Fox 40rc2 vs. Avalanche DHF-8

Zark · Jan 11, 2006

I'll never ride a 10lb fork again, thats all I've got to say.

Jimmy_Pop · Jan 11, 2006

Ive owned both forks, here is my .o2

AVY
con: twists in a crash
con: tall stack height
con: heavy
con: no matter what ppl say, it had upside down fork characteristics
pro: the adjustments acutally work
pro: i liked the forward sweep of the upper crowns - gave a moto feel.

FOX
con: brake adapter can be an issue (not for hayes atleast)
con: i dont like the high-low speed knob being so low.
pro: simpler thru axle design
pro: light (3 freekin pounds lighter)
pro: burly yet light
pro: not upside down
pro: no twist and tracks straight
pro: low stack height
pro: can get bolt-on stem with aftermarket upper crown
pro: adjustments actually work

The Fox makes the Avy (dual damper) feel like it uses a half gallon of motor honey in there cause the compression is very heavy and fluidy feeling.

joel

Radarr · Jan 11, 2006

yearoftiger said:
thanx for the listing....im really surprised no one thinks the avy is better than the fox.

That's because nobody from the Avy cult has chimed in yet.

seismic · Jan 11, 2006

yearoftiger said:
thanx for the listing....im really surprised no one thinks the avy is better than the fox.

I think many people riding the Avy has never owned a Fox. I love the Avy but I have only tried a Fox for a short while....so I cant compare

seismic · Jan 11, 2006

.....however....I like USD forks better in general....so that could be a sneaky argument for the Avy....as an Avy fan.

seismic · Jan 11, 2006

Jimmy_Pop said:
Ive owned both forks, here is my .o2

AVY

con: no matter what ppl say, it had upside down fork characteristics

joel

....what are you thinking about here? Better ability to suck up the small bumps?

Jimmy_Pop · Jan 11, 2006

seismic said:
....what are you thinking about here? Better ability to suck up the small bumps?

twisting, twisting and more twisting. I sure hated standing there one the side of the trail after even the smallest dirt sample with my 3-way loosening every bolt so that i can reset everything straight and square. I can ride with sh*t out of alignment. Back in the day, i just attributed this hell to the Risse Champ but the avy did the same thing.

Kntr · Jan 11, 2006

If you want a race fork, the Avy Ti weighs in at about 8.5 lbs.

Im not a big fan of USD forks either. I just wish Avy made a standard fork in the 8-9lb range.

wingman24 · Jan 11, 2006

If you want the best of both worlds, get a Whithe Bro's dh2.0:love:

Jimmy_Pop · Jan 11, 2006

seismic said:
....what are you thinking about here? Better ability to suck up the small bumps?

also, with the weights of the 40 and WC, the USD small bump arguments due to unsprung weight kinda go out the window.

Jimmy_Pop · Jan 11, 2006

but being a parts whore, i really do like all the current forks, avy, 40, WC, pike, ETC.

I ooh and ahhh over different bikes and combination of parts all the time.

how boring it would be if there was only one fork.

Bottom line, i do like the avy and 40. but for me, im liking the stiffness of the 40 and that it saved my bike 3 pounds.

sikocycles · Jan 11, 2006

I have never had any problems with my avy twisting. I would rather have a fork twist than a arch break. Fork twists you straighten it. Arch breaks you go home. I like my avy alot

seismic · Jan 11, 2006

Personally I am not a fan of the 888....I cant find the right setup - never worked for me. As for the twisting of the Avy I have never had that experience......

Kntr · Jan 11, 2006

yearoftiger said:
Would the marzocchi 888rc2x beat both forks out then?(it is considerably light and strong enough for dh and freeride)

You cant go wrong with any of the new DH forks. My top three are;

The Avy is an awesome DH/lFR USD fork that is a little heavy.

The 888 is an great DH/FR standard fork that is the middle weight class.

The FOX 40 is a DH/lFR race oriented fork that is super light and still a great fork.

Each one cost around $1500. It all depends on what you are using it for and if your building a light bike. I would have to say the 888 and Avy have a little better track record for reliability. On the other hand the FOX is the lightest.

sikocycles · Jan 11, 2006

Boxxer WC. After you replace the springs on the fox you really dont save much weight over the 888. Thats why I will do the boxxer. The weight is the weight no matter how much the rider weights.

Kntr · Jan 11, 2006

Im just not a fan of the Boxxer or Durado. Ive just had too many problems in the past.

Jimmy_Pop · Jan 11, 2006

yearoftiger said:
yeah the fox does sound good but i just found out that it comes with medium springs(too light) and correct me if i'm wrong but i need to buy a spacer to install the firm springs. i'm 185lbs.

the spring swap takes about 5 minutes and is super simple. im the same weight as you and the fork comes with the purple spring which you'll need. (i think it was the purple one)

joel

seismic · Jan 11, 2006

Now I am curious. I have heard that if you crash with the Fox the lower legs are quite weak and easy to crack. One of my friends lost his Fox in that way....but is it a rare case or what ?? Any experiences ??

Jimmy_Pop · Jan 11, 2006

yearoftiger said:
how much will that internal spacer cost me?

i think my dh40 box came with several spacers and two additional springs. one heavier and one softer than stock.

