Fox Targets Off-Road Riders

Fox has always been at the forefront of high-tech riding gear. And the brand’s revamped and off-road-specific Legion and Instinct lines are no exception.

Take any sheltered young motocrosser for a trailride – a decent trailride in snotty terrain with creeks, log crossings, rock gardens and blackberry thorns – and they’ll soon realise that riding a dirt bike in this harsh environment is a world away from cutting showpony laps around a manicured motocross track. They’ll also come to realise that trail/enduro/off-road riding makes totally different demands on both bike and body … and on their riding gear. The clobber that you take into inhospitable terrain for long rides needs to be tough, water-resistant and comfortable, and that’s exactly why apparel giant, Fox, has developed an all-new line of riding gear for 2017, made specifically to cater to off-road riders’ needs. We’re talking about Fox’s second-generation ‘Legion’ gear, which incorporates pant, jersey, gloves, outerwear and even a dedicated line of Instinct Offroad boots.

After spending a couple of epic days’ trailriding in the new Fox gear and kicks around Bright, in the Victorian High Country, we spoke to the national brand manager for Fox in Australia, Monza Imports’ Scott Runciman, to get a better insight into Fox’s heightened focus on off-road riders and the standout technical elements of the new gear and boots.

TM: This revamped Legion range is Fox’s first serious push into the off-road space, but it’s not the first time the brand has made gear specifically for trail and enduro guys, right?
SR: That’s right. A number of years ago, Fox produced the ‘All Weather’ gear, which came prior to the Legion gear’s arrival a couple of years ago. But it’s fair to say that this second-generation range of Legion gear is the first time that Fox has got really serious about building a complete effort around the marketing execution of what is essentially super-technical apparel and boots, made specifically for core off-road riders. It’s an acknowledgement from Fox that the moto/off-road market is as big as MX, particularly in Australia. The Legion gear is made specifically for the off-road environment. It’s comfortable, water-resistant and it resists abrasion – from kneebraces and from everything you encounter on the trail – better than the gear designed specifically for MX applications. Motocross guys want really light and ventilated materials, whereas off-road guys tend to look for more durable gear that can be customised to suit changes in weather and conditions on a longer ride. Even here at the launch, we were constantly in and out of deep creeks, open fire roads, and then up to altitudes of more than 1000 metres, and the gear is designed to work for all conditions and extremities.

What are the main elements that distinguish this second-generation Legion gear from its predecessors?
The original Legion gear was based off a 360 pant/jersey combo. The pant used a 900 Denier material with zipper vents rather than ventilation in the fabric itself, and the jacket’s sleeves were removable. With the new-generation Legion gear, we’ve moved to an even tougher, lighter and super-technical Cordura material for the pant’s chassis, but maintained the zipper vents. And because we found that a lot of riders’ hydration packs were damaging the teeth of the zippers used to attach the jacket’s arms, we decided to produce both a vest and a jacket, whose sleeves aren’t removable. That also allows both products to be more purpose-built and comfortable.

Give us a snapshot of what’s available in the new range.
Okay, so if we take the pant options to begin with, we start with the $179 Legion ‘LT’ Offroad pant, which has all the features and fit of our 180 pant, but uses a 600 Denier material and zippers to turn ventilation on or off. Then we’ve got the premium Legion pant, which uses full Cordura construction, front and rear. That comes in two options: an in-the-boot pant for $279 and an over-the-boot ‘EX’ pant for $299, which is for guys who ride in a wider range of conditions – including creek crossings, where they’ll appreciate the EX pant’s assistance in stopping water from getting into their boots. The jerseys are $59, though we are looking at the possibility of bringing in a premium option, with stretch Cordura panels for added abrasion resistance being the major difference. The other real standout in the range is the Legion glove. This supersedes the PolarPaw, which we’ve had in the line for many years. The Legion glove uses the chassis of our huge-selling Pawtector Glove, but gets added features such as a dual-layer Clarino palm, top-of-hand padding for protection, and fleece-bonded stretch Cordura to give it better thermo qualities. Unlike the Pawtector, which could actually make your hands too hot for long rides, the Legion gloves keeps your hands warm, but also lets the material breathe. Plus they’re awesome when they’re wet, and they have a clever conductive material in the fingertips that lets you use your touch-screen phone or GPS with the gloves on.

And Fox’s Instinct boot also comes in for an off-road tweak…
Yep, it’s the brand’s first dedicated off-road boot – called the Instinct Offroad boot. Compared with the Instinct moto boot, the Offroad version gets a more open toe-box design, added external protection, and the soles have a more aggressive tread pattern for better traction. In other words, it’s made specifically to meets the needs and requirement of the off-road customer. The Instinct has always had really good resistance to water, so there was no need to add anything to the Offroad boot in that department. We weighed the Offroad Instinct back-to-back with the existing Instinct, and they’re identical. Like the regular Instinct boot, the Offroad version has a replaceable midsole section. At $629.95, they’re also priced just above the Instinct boots.

The new Legion jacket and vest seem like they represent the biggest departure from their predecessors.
That’s fair to say. Fox’s previous off-road jacket used a removable, zip-out collar to accommodate neckbraces. The new Legion jacket and vest, on the other hand, uses a higher neckline to enable you to run a neckbrace over it. Aside from the added comfort, it allows for a closed fit on those really cold days.

We experienced a variety of conditions and terrain here at the launch. What sort of feedback did you guys receive about the gear?
The feedback has been amazing. It was the perfect terrain for the gear, and we spent plenty of time in creeks to test its water-resistance. Aside from getting you media guys here for an epic ride in some of Victoria’s best terrain, we also had a bunch of our off-road and motocross team riders on hand, and some of our sales reps. I think that it can be easy to fob off technical features you read in catalogues as little more than marketing hype. But when you get out and actually test the products in the elements they’re designed for, you quickly realise just how comfortable and function this gear actually is. And that can contribute massively to your entire riding experience.