Moto and Mountain Bike Icon Öhlins Debuts a Lust-Worthy Gravel Fork

The legendary auto and mountain bike suspension brand Öhlins has entered the gravel suspension market with the GXF30 M.1 short-travel fork. Öhlins has been heavily involved in mountain bikes in recent years, with particular success in downhill racing, making the pivot to gravel feel like a natural progression.

Nevertheless, the brand is coming into the market well after the other big suspension brands entered the gravel market.

Despite the crowded market, Öhlins is still leaning into its standing as one of the most well-respected suspension brands with a simple yet refined gravel option that is a direct competitor to the Fox TC 32 and the RockShox Rudy. No remote lockout, no stripped-down inverted design, just 40mm of travel delivered in a clean, highly aesthetic design.

“We are not the first suspension company entering the gravel segment, but we wanted to do it with our own philosophy. For more than 50 years, Öhlins has been dedicated to off-road racing, and we firmly believe that every off-road discipline benefits from suspension. Gravel is not an exception.

“Our objective was simple: improve rider comfort, increase grip on technical terrain, and provide greater confidence and safety on every ride. These three principles guided every engineering decision throughout the development process. The result is a suspension fork that allows riders to go faster while feeling more in control.”

Here are some of the key details:

Öhlins GXF30 M.1 key specifications

Simple suspension performance over unique selling points

When it comes to gravel suspension, there seem to be two camps. On one side are forks that are essentially smaller versions of mountain bike forks. On the other side are forks that are trying to achieve gravel suspension through unique means.

Öhlins follows the former model, building a size-down version of a mountain bike fork instead of coming in with any revolutionary ideas. It doesn’t rock the boat; instead, the GXF30 M.1 is built to be a rock-solid 40mm fork that is best suited for small bump control and traction management.

It is worth noting that the GXF30 M.1 is only offered in that 40mm travel, compared to the RockShox Rudy or the Fox TC 32 which have multiple travel options. That was the travel that the brand felt met its riding objectives without changing the geometry and fit of suspension-corrected geometry. Additionally, changing the travel would require replacing the fork’s piston rod assembly, which further cemented the plan for Öhlins to restrict the travel to 40mm.

The GXF30 M.1 does, however, have a highly adjustable crown-based lockout. Beyond just a binary lock/unlock setting, the GXF30 M.1 offers more interstitial settings to control how stiff the fork is. Adjustability is a tricky point for gravel forks, historically, especially around lockout settings. With the simple design, adjustability seems to be a big priority for Öhlins.

In terms of the fork’s construction, Öhlins has opted for 30mm stanchions—the same diameter as the Rudy—and the brand’s FTX14 damper. Dampers have been an area where gravel suspension has been split. With the gravel use case, forks can get away with limited or no damper, but it still can improve the overall feel of the fork, especially at high speeds over rough terrain.

Öhlins has zeroed in on the damper construction and the unique demands of a damper on short-travel gravel forks, as an area where its expertise in a wide variety of high-end racing suspension can make a difference.

The downside of any robust suspension damper is weight. The Öhlins GXF30 M.1 is no different, with the system weighing in at a claimed 1,249 grams. That said, that weight is still around 100 grams less than the RockShox Rudy and in line with the Fox TC 32, so Öhlins has managed to minimize the weight penalty.

Cost and availability of the Öhlins GXF30 M.1 fork

The Öhlins GXF30 M.1 is available now, but in a limited run of just 300 launch edition units. The limited availability is in line with the brand’s positioning of the GXF 30M.1 as a true premium gravel fork.

Accordingly, the fork is on the more expensive side at an MSRP of $995 USD and €895 EUR. Nevertheless, at that price, the classic Öhlins Racing Yellow paint scheme is standard in launch-edition forks and does give the fork a striking yet classic look.

To learn more about the ins and outs of the GXF30 M.1, visit Öhlins’ website.