Fox Racing has released its 2024 mountain bike lineup that includes updates to its helmets, shoes and riding gear. We’re loving the new season vibe, which includes bright and bold options, as well as more subtle pastel colours. There is a tonne of new kit across both mens and womens product lines, and here we take a look at a very small slither of the overall range.
Fox Speedframe Helmet
- Sizes: Small, Medium & Large
- Price: $199.99 AUD
One of the most popular helmets out there, and for many good reasons. The Fox Speedframe offers fantastic coverage for the modern trail rider with a dropped shell that affords more protection around the temples and base of the skull. It’s got a fit that just seems to work for a lot of heads, and we love the ventilation ports over the forehead that do a great job of reducing sweat build up over your eyebrows.
There’s a big 3-position visor that can be flipped up if you need to store your goggles on the go, otherwise you can run it down all the way to keep the sun out of your eyes.
It’s all built around a thick EPS foam core with a fully in-moulded shell. You’ll find a MIPS liner inside and the 360 fit system that allows you to adjust both the vertical position of the rear basket as well as the overall tension.
Fox also offers a more expensive Speedframe Pro ($269.99 AUD), which upgrades you to a FidLock buckle, anti-microbial padding and a Varizorb dual-density EPS foam construction.
Fox Flexair Pro Jersey
- Sizes: Small, Medium, Large, X-Large & XX-Large
- Price: $139.99 AUD
A stupendously lightweight and breathable jersey, the Fox Flexair Pro is an excellent choice for hot and/or humid conditions. It’s made from a super breezy fabric for the main body, while the sleeves utilise an abrasion-resistant material that offers more durability when you’re skimming your arms through tight tree passes.
The fit is quite tailored so you might want to size up. Wil normally wears a Small but here he’s wearing a Medium in the Flexair Pro jersey.
Fox Flexair Gloves
- Sizes: X-Small, Small, Medium, Large, X-Large & XX-Large
- Price: $59.99 AUD
The Fox Flexair is easily one of our favourite mountain bike gloves. These are about as close as it gets to wearing no gloves at all, with a huge amount of breathability thanks to hundreds of tiny holes through the palm. Open your hand while riding and you can literally feel cool air rushing in to remove sweat.
They’ve got a nice snug fit that takes a little patience when chucking them on, though the lack of Velcro straps means there are no annoying pressure points, while the compression moulded cuff ensures they don’t budge while riding. Certainly not the most crash-proof gloves out there, but if you want maximum feel, these are as minimalist as it gets.
Fox Flexair Short w/Liner
- Sizes: 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 & 40
- Price: $199.99 AUD
Completing the Flexair trio is the Fox Flexair shorts. These are a nice lightweight option for XC and trail riding, with top-notch breathability thanks to all those ventilation holes on the front of each leg. The 4-way stretch fabric provides plenty of flexibility for long pedally rides, and a simple ratchet makes waist adjustments quick and easy.
Otherwise these are pretty low on features with just a zippered pocket on each thigh that’ll comfortable swallow a smartphone and any other valuables you might be stowing.
Not shown is the included liner short, which deserves a shout-out for actually being a quality piece of gear. Often the padded liners that come with baggy shorts are rubbish, but not this one. The padding offers excellent support, the mesh fabric is breathable, and the stretchy thigh cuffs ensure everything stays in place.
Fox Union MTB Shoes
- Sizes: 37-47 EU
- Price: $279.99 AUD
Last year Fox entered the mountain bike shoe market with its Union range. There are two options for flat pedal users (Union Flat and Union Boa Flat), and two options for clip-in pedal users (Union and Union Boa).
Shown here is the Union clip-in shoe, which combines a big Velcro strap and a lace-up construction. They offer a fairly neutral fit with a big volume toe box that provides plenty of wiggle room. Most of us here at Flow have found them to be on the big side however, so we’d suggest most folks will need to size-down depending on what they’re used to.
The underside of the shoe features Fox’s Ultratac rubber compound for decent grip both on the ground and on big platform pedal bodies. The cleat pocket gets a heavily ramped entry and exit to reduce interference when clipping in, and there’s a huge range of adjustment for cleat placement.
Other features include a moulded and reinforced toe cap for protection, a moulded internal heel counter for stability, and an EVA midsole to help absorb impacts and trail vibrations. You also get tuneable arch support with two inserts included in the box.
Fox Speedframe Helmet
- Sizes: Small, Medium & Large
- Price: $199.99 AUD
Jo’s got the same Fox Speedframe helmet, albeit in this wild Violet colour! We’re digging the subtle graphics and the complementing black highlights around the underside of the helmet rim.
Otherwise it’s got all the usual features including the excellent strap-splitters that eliminate annoying rub around your ears. There’s a MIPS liner, a 3-position visor, 360 fit system and it’s goggle-compatible.
Fox Ranger Womens Jersey
- Sizes: X-Small, Small, Medium, Large & X-Large
- Price: $79.99 AUD
In the past, mountain bike apparel was all about the moto look and plastering as many different logos and brands on each piece of clothing as possible. We’re loving the move away from that and into more of the outdoors gear direction, which includes this womens Fox Ranger jersey.
