Wil reviews the 2025 Fox 32 Step-Cast
Whereas most of the 2025 Fox fork lineup has been updated with new dampers, the Fox 32 Step-Cast is entirely new from the inside-out.
It’s a pretty big deal too. Featuring a radical magnesium structure that adopts a distinctive reverse arch design, the 32 Step-Cast is purportedly the lightest suspension fork that Fox has ever produced. It also features the brand new GRIP SL damper, which replaces the outgoing FIT4 cartridge that had been in service for close to a decade.
To see how it performs on the trail and find out what clues this lightweight fork might hold for the future, I’ve been testing the Fox 32 Step-Cast on my home trails over the past couple of weeks.
Watch our video on the 2025 Fox Suspension range here:
An overview of the 2025 Fox 32 Step-Cast fork
The Fox 32 Step-Cast is a lightweight suspension fork that is purpose-built for XC riding and racing. It’s optimised around 100mm of travel, making it suited to hardtails and aggressive short-travel full suspension race bikes like the Trek Supercaliber, Specialized Epic World Cup and Canyon Lux World Cup.
With weight being a big focus, the 32 Step-Cast has been stripped back to the absolute bare essentials. It’s only produced in a single chassis option to suit 29in wheels, and it isn’t possible to change the travel. If you want more, you’ll need to look towards the bigger 34 Step-Cast fork.
As with its predecessor, the 32 Step-Cast features 32mm diameter upper tubes. However, in the pursuit of maximum gram-removal Fox has employed double-butting for the damper-side. Yes, the stanchions are actually specific to each side of the fork! This purportedly saves 9g, showing just how seriously the engineers have approached weight reduction.
Further weight savings come from a new hollow crown (-9g), steerer tube (-11g), and the Kabolt SL thru-axle (-12g). You thought you were a weight weenie? Think again!
Reverse arch chassis
Where things take a more radical turn with the new 32 Step-Cast is its reverse arch design. Made possible thanks to Manitou’s expired patent, the rearward facing bridge was first adopted by Fox for its 32 Taper-Cast gravel fork.
Here it takes on a much more prominent aesthetic with an organic-looking structure that was developed via generative design. This lead to a lattice-like structure with numerous hollowed-out pockets that are formed during the magnesium casting process. The arch is deep and sits quite low, though it still provides sufficient clearance for modern 2.4in wide XC tyres.
Hidden underneath the arch are oil channels that extend down the back of the lower legs. This feature has been borrowed from the bigger 34 Step-Cast, and it’s a clever way to help the forks splash fluid to properly lubricate the bushings, wiper seals and foam rings.
As well as producing a visually striking design, the reverse arch is claimed to improve torsional stiffness while also minimising weight. Fox claims the new 32 Step-Cast fork is 40% stiffer than its predecessor, while being 100g lighter.
Those aren’t insignificant numbers. Given the claimed improvements, I wouldn’t be surprised if Fox is working away behind the scenes to implement the reverse arch design into longer travel applications.
The new GRIP SL damper
Another key component of the Fox 32 Step-Cast is its brand new GRIP SL damper.
Replacing the old FIT4 damper, GRIP SL features a completely redesigned structure that draws on tech found in the longer travel GRIP X and GRIP X2 dampers. This sees it employ a coil-backed IFP with a self-purging design that aims to elevate both sensitivity and long-term durability.
Despite the claimed improvements, Fox says the GRIP SL cartridge is 65g lighter than the FIT4 damper it replaces.
It’s still plenty adjustable too, with a three-position compression lever that offers Open, Medium and Firm modes. You can also get a remote-activated version.
Adjusting the rebound damping is slightly trickier due to the omission of a traditional dial. Instead you’ll need a long 2.5mm hex key for accessing the adjuster inside the hollowed-out fork lowers. Thankfully Fox includes one in the box.
2025 Fox 32 Step-Cast weight
With its fancy new chassis and GRIP SL damper, the Fox 32 Step-Cast has dropped considerable weight over its predecessor. Claimed weight is just 1,287g making this one of, if not the lightest XC fork on the market.
I’ve had the chance to weigh our test fork after cutting the steerer tube to 165mm. With the Kabolt SL axle fitted it came in at 1,308g on my workshop scales, which is a little heavier than claimed but still lighter than any other mountain bike fork we’ve tested. Here’s how the real world weight stacks up against the other forks I’ve been able to put on the same scales;
- 2025 Fox 32 Step-Cast GRIP SL – 1,308g
- 2024 RockShox SID SL Charger Race Day 2 – 1,329g
- 2024 Fox 32 Step-Cast FIT4 – 1,430g
- 2024 RockShox SID Charger Race Day 2 – 1,510g
- 2024 Fox 34 Step-Cast FIT4 – 1,517g
2025 Fox 32 Step-Cast price & specs
- Use | XC Racing
- Travel | 100mm
- Stanchions | 32mm Tapered Alloy
- Spring | Float EVOL
- Damper | GRIP SL (Factory Series & Performance Elite), GRIP (Performance Series)
- Adjustments | Air Pressure, Air Volume, Rebound, 3-Position Compression Lever
- Lowers | Magnesium lowers w/Bypass Channels
- Axle | Kabolt SL
- Rotor size | 160-180mm
- Max tyre clearance | 2.4in
- Claimed Weight | 1,287g
- Actual Weight | 1,308g
- Price | $999 AUD (Performance Series) – $1,699 AUD (Factory Series)
Installation
I fitted the 2025 Fox 32 Step-Cast to my trusty Specialized Chisel LTD hardtail in place of a RockShox SID SL.
