ALL THE BUSHING OVERLAP.
Bushings are Teflon-lined sleeves that interface between the upper and lower legs of the fork. There are two bushings in each leg, for a total of four in a fork. “Bushing overlap” refers to the distance between upper and lower bushings in each leg. As the fork is loaded fore-aft (such as when running over an obstacle on the trail), that bending force is transmitted through the bushings.
The inverted chassis configuration allowed us to design Podium with a massive 175mm of bushing overlap. That’s 32% more overlap than the 38 and even 7% more than the 200mm-travel FOX 40 DH race fork. This overlap not only contributes to greater fore-aft rigidity, but also gives Podium an unfair advantage with the lowest possible chassis friction, especially when powering through the roughest terrain at high speed when bending loads on the fork are the greatest.
GLIDECORE AIR SPRING.
When a fork is dynamically loaded, that bending force is transmitted to the air spring assembly inside the stanchion. A large enough force—such as hitting a large rock or root at high speed—can cause the air spring to bind to the inside of the stanchion while the fork is compressing through its travel.
The GlideCore air spring is built with lateral compliance allowing it to flex with these bending loads, rather than resisting them. By decoupling the stanchion from the air shaft, the piston can move with the fork and remains axially aligned with the stanchion when subjected to a bending load from any direction.
Less strain in the air spring assembly means less reaction forces on the piston and shaft bushing. Less reaction forces means less friction at these interfaces. The result? Smoother suspension action overall, especially when the fork is experiencing high loads from speed or the weight of a rider.
The same Nitrile Butadiene material that gives GlideCore its lateral compliance also provides axial compliance by vertically compressing a small amount before the air spring itself begins to move.
Podium’s damping performance is powered by the award-winning GRIP X2 damper, tuned specifically for more compression support. Given the incredible rigidity and smoothness of Podium, FOX needed to add some additional compression damping to account for the reduced chassis friction. They also toned down the rebound damping slightly to account for the lower unsprung weight of the system.
Riders on GRIP X2 reap the benefits of sitting higher in the travel while their tyres stay glued to the ground. They can corner with increased traction, giving them the confidence to push the limits of enduro racing and full power eMTB riding, all while reducing hand and arm fatigue significantly.