06/04/2026
So let’s talk Podium. I don’t recall a fork dividing opinion so much, it seems to be very much a love or hate fork.
Most people who hate it, hate it for a number of reasons:
1. It’s made by Fox,
2. It’s expensive,
3. It’s inverted,
4. It’s heavy,
5. They look different,
6. They have never ridden one,
7. They believe everything on the internet (and the internet is always right, right?!)
Oh and then we have that mudguard!.
Having ridden one since the launch I can say I am firmly in the love it category. Since the first ride the feel of the fork has really impressed, it tracks the ground like no other fork I have ridden, how much of this is down to the inverted chassis and the flex characteristics it delivers I am not sure, Fox have updated the 38 and 40 chassis to give them similar flex paths so it’s a desirable feeling for sure. It manages to be composed across all different terrain and it doesn’t feel anywhere near as fatiguing as a traditional 170mm 38mm fork, in my opinion 38mm stanchioned forks are just too stiff and a lot of the harshness people feel is from the actual chassis itself.
Has it been perfect from the start? No it’s not. After the first ride mine leaked oil from the wiper seals, it’s. Nothing a new set of wipers could not fix but it’s not something you expect on a fork costing so much.
Overall currently I don’t see any other mass produced fork I would rather have on my ebike, the Flash 38 looks nice and is definitely a for on the radar for sure. Would I say I’m a convert to inverted forks? Yes however would I put a Podium on a normal bike? No probably not, the weight of it would possibly stop me doing that however the performance might change that…
Let’s see what’s on the horizon and if more main stream brands join the inverted trend.
Remember this is just my opinion and experience of them.
peakdistrictmtb
