[mattmatt86]

My evil imperial is in the mail now, but i wanted to get some fork opinions. For the last 3 years all ive ridden are manitou forks. Ill be runnin dual 26s 8 inch discs, and i want a single crown fork with around 150mm. Some of my considerations were Pike, Fox 36, Lyrik, and Z.1.Travis. My limit is probably around 500, but the less i spend on a fork the more money i can put toward a new wheelset and crank.

 

[chillindrdude]

i've really liked the RS Pike that i've had. smooth travel, easy adjustments, and U-turn. for $500 you may be able to score an used TALAS 36R or RC. do you want adjustable travel? or is that not very important to you?

 

[mattmatt86]

i've really liked the RS Pike that i've had. smooth travel, easy adjustments, and U-turn. for $500 you may be able to score an used TALAS 36R or RC. do you want adjustable travel? or is that not very important to you?

I think adjustable travel will be nice, caus im going from two bikes to one All around bike so adjustable travel would help to make the evil more versatile. Im just worried that the Pike wouldnt be beefy enough.

 

[ufdff15]

go for the pike, I have a 454 Air U turn and it feels amazing and is stupidly light.

 

[Sir_Crackien]

go for the pike. i would say that it is the standard that everyone else is trying to meet. i have the dual air and its light ,stiff ,and very plush

 

[mattmatt86]

i got the frame today, its a lil beat up so i think im gonna get it powdercoated. I was thinkin either neon green or pink, something loud. Any suggestions?

 

[metalhead119042]

black and neon green would look hot, maybe with some light green stripes (short stripes not whole frame) or something along the lines of that. If you can't decide just go all black.

 

[PatBranch]

You could do silver with green stripes and get a silver Pike.

If you did full neon green and painted the pike the same color, it would look so good.

 

[mattmatt86]

You could do silver with green stripes and get a silver Pike.

If you did full neon green and painted the pike the same color, it would look so good.

Would there be any reason to get a Pike over a Lyrik??

 

[kona-ryder]

I think the Pike has more travel, is stronger and over-all more abuse ready... Have you given any thought to the new totem? They are pretty expensive, but still kick ass!

 

[mattmatt86]

I think the Pike has more travel, is stronger and over-all more abuse ready... Have you given any thought to the new totem? They are pretty expensive, but still kick ass!

the lyrik actually has 20mm more travel and im pretty sure it has thicker stanchions, im just wondering if both of those are worth the more money.

 

[flat broke]

If your weight or riding style may be a cause to buy new springs... wait til they are available for the lyric and someone else has used em. Since you can't really use oil viscosity or volume in a RockShox the way you can in a Marzocchi for tunning, you rely heavily on what is available in different spring weights. Make sure you can get what you need before you buy the fork.

The pike has been out for a couple of years and aftermarket springs are currently available. Last I heard, the Lyric springs would be available in November. Also, you can get leftover pikes for quite a bit less than new retail on a lyric.

Chris

 

[mattmatt86]

im actually leaning toward a pike now. It looks like i could pick one up around 350 so that means ill have some more money for a wheelset.

 

[bikerpunk98199]

get a pike a lyric or totem would be over kill in my opinion. ive bin running a pike team on my play/ds 4x hard tail and love it

 

[PatBranch]

I want to get a pike for my HT. Mine current one is not in one piece, but I want to get a DOC. I would use it for DH, FR, DJ, XC, street (eveything).

Do you think the pike would be good for all that?

 

[Shortbus]

If you get it powdercoated make sure they don't sand blast the existing paint/powder off, most places want to do that I had to go through stretches of the imagination to find a place that would be convinced of not doing it.

 

[mattmatt86]

If you get it powdercoated make sure they don't sand blast the existing paint/powder off, most places want to do that I had to go through stretches of the imagination to find a place that would be convinced of not doing it.

Why shouldnt i get it sandblasted? The Powdercoating place only wants 15 bucks to sandblast it. What should i do then use aircraft stripper?

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

monster t.

 

[mattmatt86]

monster t.

 

[Shortbus]

Sandblasting can weaken the Aluminum. Not saying it WILL, but it can. Sand blasting is harsh but it also depends on what pressure they're blasting with.
Glass bead blasting is better than sand blasting, and in some rare cases tiny wooden bead blasting is even better than glass, in the sense that it won't affect the surface of the metal as much. In any case they're gonna blast it lightly before applying the powder to etch the surface, that's ok as long as they don't use high pressure, but stripping paint/powder with the blasting technique will be harsh on the metal's surface...

IMO the best way is to chemical strip it, then lightly blast it to etch before applying powder so the powder can adhere to the metal well. Most places will usually blast strip the existing paint/powder for free if you're coating with them.

