. The HBO is factory set at firm, and if you’re a lighter rider, I recommend having a Fox Service center reduce this setting. Personally, I didn’t need the Boost feature of the H/S compression.

If you’re going really, really big, and/or are a heavy rider regularly bottoming out with the top-end H/S setting, enable the Boost by turning the H/S knob to full. The H/S adjustments increase H/S compression are linear until the maximum H/S Boost, where it ramps up dramatically.


Fox used a bolt-on cable guide for the front brake; blue preload and red rebound adjustments on top of the fork legs.

The fork doesn’t use oil seals, just an oil soaked sponge ring, and a dust wiper. A contaminated wiper will cause slight oil leakage, which is easily remedied by gently cleaning between the dust wiper and stanchion with a soft toothbrush and warm water. It’s nice to have the sponge rings if you happen to leave your bike in a dry, warmer environment for several days between rides; oil seal fork designs can rip after such storage, requiring expensive service.

Fox forks are distributed and serviced by Outdoor Gear Canada, as well as SuspensionWerx on the North Shore.

Function/performance
The Van RC2 is basically the same as the Fox 40 RC2 double-crown fork, but with a single crown design, 36mm stanchions instead of 40mm, and no titanium spring option. Both have the maximum amount of adjustability for their top-end coil spring designs. For the hardcore, this cartridge can be custom tuned by a Fox service center since the valve washers can be stacked in different orders for different characteristics.

The first few rides displayed the usual slight, brand new fork stiction at the beginning of the stroke, and as expected, stiction largely disappeared after a few days of riding. The ’08 Van RC2 doesn’t have a commercially available nickel plated stanchion option, however, unlike the 40. The higher-priced, nickel-plated stanchions are supposed to reduce stiction over time, but the Van RC2 performed just as well as other forks with nickel plating that I rode frequently over the past year.


A close-up of the whole package. Clean looks and lots of room for big rubber.

Since I opted for a progressive feel for the North Shore, my settings translated to more resistance in the end stroke. The stroke transitioned from its initial travel through the mid-range and to the end smoothly and predictably in all situations I could find. Predictability on the hairier parts of the Shore is a mighty good thing in terms of safety. Bottom-out characteristics with this progressive set-up were a dull thud, not the harsh clang I've noticed with some other designs. I did bottom out the fork hard on some larger 10-footish drops to less friendly landings several times without internal damage.

Torsional strength for the 36 RC2, which uses Fox’s tool-less 20mm thru axle design, was high for a single-crown design. Typically, lower torsional fork strength is displayed when ripping into a rough, choppy turn while braking hard on a large diameter front rotor. There were no worries with this design with my 185 pound weight (with gear) during aggressive riding.


The tool-free QR system, with the lever used to screw the axle into the left fork leg closed (left) and open (right).

This fork is roughly the same weight as the top-end long-travel single crown air forks this year (+/- 0.5 lb), which surprised me. I assumed an air fork would mean significant weight savings, but this year your 6” freeride bike can still have plush, reliable, predictable steel sprung performance at comparatively low weight.

That is, of course, assuming that you don’t need lockout or travel adjustment features. Neither are present on the 36 RC2. Fox likely made that decision in order to keep weight down. I’d also be interested to see if a light lockout feature would be possible on the 36 Van. Maybe next year… [For the sake of comparison, the RockShox Lyrik is available with a coil spring, lockout, and travel adjust at 5.73lbs. – Ed.]

Durability
No maintenance was required over two months for this early production run fork. Although this fork had only slight design changes from the ‘07 version, I think it’s worth noting. Early production runs with design changes often haven’t fully optimized all manufacturing steps, resulting in down-time while your part is in the shop to sort out the production issues. Faulty parts, excessive glue, too little oil, too much oil, too little grease are some issues I’ve seen with early production runs of new designs.

Fox forks are generally considered to require more maintenance than other high-end forks, but I haven’t had to do any work on the fork so far. I usually get my suspension serviced about every three months with four rides per week, so I’m interested to see if my fork maintenance schedule will need to be increased over the long run.

