[yzedf]

Slowly collecting parts to build up a GT Fury and have been looking at new/takeoff dual crown forks and just curious what people are liking.

I’ve owned older generations of both, Grip 2 before VVC and a 2017 coil Boxxer RC. Didn’t care much for either, was either plush without enough support or enough support but way too harsh.

Currently thinking buying used and having Craig at Avalanche do his thing, however, if something off the shelf is 80-90% there than I would probably buy that instead.

Curious about the current gen coil Dorado, but it sounds like the damper isn’t good?

DVO is on sale right now too, I had an Onyx SC on my old Ripmo AF and actually thought the fork was ok. Would the DC be similar?

 

[Nat]

if something off the shelf is 80-90% there than I would probably buy that instead.

I'm not sure what you should buy, but for me if something is 80%-90% there then I'm always thinking about that remaining 10%-20% and will eventually chase it down.

 

[KoolGrandWizardLuke]

Bos Obsys. Best chassis on the market. Damper is one of the best too.
Bos is the only brand in MTB with dampers which have two different damping rates; one for chassis inputs and one for wheel inputs.

Avalanche dampers are great. The problem is you are still stuck with a budget chassis.
The owner of Bos has a real passion for mountain bikes. He started off in mountain bikes. Went and conquered WRC, Dakar, and many other 4 wheel racing events on international levels. Conquered off-road motorbike racing events, and then decided to return to MTBs with the Bos Obsys purely because he loves mountain bikes. (As there is no money in MTBs).

He's the only one in MTB that seems to understand vibration frequencies and how they interact with human bodies.
This is something that premium auto manufactures spent a lot of money tuning. Often through specialized contractors, as it is not something that is fully understood yet.

 

[yzedf]

I'm not sure what you should buy, but for me if something is 80%-90% there then I'm always thinking about that remaining 10%-20% and will eventually chase it down.

Same. But if I could buy and ride something for a bit before the chasing, that would be nice.

 

[yzedf]

Bos Obsys. Best chassis on the market. Damper is one of the best too.
Bos is the only brand in MTB with dampers which have two different damping rates; one for chassis inputs and one for wheel inputs.

Avalanche dampers are great. The problem is you are still stuck with a budget chassis.
The owner of Bos has a real passion for mountain bikes. He started off in mountain bikes. Went and conquered WRC, Dakar, and many other 4 wheel racing events on international levels. Conquered off-road motorbike racing events, and then decided to return to MTBs with the Bos Obsys purely because he loves mountain bikes. (As there is no money in MTBs).

He's the only one in MTB that seems to understand vibration frequencies and how they interact with human bodies.
This is something that premium auto manufactures spent a lot of money tuning. Often through specialized contractors, as it is not something that is fully understood yet.

I wouldn’t take one for free. Never again with Bos.

 

[KoolGrandWizardLuke]

I wouldn’t take one for free. Never again with Bos.

Great. Enjoy punishing yourself.

 

[yzedf]

…punishing yourself.

That’s what happened last time. Doesn’t matter how great the design is if I can’t get any parts.

 

[plummet]

Buy what ever you find on special....

 

[FriedrichGuenther]

I would choose Boxxer 38 over Fox 40 and go with a WPS Podium piston kit for the Charger 3(.1) RC2. For the Charger 3 RC, there is no easily installable after market kit afaik.

 

[spicysparkes]

My suggestion would be the Ohlin's dh38, they have easily the best stock damper out of everything I've tried.
I love my Dorado's but they can be a lot more fiddly to work on an having to reset the uppers in the crowns after every second ride is getting quite old. I have a Avy hybrid kit ordered for them but I think a dh38 with resized bushings and a vorsprung smashpot kit would be easily 90% as good or more.

 

[reo-fahrer]

Bos Obsys. Best chassis on the market.

the experiences in the BOS Obsys thread here tell a different story

 

[FriedrichGuenther]

Since the question was specific to Boxxer and Fox 40, I gave my 2 cents on those.

Sure, USDs have their downsides. I also love my Dorado but dream of a world where it was more of a set and forget experience. EXT Vaia also would be an interesting option. You'd need to be willing to fiddle in either case I think. Bos is to expensive and have too spotty of a track record.

 

[forsinapu]

Boxxer, the whole system is better sorted than the 40--and a better Air spring than the Ohlins. Just make sure you follow the crown tightening sequence lined out in the manual (its in depth) and the alignment will be great.

 

[FriedrichGuenther]

Air spring better than Öhlins.. not sure if I agree there. On the damper side its just not even a competition.

But overall, the current Boxxer certainly has a good chassis and a good airspring.

 

[Jukka4130]

If you want the latest & greatest, that would be the EXT VAIA.

 

[silentG]

Random thoughts here...

Fluid Focus also has a piston and shim kit for Charger 3.

For a deep cut what about an Andreani tuned RC2 in a Fox 40 chassis?

You would have to get an older 40 that can take an RC2.

I don't personally love the Grip 2 and have a 36 and 40 with the Andreani RC2 and they are really good, definitely an improvement over Grip 2 and especially Grip 2 VVC where compression is more of a thought, a hope, and a wish.

With the Manitou stuff I wouldn't sweat the damper as in my experience with a bunch of Manitou forks the damper does its thing, you don't tend to notice it (or feel like it is holding you back), similar to Ohlins there and if I'm being honest the Andreani RC2 setup feels very much like a Manitou setup where you can meaningful adjustments, proper support, but not feeling like 'today might be where I get got thanks to this mf-ing damper'.

There are lots of good options out there so is going to be how adventurous/esoteric you want to be, how much you want to spend, and what you like/don't like.

Obligatory I'm 190 pounds riding in Arizona and surrounding areas, YMMV if you are 50 pounds or 300 pounds riding somewhere else.

 

[forsinapu]

Air spring better than Öhlins.. not sure if I agree there. On the damper side its just not even a competition.

But overall, the current Boxxer certainly has a good chassis and a good airspring.

Its ok to disagree

 

[FriedrichGuenther]

Its ok to disagree

Why would you say it's better then? Would be more constructive with some reasoning behind it.

Lubrication and linearity go in Rockshox favour, however Öhlins three chamber design is a clear upside in my book.

 

[Iacob720]

I wouldn’t take one for free. Never again with Bos.

What happened? Limited spare parts/servicing? I always wonder this with the boutique brands...

 

[yzedf]

What happened? Limited spare parts/servicing? I always wonder this with the boutique brands...

A year of waiting on parts while I had to buy something else I could use. Sold for pennies on the dollar.