Thrillkil · Jan 11, 2006

You're right at the upper weight limit for this, but the Avalanche DHF-8 with Titanium springs is roughly the same weight as a 888, and costs the same as the steel-spring avy fork. I would go with that for freeriding, but for racing, I would likely go with a 40, if for no other reason than its weight.

bballe336 · Jan 11, 2006

Thrillkil said:
You're right at the upper weight limit for this, but the Avalanche DHF-8 with Titanium springs is roughly the same weight as a 888, and costs the same as the steel-spring avy fork. I would go with that for freeriding, but for racing, I would likely go with a 40, if for no other reason than its weight.

The Avy Ti is actually over 8 pounds (around 8.5). So it is heavier than the 888. It also costs more than the steel sprung Avy. If I am not mistaken it is something like 1750?

FastTimes · Jan 11, 2006

This is the first I hear of a spacer being required for the FOX 40. Does said spacer come with the aftermarket springs when you buy em or do i need to source it out elsewhere?

Thanks,

snowskilz · Jan 11, 2006

dhf-ti is 1495 right off of www.avalanchedownhillracing.com . Each fork has its pro's and cons. I personally would tell you to go with a 888 or an avy. i have had both and had very good luck with those forks. The avy will be about a pound heavier but it makes up for it in its strenghth and anti bottoming. i personally am going to be purchasing an 888rc2x for this upcoming race season and will be putting my avy in the spare parts box. I am willing to loose the extra plushness it offers for a pound lighter.

As far as the avy twisting. Something had to be wrong with your crowns or bolts. I have only twisted my fork once and that was a gnar crash. My friend with the 40 has crashed just as hard and just as many times as i have and had to unbolt his top crown many times to get everything back in line. Maybe its not how many times you crash but more like HOW you crash

Banshee Rider · Jan 11, 2006

FastTimes said:
This is the first I hear of a spacer being required for the FOX 40. Does said spacer come with the aftermarket springs when you buy em or do i need to source it out elsewhere?

Thanks,

I own a fox 40 and I'm not sure what their talking about. The fork comes with soft, medium, and firm springs. The medium is already installed. Inside the fork there are 4 spacers that (depending on which end of the spring they are placed) allow you to change the travel from 6-8", in half inch increments. These are the spacers I'm assuming they are talking about, and to my knowledge you need no additional spacers to swap springs. Changing springs takes about 5 minutes (as said above) and is super simple. This talk about needing to purchase additional spacers is false to my knowledge.

FastTimes · Jan 11, 2006

Banshee Rider said:
I own a fox 40 and I'm not sure what their talking about. The fork comes with soft, medium, and firm springs. The medium is already installed. Inside the fork there are 4 spacers that (depending on which end of the spring they are placed) allow you to change the travel from 6-8", in half inch increments. These are the spacers I'm assuming they are talking about, and to my knowledge you need no additional spacers to swap springs. Changing springs takes about 5 minutes (as said above) and is super simple. This talk about needing to purchase additional spacers is false to my knowledge.

Thanks man, thats what I thought.

Brian HCM#1 · Jan 11, 2006

seismic said:
Personally I am not a fan of the 888....I cant find the right setup - never worked for me. As for the twisting of the Avy I have never had that experience......

Me too with the 888, I have had the Avy twist in a crash. Quick ride down to the truck 5 minutes later, all better. The Fox I rode felt a little to linear for my liking. However I do like the weight of the Fox over the Avy. My Avy at N* however was just awesome, I have the dual damper one.

SBDownhillRacer · Jan 11, 2006

would the go-ride switch crown fix the problems with the twisting? and for 2006 fox fixed the arch problem so that is old news

wingman24 · Jan 11, 2006

did they fix the valving problem to? because at 190lb (in gear) i could super compress my 40 w/ the heavy spring on high G corners, and I know i'm not the only one to have this experiance.

SBDownhillRacer · Jan 11, 2006

not sure. i heard that there were a lot of minor changes from 05 to 06 so maybe

DHS · Jan 11, 2006

lets see...

fox40
so little oil that you'll have to change it every so often
YOU can't change it, but you can send that sealed part to fox and they can do it for you...
so little oil it gets beaten to a pulp extra quick.
light...

i had a 888 for almost 2years before i decided to go back to the avy. sure its heavy, but i don't race anymore. so i rather have a fork that will last a long freaking time and not touch it. and works REALLY REALLY well. (shut up joel, just cause you hate then owner..)

i would say the new 888rc2x is the winner for everything. most tempted to get one...

SBDownhillRacer · Jan 11, 2006

yea the 888 has a lot more oil in it, same with the boxxer wc. out of curiosity what would happen or could you even put more oil in a 40?

SBDownhillRacer · Jan 11, 2006

but how noticalbe is weight for downhilling and racing.

Radarr · Jan 11, 2006

SBDownhillRacer said:
but how noticalbe is weight for downhilling and racing.

It depends on if you want to go fast and try and win or not.

But I think that I'd have to say that weight doesn't matter. That's why pro race bikes are usually like 75 pounds. Maybe even two hundred.

demo008 · Jan 11, 2006

fox 40, its super sick

Fox 40rc2 vs. Avalanche DHF-8

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