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Downhill forks, Which one?

Dirtjumper999

Turbo Monkey
Feb 13, 2005
1,556
0
Charlotte, NC
I've been watching at how all of these companies have made their ultimate downhill fork.
Manitou-dorado and travis
Marzocchi- 888 and shiver
Rock Shox- boxxer
Fox- rc40
White bros- dh2.0

my question is, Besides how they are designed, what sets these forks apart, and what makes one better than the other?
 
Oct 8, 2005
668
0
Mexico
Dirtjumper999 said:
I've been watching at how all of these companies have made their ultimate downhill fork.
Manitou-dorado and travis
Marzocchi- 888 and shiver
Rock Shox- boxxer
FOX-RC2
White bros- dh2.0

my question is, Besides how they are designed, what sets these forks apart, and what makes one better than the other?
FOXRC
 

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
63
behind the viewfinder
i love how all the cheerleaders forgot this part of the post:

my question is, Besides how they are designed, what sets these forks apart, and what makes one better than the other?

btw, i am sure a session w/ the 'advanced search' button can dig up the info you are looking for.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Manitou-dorado

A little twisty, not quite as smooth as the others, spv feels pebbles

Marzocchi- 888

My favorite, no complaints other than frequent oil changes and possible weight (only in comparison to boxxers and fox 40s), stock springs kind of light for a lot of people

Shiver

Smooth suspension and smooth twisty flex (I call it steering suspension). Very solid fork with excellent suspension qualities but not laterally stiff enough for my tastes.

Rock Shox- boxxer

Light, seem to bend or get punctured easily. Can be made to feel really nice but seem inconsistent in perfomance. Depends on what year and model too

Fox- rc40

Light and laterally very stiff. Every one I know who has them has had problems with either denting them, cracking an arch, excessive leaking.......

White bros- dh2.0

Take a while to break in the seals, low maintenence, a little twisty compared to non-inverted designs, very reliable.

The new WB groove forks should be pretty badass since the flex issue is resolved.
 

seismic

Turbo Monkey
Dec 22, 2003
3,254
0
South East Asia
I think the quality of the Avalanche forks is very good. The dampning is superior to other forks I have ridden. Of course - it is all a matter of personal preferences.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
vitox said:
hey kidwoo, whats a groove fork?
New white brothers goods.

http://bti-usa.com/list.asp?cat=FK&sec=FKSF&mfr=WB&page=2&reuse=1&showSec=1&filter=&searchtype=&showGrp=WB965#open

They're not on the WB website yet but I've seen one of the prototyes. They're not in the same weight league as the boxxers or fox 40s but are certainly on par with everything else. The one I saw (on curbhucker's bike) was stiffer than any inverted fork. Stiff for any design really.

Based on the name, they might be using a grooved stantion I guess? Whatever it is, it works. If I needed to replace my 888 for any reason, I'd definitely be looking at these.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
bballe336 said:
Is that white bros fork weighed with or w/o a steerer? It seems to light to be real.
It's an air fork.

That weight is close to what the air boxxers are supposed to be. WB doesn't come OEM on anything so there's no reason for them to weigh it without a steerer (they're all aluminum and don't vary). Their weights are usually pretty on.
 

Threepointtwo

Monkey
Jun 21, 2002
632
0
SLC, UT
bballe336 said:
Is that white bros fork weighed with or w/o a steerer? It seems to light to be real.
I'm pretty sure that is the whole thing. Lance Canfield had one of those bad boys - very light but I have not ridden it.
 

zmtber

Turbo Monkey
Aug 13, 2005
2,435
0
no one that i know has ever had problems with the 888, but has anyone had anyride time on the travis
 

dhmtbj

Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
467
1
Boston
I've ridden a handful of boxxers and my 40 for downhill. I've messed around on other stuff but haven't had any real time on other forks. The 40 is definitely better in all aspects than the boxxer's I've ridden. The damping is amazingly controlled and follows the ground so damn well. If there is a better fork out there I'd honestly be very surprised.
 

tacobelldhr

Monkey
Jun 1, 2005
231
0
lake forest
Jeremy R said:
Yep, if Barel would have had a different fork, he might have been World Champion in 2004 and 2005..............oh wait..:blah:

If rockshox payed him nearly as much as marzocchi did im sure he would be on rockshox...its all about money....:mumble: <give me money
 

ride_fast

Monkey
Jul 10, 2005
325
0
boulder, co
im with you jake. many racers these days seem to follow the money. The 888 isnt terrible for racing but the 06 boxxer world cup is the ideal race fork. its light, reliable and adjustable.
 