The style is casual thanks to a relaxed fit that’s designed specifically for mountain biking. It’s also functional too thanks to the drirelease fabric that wicks moisture away from your body and dries four times quicker than cotton. Also rad is the fact that this jersey uses recycled fabrics, which we’re big fans of.
Fox Ranger Womens Gloves
- Sizes: Small, Medium, & Large
- Price: $39.99 AUD
While not as light as the Flexair gloves, the Fox Ranger offers greater durability thanks to its slightly thicker Clarino synthetic leather palm. They use a stretch waffle fabric for the main body of the glove, which is comfortable and cosy on the skin. Fox adds silicone grippers along the thumb and forefingers for added grip on your bike’s controls, and hidden conductive thread in the fingertips means you can still use your mobile phone without having to remove the gloves. Nice!
Fox Flexair Womens Short
- Sizes: X-Small, Small, Medium, Large & X-Large
- Price: $149.99 AUD
Jo’s also got a pair of Flexair shorts in the female-specific cut. These share all the same features as the mens version, with a 4-way stretch fabric, nylon waist buckle and zippered pockets on each thigh. The price is $50 cheaper because these don’t come with the padded liner short, so its a BYO affair.
Fox Ranger Socks
- Sizes: XS/S (36-41), S/M (39-42), L/XL (43-45)
- Price: $24.99 AUD
Finishing things off is a pair of Fox Ranger socks. A surprisingly high-tech item, these feature compression arch support and flat-stitch toes for comfort, along with specific mesh zones to improve breathability. Even the underside of the heel and toe get thicker padding to provide more cushioning when riding off-road.
Fox Crossframe Pro Helmet
- Sizes: Small, Medium & Large
- Price: $349.99 AUD
A few months ago Fox introduced its newest helmet, the Crossframe. Purpose-built for XC racers and gravel riders, the Crossframe is the brand’s first visor-less helmet. You can definitely tell it’s been designed by a mountain bike company though, with many elements having been drawn from the Speedframe.
We particularly like the extended bow that effectively creates a mini-visor for the rider while putting more protection over the forehead. There’s also dedicated rubber-lined vents for storing your sunglasses, and in use it’s proven to be really secure.
A lot of the technology inside the Crossframe is also shared with Fox’s high-end Speedframe. That includes the Varizorb dual-density EPS foam construction, and a fully in-moulded PC shell. The Crossframe does make use of a low-profile MIPS Evolve Core liner however, and it features less weight (350g claimed) along with more ventilation. We’ve found it to offer significantly better cooling properties, which makes it ideal for hard ‘n’ fast XC racing.
You can get more info in our separate article on the Fox Crossframe Pro helmet.
Fox Flexair Aviation Long Sleeve Jersey
- Sizes: Small, Medium, Large, X-Large & XX-Large
- Price: $134.99 AUD
Another lightweight jersey, this time with long sleeves. It’s the Fox Flexair Aviation jersey and it’s made from a suitably light and airy open-eyelet mesh TruDri fabric that provides maximum moisture-wicking properties. It doesn’t feel quite as soft on the skin as the orange Flexair Pro version shown earlier, and the fit is also a little more relaxed. Wil is wearing a Small size here, compared a Medium in the Flexair Pro jersey.
Fox Flexair Gloves
- Sizes: X-Small, Small, Medium, Large, X-Large & XX-Large
- Price: $59.99 AUD
Yep, those are the same Fox Flexair gloves, just this time in a grey colour for a slightly more subtle style. We already mentioned how much we love these gloves, but we’ll reiterate it again here – we love these gloves!
Fox Union BOA Flat Shoes
- Sizes: 37-47 EU
- Price: $349.99 AUD
Last, but certainly not least, we’ve got the new Fox Union BOA Flat shoes. These are an exciting pair of kicks, because there really aren’t that many flat pedal shoes on the market that use ratchet mechanisms instead of Velcro and laces.
They’re bloody brilliant too, with the dual BOA Li2 dials make it an absolute doddle to tighten up the shoes and make micro-adjustments while you’re riding. We also love how they pop out to quick-release the wires, making it super easy to take the shoes off at the end of a hot and dusty day of riding.
It isn’t just about the BOA dials though. Down below Fox makes use of its Ultratac rubber compound that offers excellent damping and grip that we reckon is pretty close to the Specialized 2FO shoes. Pedal feel is spot-on too, with a good amount of stability from the internal stiffening plate that means your feet don’t end up folding over the outer edges of the pedal body. You still get great off-the-bike comfort though, and the tread lugs provide decent traction as long as it’s not too muddy.
Like the other Fox Union shoes we’ve tested, the sizing is on the roomier side. These are a bit too big for Wil so he’ll be seeking out the next size down for a closer fit. The BOA dials do a surprisingly good job of snugging the uppers down around your feet though, and they feel really secure while bouncing down the trail. Internal padding is generous, and the footbeds come with swappable arch supports so you can match them to your flippers.
