# Downhill fork for light rider



## nybike1971 (Oct 6, 2005)

I am building a new DH bike for my wife and I can use some input from women riders on which fork works best for lighter riders. 

She weighs about 130lbs and has been riding DH for the past couple of seasons. This will be her first DH bike, so far she has rented or used my Banshee Spitfire in DH configuration (she raced that bike at the Citizen's Race at Windham this past Summer). She is a solid rider but she doesn't leave the ground much (although that's been changing a bit): she is all about the steep and hairy!

Basically, the three choices I am considering are Fox 40, Boxxer Team, or Boxxer WC. I weigh 165lbs, and alternate between a yellow and red spring on a Boxxer Team, so I would imagine she would be on a silver spring. Any experience with stiction on the Boxxer Team with such a light spring? How sensitive are these forks with low air or light springs? I can revalve the Boxxer for her weight, if she finds the fork too heavily damped but there is only so much one can do about seal stiction. 

If any of you have gone through this selection process and have any useful advice, I would definitely appreciate that.


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## jewels (Mar 17, 2004)

I'm the same weight, boxxer w/ light spring works fine for me.


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## cyclelicious (Oct 7, 2008)

I have a Fox Talus (height adjustable for climbing) 160mm of travel. Extremely reliable.


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## SuperKat (Mar 27, 2005)

Fox 40. Sorry. I don't think her weight is really an issue, it's how it's set up.


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## Epic Eli (Dec 4, 2008)

I weigh about the same as your wife, just finished building my hubby a DH rig, I bought a Boxxer Team. I just sold mine and waiting for my new bike to come in (hopefully next week) and this bike will have the Fox 40 on it.
In the mean time i rode and raced the bike i built for hubby, yes the ultimate spring would be the silver one that is rated for that weight, however i don't have the silver and have used the red spring, which prevented me from using the whole 203mm of travel, i probably used 180-190mm, still this fork felt awesome, soft like butter LOVED IT!! The advantage of the Fox 40 and the World Cup, is that they are air shocks and they are more tunable.
If you'll adjust it right, the rebound is the most important adjusment, then she would love it and enjoy it.
Here's a link to a short video of me on a rock garden and you can see the Boxxer Team, look how compressed it is, but not all way because i didn't use the right spring, yet still with right rebound adjusment it felt like butter and was super responsive.
Hope it helps.


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## nybike1971 (Oct 6, 2005)

Thank you for all the input. She is still thinking about it and trying to decide between plushness and weight. I am pretty sure a Fox 40 or Boxxer Team could be setup well with the proper spring and possibly a little revalving of the damper.

The 5.2lbs of the Fox Float 180 sound really appealing if she is willing to deal with a little more ramp up in the suspension. She'll have the whole Winter to make the call. 

Nice job on Utah, Eli! Was that on the race course at the last Diablo race?


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## Epic Eli (Dec 4, 2008)

Yeah, were you racing there?
Where do you guys ride?
Good luck with the shopping.


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## Dave K (Jan 13, 2004)

My wife (mtb_mud_honey) uses a Fox 40 with a light spring in it on one bike. This is an older model (2008 I think?). Both compression (hi and low speed) are pretty much wide open. There are a couple clicks of rebound damping. This fork has been extremely reliable overall. She gets full travel out of it and really seems to love it.

Her race bike has a 2010 Boxxer WC. Before installation it was taken to Suspensionwerx to get a once over done on it. When we got it back, the intial seal stiction was pretty much gone. I am not sure if they changed the oil weight in the damper though. In any event, she raced it this summer with no issues. 45 psi in the air chamber, 2 clicks of low and high speed compression. 3-4 clicks of hi and low rebound. I changed the lubrication oil once mid-summer and again at the end of the season. This last time I changed the damper oil as well and put 3 wt fluid (stock is 5 wt, but as I said, I am not sure if the suspension techs dropped that weight initially) in there but she hasn't ridden it since then. 

She easily gets full travel on the Boxxer as well. I also have the same fork and it has been pretty reliable all summer. However a few of our friends have Boxxer WC's and team and have not been happy with theirs so I guess we were lucky? I did notice that adjusting the low speed rebound also had an effect on the compression damping. As a result I would run the rebound as fast as possible. 

Overall, she has been really happy with both. They both feel very plush with very little stiction. I think the Boxxer will require more care and attention to keep it happy. 

Hope this helps.


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