The matte black finish on the lower legs hides some slight scuffs easier than some glossy painted sliders out there, and the manufacturer’s stickers are extremely thick; rock hits won’t go nearly as deep. Both of those are useful traits if you care about a fork finish that ages less quickly.


Derek flies down a rocky roller coaster at speed but still in control thanks to the Van RC2. And the bike. And the tires. And some riding skills... You get the idea. || Photo: Cam McRae

In terms of durability, one of the lowers took a really serious sharp rock hit without any functional damage. I drilled it so hard on a sharp rock corner that I expected the leg to be punctured and oil dripping down onto my caliper. Surprisingly, it wasn’t even dinged – just a good scuff right through the thick Fox sticker. I had to look closely several times before I could believe that it wasn’t dinged or dripping oil.

Initially, I thought the 20mm axle quick release with the tool-free lever looked like it wouldn’t take many hard rock hits before at least cracking. I have tagged a couple of rocks at this area, it’s still intact. Still wary about it, though, and I’m interested to see its state after a few more inevitable dings.

Slipping off a skinny can damage the exposed adjustment knobs that are present on the bottom of some fork legs, but the Van RC2’s high and low speed compression knobs safely live together under a tough o-ring sealed, threaded aluminum cap. There’s no damage to report there.

One other thing I would like to see on the 36 Van is a lighter design. The 20mm axle is clamped in place by two quick release levers at the bottom of each leg. The design functions well, but I would prefer a Maxle to lighten and simplify the overall quick release design. Also, titanium spring options would be cool to add to the currently available steel springs to drop some weight.


Negotiating a tight corner on Pipeline. || Photo: Cam McRae

Final thoughts...
On the whole, this coil spring fork was extremely impressive descending North Shore-style freeride terrain. If I want to go big on everything, if I'm a climbing machine that doesn’t need lockout or travel adjustment, want extreme reliability, durability, and performance over time in a seriously light design, then this fork is a top contender. I found the Van RC2 could be set up to ride the gnarlier sections the North Shore and perform as well as any fork I’ve ridden here.

I missed a lockout or travel adjustment feature for easier pedaling up the uglier trail accesses. If there were travel adjustment or lockout features, however, weight would likely increase, while durability and performance could well decrease over time. If I want lockout or travel adjustment in a top-end fork this year, then I'm going to have to add an air spring fork to my ride.

There weren't any obvious shortcomings to the lack of nickel-plated stanchions, but I didn’t get the opportunity to ride the fork in extended dry conditions where the nickel performance may have really shone. In wintery, moist conditions, the lack of nickel stanchions means higher reliability/durability at least. Another benefit of these types of stanchions is that they don't scratch off on a rock, leaving sharp edges to quickly saw through the oil foam rings.

I found that fork torsional stiffness can be highly affected by how tightly the hub axle is clamped in place by the sliders. The QR levers clamp the 20mm axle extremely tightly without drift over time, providing high torsional stiffness, but I found the same thing with simpler properly adjusted Maxle 360 and Marzocchi QR designs. At the end of the day, the simpler QR designs mean less time changing flats and overhauling the front end generally.

Pricing
In the US the Fox 36 RC2 retails for $925. Steed Cycles provided me with the Canadian retail price of $1125. A 1.5" steerer model is also available for $25 more. It ships with three springs and a star nut. Ask your retailer for those items when you purchase. Fox does a great job of including everything you need to make their products work.

Pros:

  • no nickel plating needed (nickel plating is easily damaged, expensive to replace stanchions)
  • torsionally stiff
  • reliable due to design simplicity
  • highly, easily adjustable
  • settings did not drift
  • light
  • durability from slider impacts, QR hub axle flip lever impacts
  • slider bottom adjustment knobs are well protected under a screw-on cap

Cons:

  • no lockout
  • no travel adjustment down
  • more complicated QR design
  • price
  • no titanium spring option
  • big difference between springs; heavy was way too heavy for me, medium is a hair too soft

Got your own Fox Van RC2 that you're stoked about? Have questions that weren't answered in the review? Fire away on the boards.