Building a ‘cheap’ dh bike for next year and some local races

Got a 223 frame looking to match travel with something strong and ‘modern’

Budget is probably £400 tops which rules out new boxxers,888’s etc however does put them into second hand options

But I’ve seen a set of domain cr triples for under £400 from research it seems to be they’re just heavier new style boxxers (steel instead of alloy stanchions)

Has anyone ridden the domains, 888’s older boxxers and what models would you recommend/ avoid.

Lets be clear I’m not expecting to podium I just want reliable and strong so I can race and ride the season with minimum hassle.

had old boxxers, got new domains.

they’re both great.

steel stanchions aren’t fashionable, but they’re bomb-proof – i’ve bounced mine off rocks without a scratch.

my mate has the new triple clamp domains and really rates them. included springs/crown options and a service kit in the box too. if i was on the lookout for a workhorse DH fork that’ll be what i’d be going for (i have boxxers now)

You see you’re both confirming what I’ve seen said about them, bombproof is good, I have a feeling I know where this is going 😀

If you have a look i bet you could get some fox 40’s for that, obviously not top range ones (with fit cart etc) but they will still out perform the domains by a long way and certainly old style boxxers.

400 quid will get you these, look alright

2013 Boxxer RC for 549 Euro here, and another 15% off with SALES15

http://www.probikeshop.com/rockshox-boxxer-rc-coil-fork-200-mm-black-2013/80372.html

The Domain RCs are good, other than the weight they’re pretty comparable to a Boxxer RC.

Older boxxers are also still good- you get the slightly older motion control which does feel a wee bit dated but does the job, and you can get a decent set for not much money.

I’d suggest a third option… Find a set of used 35mm Boxxer Teams/R2C2s (coil-converted Worldcups are basically the same thing but tend to be cheaper, that’s the direction I took). The R2C2 damper is just plain better than the RC, but also, it’s really easy to work with so you’ll get a good result easily- which all amounts to less wasted ride time. It’s not like an XC bike where you can fanny around with it over the course of a 20 mile ride, you can only set up a big fork when it’s working hard.

888s… Are confusing. Hard to tell what’s good, what’s bad, what’s from the right eras of marzocchi random quality. I would have gone for an RC3 but couldn’t find many when I was last fork-shopping.

Those 40’s look good but the crack and service periods turn me off, especially at full budget for a second hand fork.

Interesting suggestions re the boxxers as there do seem to be some 35mm ones out there, its just the dubious condition they seem to be in, the domains being new also have a warranty.

Aaaaaaah thought I knew where I was headed.