Sherpa

Basking in fail.
Jan 28, 2004
2,240
0
Arkansaw
ride_fast said:
im with you jake. many racers these days seem to follow the money. The 888 isnt terrible for racing but the 06 boxxer world cup is the ideal race fork. its light, reliable and adjustable.
Damn, we already know that an '06 RS air fork is reliable. Awesome.
 

wydopen

Turbo Monkey
Jan 16, 2005
1,229
60
805
i dont think reliability is an issure w/ the world cup champs bike...im sure it gets worked on all the time..i heard that when cedric was on manitou his fork was visually inspected after every run on race weekends..supossedly he killed a rediculace amount of dorados not that that suprises me
 

ioscope

Turbo Monkey
Jul 3, 2004
2,002
0
Vashon, WA
I can say, I like the shiver, I have had it for a year. It feels worlds better than a jr. t. It is flexy, and yes, it does flex, even in corners. If you don't beleive that, go look at the tire tracks. You learn to compensate for it, though, then you find yourself countersteering and compensating for flex on all your other bikes.
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
ride_fast said:
im with you jake. many racers these days seem to follow the money. The 888 isnt terrible for racing but the 06 boxxer world cup is the ideal race fork. its light, reliable and adjustable.
Oh really?
 

seismic

Turbo Monkey
Dec 22, 2003
3,254
0
South East Asia
tacobelldhr said:
haha go roll up in a ball ....


06 world cup if your going to race...

888 if your goign to huck...
the 888 for hucking ??.....I dont think so :p It is an ok fork, but I wouldnt call it burly.......see a few crack...
 

bomberboy11

Monkey
Jul 15, 2005
665
0
At a computer...duh
mtnbrider said:
Super monsters and big foots are real huck forks. Only for the gnarcore though!
Shaddup...



Just to be hypothetical and present a highly unlikely setup, has anyone ever tried to put Avalanche dampers in a lighter fork chassis like a 888? The DHFs have an OD of 37mm, but I have no idea what the ID of a 888 or Avy fork are, as well as the rest of the necessary dimensions. Since Mojo (I think?) seems to be making a pretty good business off of replacing fork internals, now for the 888 as well, it sounds possible to replace it, but probably quite difficult. I'd think that if a fork could be made with the quality of Avalanche (or at least the feel) but with a ligher racing chassis it would be quite popular.
 

wydopen

Turbo Monkey
Jan 16, 2005
1,229
60
805
bomberboy11 said:
Shaddup...



Just to be hypothetical and present a highly unlikely setup, has anyone ever tried to put Avalanche dampers in a lighter fork chassis like a 888? The DHFs have an OD of 37mm, but I have no idea what the ID of a 888 or Avy fork are, as well as the rest of the necessary dimensions. Since Mojo (I think?) seems to be making a pretty good business off of replacing fork internals, now for the 888 as well, it sounds possible to replace it, but probably quite difficult. I'd think that if a fork could be made with the quality of Avalanche (or at least the feel) but with a ligher racing chassis it would be quite popular.


hopefully if everything goes well there will be an other company offering internal reaplacment for the 888 pretty soon
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
BOS makes replacement cartridges, there was an article in Dirt about it a little while ago.
 

aggrorider

Monkey
Sep 20, 2005
209
0
40! 40! 40! 40! 40!

Definitely go with the forty. I had the chance to ride with one on my bike for a week and a half and I did NOT want to give to fork back to the owner. That baby was mine! Anyways I did give it back and I can say that I will have nothing else, but 40. Aparently they are having some problems with the 05 models(strength wise), but I don't know if they have cleared them up for 06. I rode the 06 model R and I can say it is butta smooth. Nothing else I have tried is as smooth as that. I have tried manitou slider's and Marzocchi 888's and nothing and I mean nothing came close to the 40's smoothness and responsiveness.
 

seismic

Turbo Monkey
Dec 22, 2003
3,254
0
South East Asia
aggrorider said:
40! 40! 40! 40! 40!

Definitely go with the forty. I had the chance to ride with one on my bike for a week and a half and I did NOT want to give to fork back to the owner. That baby was mine! Anyways I did give it back and I can say that I will have nothing else, but 40. Aparently they are having some problems with the 05 models(strength wise), but I don't know if they have cleared them up for 06. I rode the 06 model R and I can say it is butta smooth. Nothing else I have tried is as smooth as that. I have tried manitou slider's and Marzocchi 888's and nothing and I mean nothing came close to the 40's smoothness and responsiveness.

Try an Avalanche ;)