Another piece of advise from my experience when shopping around is to generally stay away from places that do industrial coating and are used to powder coating CATERPILLARs and other heavy machinery. It sounded to me that more often than not they'll basically treat your imperial frame like buldozer parts.

 

[trailblazer]

pike is a solid fork
I am liking the 36

 

[mattmatt86]

Sandblasting can weaken the Aluminum. Not saying it WILL, but it can. Sand blasting is harsh but it also depends on what pressure they're blasting with.
Glass bead blasting is better than sand blasting, and in some rare cases tiny wooden bead blasting is even better than glass, in the sense that it won't affect the surface of the metal as much. In any case they're gonna blast it lightly before applying the powder to etch the surface, that's ok as long as they don't use high pressure, but stripping paint/powder with the blasting technique will be harsh on the metal's surface...

IMO the best way is to chemical strip it, then lightly blast it to etch before applying powder so the powder can adhere to the metal well. Most places will usually blast strip the existing paint/powder for free if you're coating with them.

Another piece of advise from my experience when shopping around is to generally stay away from places that do industrial coating and are used to powder coating CATERPILLARs and other heavy machinery. It sounded to me that more often than not they'll basically treat your imperial frame like buldozer parts.

The place im taking it to has done some MTB frames before, and lots of automotive wheels so im hoping they already have plenty of experience with smaller Non-industrial sized projects.

these are the colors I like

 

[mattmatt86]

any opinions on Color?

 

[PatBranch]

I like that blue a lot. Those colors would be cool.

I think you should choose one of those and do the frame and fork in it.

 

[mattmatt86]

I like that blue a lot. Those colors would be cool.

I think you should choose one of those and do the frame and fork in it.

For sure im gonna get the frame painted, but as for the fork, i really dont wanna take apart a brand new fork just to have the lowers powdercoated, unless there is a way to have them powdercoated without taking them apart...

 

[Shortbus]

For sure im gonna get the frame painted, but as for the fork, i really dont wanna take apart a brand new fork just to have the lowers powdercoated, unless there is a way to have them powdercoated without taking them apart...

nope powdercoating means your part gets baked at around 400 degrees for a little bit so anything like seals and oil etc is a big no-no. Another thing to keep in mind is some fork lowers are magnesium, and magnesium can make the powder bubble when cooking it.


That lime green rocks I almost did mine in a colour similar to that.

 

[xy9ine]

is there any other choice?

 

[Shortbus]

the seat is almost on top of the rear axle hahaha

 

[JacobDW]

If I was gonna get my bike powder coated i would get that flourescent yellow color that security wears at concerts and sports events... that color screams in low light conditions like dusk... I think it would be smokin....

 

[mattmatt86]

I was thinkin about getting it Clemson Orange(thats where i go to school) but my buddy just got a sluggo in Orange and he said he'd punch me if i got mine the same color.

Im really leaning toward that green, with some white decals.

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

Matt, if you want a DOC i need to sell mine QUICK. So PM me asap if you are interested in a black regular.

It is in great shape, most of the riding it was used for was rays indoor park.

actually just email me @ william.kirk@gmail.com

_Bill

 

[PatBranch]

That would look good. What wheels are going on it? Deemaxes would look really good with the green.

 

[mattmatt86]

I found a bike with a Similar Color to what i want. And simply by coincidence it has ties to the Imperial

The DW-link used for the Sunday was developed by the same guy that created the Imperial.

I was outbid on some Dee-Maxs yesterday, But im buying a brand new Sun-Ringle 8 track wheelset.

 

[PatBranch]

I was thinking Level Betty green which is a little stronger.

Yes, that's me 2-3 years ago. I was learning stoppies.

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

So i have a question about imperials, how are people running them as singlespeeds if the drop out doesnt slide? Singulator, because that is gross...I might be getting a frame soon here and need to know so any help would rock.

 

[oscerthegrouch]

I just ran a realy tight chain on mine.

 

[mattmatt86]

So i have a question about imperials, how are people running them as singlespeeds if the drop out doesnt slide? Singulator, because that is gross...I might be getting a frame soon here and need to know so any help would rock.

Halflink, also if you go to Evil's website im pretty sure they have a listing of different chain lengths for singlespeed that work with each drop out

 

[mattmatt86]

I dropped the frame off at the powdercoater today , he is going to use very low pressure to strip it, im getting it done in that bright green color. Im gonna call Evil tomorrow to order some new decals.

 

[mattmatt86]

I bought a fork, an 06 Travis SC 150 with 20mmQR axle. here are some pics of some other parts i bought for the build

 

[metalhead119042]

That's gonna be a great bike once your finished with it. Don't forget to post pics once your done!