External rebound adjustment / Stanchion diameter 32mm / magnesium lowers/ Talas 2 air spring / 100,120, 140mm travel / weight 3.975lb (with 200mm steerer tube) / Contact: www.mojo.co.uk

For 2007 Fox has increased the maximum travel on the 32 Talas R by 10mm to 140mm. And while it is not a massive change it does bring the fork inline with the current crop of 5.5in travel bikes.
In addition to the travel increase Fox has completely redesigned the interface of the Talas adjuster. You no longer have to twiddle with the blue dial to adjust the travel, now you simply reach down and flick the blue lever to three pre-fixed travel settings, 100, 120 and 140mm. The new Talas 2 adjuster uses the same technology as the original so you still have to cycle the fork after you’ve flicked the dial to get it to sink into the shorter travel settings but it does come back a lot easier. Our only concern with the Talas 2 is that when you turn the dial to the shortest travel setting it rises up out of the housing by a approximately one millimetre. So in theory, when riding in the 100mm travel setting it is possible to get dirt under the dial. At present we’ve had no problems with this but we haven’t had the chance to ride the fork in really muddy conditions. If it does get compacted with dirt the guys at Mojo have assured us that it’s easy to remove the dial with an 11mm socket and clean it out.
Externally Fox has made some subtle modifications to the lower casting. The dropouts have been angled forward at 45deg for improved safety with disk brakes. Fox has also changed the profile of the arch to improve stiffness and it now resembles that of the 36. All Fox forks come with an integrated cable guide.
Up top, Fox still uses a butted alloy steer but the amount of stanchion and crown overlap has been increased to improve fore/aft stiffness and cope with the extra 10mm of travel. But be warned, if your gear or brake outer touch the crown we suggest you shorten the cables or cover the crown with protective patches, as cables make short work of alloy crowns (see picture opposite). And that applies to all forks, not just Fox.
Getting going on the 32 Talas R couldn’t be easier as it comes supplied with with a star nut. You choose the travel setting that you’re going to use most, then inflate the fork with the shock pump provided, to achieve the desired amount of sag. Rebound is adjusted at the top of the right leg. It’s that simple. No wasting time with high and low speed compression adjusters or gates and while we shouldn’t really say this, it’s one fork where you don’t need to read the manual.
Basically the Fox 32 Talas R is very user-friendly — it’s also pretty damn plush. Having ridden the same trails at Afan on the Fox 36 Talas and the 32 Talas we are 100 per cent convinced that the 32 is the better fork. Not only is it lighter than the 36, the spring curve is better so you don’t have to run them as firm to stop them diving. Okay, so the 32 isn’t as stiff or as strong as the 36 but unless you’re riding your bike like a short travel DH/FR rig then you don’t need it to be. Possibly the biggest deciding factor in the 32’s favour is that you don’t get anything like as much arm pump on the descents. With the 2007 32 Talas R, Fox has improved what is arguably one of the best adjustable travel trail forks ever produced; but if you always ride with full travel the Fox 32 Float R is 80g lighter and £70 cheaper.

MBR rating: 9/10