[Tully]

Like a lot of people, I'm not happy with my 2003 Boxxer Team's performance, especially the occasional spiking on high-speed impacts, plus I would like external adjusments that actually do something, so I'm trying to decide if I should send it to Romic for that thing where the drill out one of the holes, or just get a new fork? For a new fork, I am leaning towards a 888 with the Risse crowns. I can get it at a significant discount, although it still might be too expensive. If it is indeed more than I can afford, I have also been considering a 2005 Sherman (when they come out, of course) with the new SPV Evolve damping. Here's some info about me:

165 lbs.
I race Jr. Sport locally, and might race Sea Otter and Schweitzer next year
I often ride Whistler and 38 (for you PNW monkies)
I'm fairly smooth in technical terrain, but drops and jumps aren't exactly my forté, although I am improving

Thanks a lot for your help, and please feel free to make other suggestions.

 

[Tully]

And I almost forgot:
I would like to avoid anything that's really heavy, i.e. Monster T, or that requires frequent maintenance.

 

[Jm_]

uh, i dont think anyone actually sends their fork to romic, romic simply figured out how to make the fork better, and they shared it with everyone else.

 

[Tully]

Ah, thanks for the clarification.

 

[dhmtbj]

I was also a little unhappy with my 2003 team, so i took it apart, did the romic fix, and made the high speed compression full open. Feels sweet now, I also plan to get the base valve upgrade if it ever gets back in stock which should make it even better.

 

[Tully]

Does the Romic fix affect anything other than high-speed compression? How does your "fixed" Boxxer compare to other forks that you've ridden?

 

[Wingnut]

My buddy had a Shiver DC for years. He always said it was the best race fork going. Then, for some strange reeason, he baught a Boxxer WC, and soon found he was not impressed with it. Had he not sold the Shiver, he'd a probably swapped it back on and sold the WC. Then, at one race, he experianced the famous cavitation of the Boxxer. He braught it in to Calgary Cycle, they did the Base valve and "Romic" fix. He now sais the Boxxer is the best.

As for me, I ride a measly little Boxxer Race. And even with the issues, I feel it is the better of the forks I have had, except maybe the 2002 Boxxer I had once. I have yet to upgrade the Base valve, but in the future, maybe. I find the Boxxer holds it's ground in all aspects of riding for me. I maintain it quite well, with regular oil changes, cleaning, rebuilds.... I've only had it for a year, and I've changed the oil 3 times, and rebuilt it once.

It is nowhere near as stiff as the Monster I had, but that goes without saying. But the weight differance made riding all the more fun. Damping, though minimal, is better then my old Jr-t, again, goes without saying!?! All around, I like the Boxxers, and if looked after, it is a great fork.

 

[Tully]

How much does the base valve upgrade cost?

 

[Wingnut]

I beleive it sais $35USD on the SRAM/BlackBox site. I've seen LBS's that charge around $60CDN. Seeing your issue is with spiking, the "Romic" fix would be right up your alley. All they did was drill the oil port on the compression side to 2.5mm, and file off any burrs. Could be DIY, but if your not overly confident, have a reputable shop wrench do it.

The Base valve apparantly makes a fairly big differance in rebound adjustment, all the while replacing plastic bits with alu ones.

 

[atb]

your shop can order the black box base valve for free.

 

[atb]

your shop can order the black box base valve for free.

 

[neversummersnow]

The Boxxer is the best race fork out there. It's chassis fits the bill, it's simple/easy to work on, and is ACTUALLY very tuneable.

Not to mention its reliability is very good. (by this I mean catastrophic failures are rare)

This said, problems do come up time to time. If you want something in which you set it and forget it, there are better choices, but if your willing to spend a little more time, you'll realize why there are more Boxxers at Worlds than any other fork (and RS does not sponsor all of them)

Go for the base valve fix and you'll find you have a fork that you are very happy with. Make sure you also have a white and a silver spring in there. HUGE difference there as well.

 

[neversummersnow]

One more thing...

Out of all the guys I ride with on various teams, the Boxxer has had the least amount of trouble.

Manitou's SPV was HORRIBLE this year, way too overdampened, very inactive.
Marzocchi's 888 has had way too many problems with the lowers/uppers developing cracks. Every single person I know with one has had it do crack.

 

[Jm_]

One more thing...

Out of all the guys I ride with on various teams, the Boxxer has had the least amount of trouble.

Manitou's SPV was HORRIBLE this year, way too overdampened, very inactive.
Marzocchi's 888 has had way too many problems with the lowers/uppers developing cracks. Every single person I know with one has had it do crack.

Yes, the choice is obvious.

Shiver

 

[Tully]

Yes, the choice is obvious.

Shiver

I'm actually considering that--my bike is pretty light, so the extra weight shouldn't be a big deal if the performance is worth it. Do you know how much taller a Shiver is than a Boxxer? Also, what year of Shiver is the best, for performance and for reliability?

 

[retrofred]

the boxxer is the best fork for most riding. it is light and with the black box fix feels sweet. i have had forks from zokes, manitou(except dorado), stratos, and etc. the only fork i will get next year is the 05 boxxer team, simply because of the travel increase.

 

[Jm_]

I'm actually considering that--my bike is pretty light, so the extra weight shouldn't be a big deal if the performance is worth it. Do you know how much taller a Shiver is than a Boxxer? Also, what year of Shiver is the best, for performance and for reliability?

usually they run a little higher since they are a 190mm fork, the lower crown isn't much thicker so the difference is really the travel (178mm vs 190mm) about 12mm, probably another 5mm for the slightly thicker crown. Since my 1.5 headtube is so tall, I have to have my shiver adjusted to the minimum height between the tire and the crown, so with it set like this, the difference in height is really negligable for me (because I had a boxxer on it earlier). It will vary from bike to bike, but just because of how my boxxer was set up, and how my shiver is set up, the diff for me is very small.

What year is the best? Well the newest are always the best, but since they are marzocchis, you usually wont have a problem with an older one, you can rebuild it to pretty much brand new for less cost than it takes to buy one new, which is cool. Mine's a 2001, all of the shivers are pretty much the same (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004), use the same part numbers for everything except the top caps which got the little bleed holes in 2002, but other than that they are the same. It's not the newest, but god it works nice and it never lets me down.

Oh yeah, 888 seals are shiver seals, so it's not like there'll ever be any shortage of parts...

 

[flashgordon]

Tully, Take the fork to The Downhill Zone thay'll make it work better than ever, trust Me.

 

[Jimmy_Pop]

i have a new 2003 boxxer race that came on a V10. i just bought the bike for my brother, 14 yrs and 150 lbs. I was an 03 that was never ridden and had jut been sitting in a LBS.

I have been reading up on the problems and fixes for the boxxer. i am still unsure what all can be done to the RACE version of the fork but the main problem is that since we live in texas, I'm not sure that making internal modifications is anything that I want my local LBS doing.

Who can refer me to an excellent wrench that has experience setting the boxxers up? I'd rather not ship the fork 5 days away to cali or the east coast. hopefully a shop in UT, Co or NM. Anyone ???

Thanks,

joel