Installation was straightforward, though I did have to switch out the front hub’s oversized Torque Caps for a set of conventional end caps on my Zipp 1Zero HiTop wheelset. On this note, I’d love to see Fox adopt the oversized Torque Cap dropouts that RockShox has been using for years, as it seems like a no-brainer for increasing torsional stiffness between the fork and front wheel.
There’s a neat bolt-on hose guide, and the post-mount brake tabs are designed to accommodate a 160mm rotor without the need for an adapter. It is possible to fit a 180mm rotor, but the step-cast lowers prevent you from going any larger than that.
Setting up
As usual, Fox puts a handy setup chart on the back of the fork legs with recommended pressures and rebound settings based on your riding weight (that’s you with your riding gear). I went with the recommended 74psi and set the rebound damping at 10/18 clicks. Adjusting rebound with the included hex key is easy, and it’s small enough to throw in a jersey pocket or hip pack for the first few rides as you get things dialled in.
On the topic of setup, the 32 Step-Cast utilises the same blue plastic volume spacers as the old fork. It comes from the factory with a single volume spacer installed, and there’s room for up to four if you need to increase progression. Opening up the top cap to add or subtract spacers has been made easier thanks to the move to a lower-profile cassette interface. This is something RockShox has been doing for a while now, and I expect more Fox forks will adopt the same standard moving forward.
Testing the 2025 Fox 32 Step-Cast fork
While I’ve only had the new Fox 32 Step-Cast for a couple of weeks, I’ve already managed to log a decent amount of trail time.
Straight away I was impressed with its supple action. The previous 32 Step-Cast was already quite an active little fork, but the new version takes that sensitivity to a whole new level. It’s buttery smooth and does a marvellous job of soaking up small chatter while keeping the front tyre glued to the ground. This is particularly noticeable and appreciated on the hardtail, where the fork is doing a lot of the legwork when you’re traversing over rocky terrain.
The new GRIP SL damper no doubt deserves a lot of credit for the improved sensitivity. Set in the Open position, the 32 Step-Cast eagerly gobbles up everything from small roots through to chunkier rocks. It readily uses all of its travel when absorbing harder landings, though surprisingly for such a lightweight fork it doesn’t squirm about like I expected it to. It feels a lot more solid than its predecessor, and the internal bottom-out bumper means the end of the travel is well cushioned. I haven’t encountered any harshness at the end of the stroke, though if I were to fit this fork to a more progressive full suspension XC bike I can see myself experimenting with adding a volume spacer for a little more ramp.
A firm but useable platform
Flip the GRIP SL lever into the Medium compression mode and you can feel the low-speed damping firm up. This provides a noticeable pedalling platform that helps the fork to resist bobbing while also holding it higher in its travel.
That’s great for riding along smoother trails, but what surprised me about the Medium mode was just how easily the fork would still absorb smaller rocks and roots. Normally I tend to run XC forks wide open on my home trails as I prefer them to absorb the trail rather than pass feedback onto my wrists and arms. In the case of the 32 Step-Cast however, it’s still highly effective in that Medium compression mode, and not just on bigger square-edge hits. In fact, I’ve come to use it most of the time, only flipping the lever into Open for extended descents.
The Firm mode is also handy for sprinting along smooth fireroads and when commuting on bitumen to and from the trailhead. It’s more than ‘firm’, being pretty much a hard lockout that turns the Chisel into a fully rigid bike. There is still a blowoff circuit that will allow the fork to absorb a really hard hit if you accidentally forget to unlock it.
On the note of the GRIP SL lever, the action is much lighter than the old FIT4 damper. The elongated and rounded-off lever profile feels a lot nicer in the hand, and there’s less effort required when switching modes. I expect this will translate to the remote-activated version, which should lead to a lighter lever action.
Any downsides so far?
The main downside of the 2025 Fox 32 Step-Cast fork is the fact that it’s limited to just 100mm of travel.
A lot of modern XC bikes are moving towards bigger 110-120mm travel forks, with the Specialized Epic 8, Orbea Oiz and Scott Spark RC being the most well-known examples. As such, the latest RockShox SID and the 34 Step-Cast have become the more popular options even amongst World Cup XC racers.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t riders out there who are looking for a lightweight and high-performance 100mm travel fork. It’s just a bit of a bummer that the new 32 Step-Cast is somewhat restricted to being used on hardtails and more traditional full suspension XC bikes, because that market isn’t exactly growing.
However, given the amount of time and resources that Fox has poured into the development of this fork, I expect it may be laying the groundwork for building those technologies into longer travel platforms.
I should also point out that the bigger 34 Step-Cast fork has been updated for 2025 with the new GRIP SL damper. And based on my positive experience with the 32 Step-Cast, I’m very excited to try out its bigger brother in the near future.
Flow’s Early Verdict
The new 2025 Fox 32 Step-Cast doesn’t just impress with its radical appearance and incredibly low weight, it also delivers a supremely smooth performance out on the trail. It does well to maximise traction on choppy terrain, and it’s proven to be surprisingly sturdy when copping bigger hits.
There’s useful adjustability from the new GRIP SL damper, which allows you to make use of the Medium mode more of the time. And while it’s early days in terms of testing, the new damper architecture should offer benefits for long-term servicing.
Indeed for those who own the previous 32 Step-Cast, or any other older 100mm travel XC fork, this new version will make for a compelling upgrade. It’s lighter, sturdier and a whole lot more sensitive than anything that’s come before it.
It is a bit of a shame that this fork is limited to just 100mm of travel, but it’s worth noting that the bigger 34 Step-Cast will come with the same GRIP SL damper for 2025. We’ll have one of those in for review soon, so stay tuned as we dive deeper into the Fox suspension range over the coming months.
