July 31, 2004 – It was with great excitement that journalists and freeride mavens from around the globe gathered under the RockShox tent in a dusty parking lot in Whistler, B.C. on an incinerating 40-degree day this past July 22-25 weekend. The occasion was the launch of the company’s newly minted freeride fork, the BoXXer Ride, and the scene couldn’t have been more fitting: Amidst the grit and grind of Whistler’s annual Crankworx-a crucible of freeride and downhill mountain biking, stunt riding, industry demos, rock star athletes, music, and parties that resembles a scaled-down summer version of the resort’s marquee World Ski and Snowboard Festival.

With a patented Coil U-Turn travel adjustment system dialing riders in across a range of 133-178mm (5.25-7″), the new BoXXer Ride addresses the emerging market segment in longer-travel freeride bikes, allowing riders to climb with ease and descend with confidence at the turn of a knob. Those of us at the launch familiar with the legendary, World Cup-leading BoXXer line of downhill racing forks (the World Cup, Team and Race) were pleased to see that other innovations accompanying the Ride-new bolt-hole patterns, lower casting for stiffness, longer lower bushings, super-clean cable routing and 22 degrees of increased turning radius in the crowns-had found their way into the entire line.

An informal technical presentation in the shade was followed by a formal heat-stroke-inducing test-ride in Whistler’s massive, world-leading and ever-expanding bike park. The new BoXXers performed like the venerable RockShox products they are, sucking up everything the park had to dish out-which includes almost everything you can imagine. Rehydration and a quick lunch were followed by bike-swapping and further testing on the newly opened trails of the Garbonzo sector on the mountain’s upper reaches; a plush ride on 1,000 m (3,400 feet) of vertical nastiness was enough to convince most that the new Rides were for real. BoXXer’s legendary performance in the downhill world would now cross fully over to the freeride world.