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Slammed my Pike!

t1maglio

Monkey
Oct 29, 2001
855
0
southern wisconsin
So Gemini2k sold me his Duke spring for my Pike and I put the deal together today and am pretty excited about the result.

Just to run through the process...

Undo the allen bolt on the top of the uturn dial. After removing the dial carefully remove the three springs and bearings. I loosened the allen under the fork about 3 threads or so and then tapped it with a hammer to extract it. After it goes in unscrew it the rest of the way. Go back to the top, unscrew the top cap with a 23mm (?) or I just used a crescent wrench. Slide out the old spring.

Next take the Duke spring, undo the little clip at the top that holds the cap on the shaft and slide it off. Do the same to the top cap of the Pike spring and then reinstall the Pike cap on the Duke spring (the Duke cap is much small then the Pike's). Remember the little c-clip. Then just put some grease on the spring and lower it back into the leg. Reinstall the lower allen bolt and thread in the top cap. Install the springs and bearings in every third hole of the cap, put the dial back on and screw in the last Allen.

The result is fork that now starts at about 3.5" at the high end and when slammed its about 1.5". I always ran the fork slammed in its stock settings (95mm supposedly) and now I can run it that way for trails and then drop it for parks and jumps. I haven't tested it out yet, but I'll report back when I have (probably not till I build up my Tonic, so be patient).

There was lots of talk about stretching springs and whatnot, but this is a very easy and solid way to reduce the travel.

Cheers.

Extended to 3.5"



Lowered to 1.5"
 

BikeSATORI

Monkey
Apr 13, 2007
720
0
one world...
slick. I want it. Wanna shave the disc tabs too.

Now to figure out how to ditch the bulky lever on the maxle for a cam that can be used with an allen or something for a lever instead...


does this work on all models? 426, 454, etc...
 
Sep 20, 2007
443
0
Champaign, IL
It will work on coil U-turn models and I think non U-turn models (without adjustment of course) but not the air forks. This was one of the options I was looking at for my Dobermann after riding gemini2k's pike. It's a nice cheap mod that works really well.
 

Bulldog

Turbo Monkey
Sep 11, 2001
1,009
0
Wisconsin
So Gemini2k sold me his Duke spring for my Pike and I put the deal together today and am pretty excited about the result.
How did you find a spring between Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon?! When you're on a mission you're even more relentless than me! :)

Looks NICE.
 

t1maglio

Monkey
Oct 29, 2001
855
0
southern wisconsin
I would use the word orgasmic, good call (and thanks, BTW).

Tony, I had been working on getting the spring since Christmas, just finally got it and got around to installing it.

All in all its a really easy thing to do, you just have to be able to find those darn Duke springs, and they aren't available anymore.
 
Sep 20, 2007
443
0
Champaign, IL
I think that there is also another spring that you can use that will give you travel in between the two. (Not as tall as the pike springs but not quite as slammed as the duke springs.) I want to say it is the Pilot or Psylo springs but I am not sure.
 

Bulldog

Turbo Monkey
Sep 11, 2001
1,009
0
Wisconsin
I think that there is also another spring that you can use that will give you travel in between the two. (Not as tall as the pike springs but not quite as slammed as the duke springs.) I want to say it is the Pilot or Psylo springs but I am not sure.
Tora U-turn is 85-130mm and 32mm stantions.
 

muddy beast

Turbo Monkey
Nov 26, 2005
1,815
0
hate to go off topic...but I notice your pike has the regular u-turn lock-out and compression adjuster. Did you change it to that? I purchased the part and a co-worker did as well, and he told me (he's a mechanic) that after taking it apart it turns out you need a new compression cartridge for it to work, because the other one has a spring in it, and to use a turn you cant have a spring...
 

t1maglio

Monkey
Oct 29, 2001
855
0
southern wisconsin
BTW, there was a little oil that came out of the fork when I did the swap of springs, maybe a couple teaspoons. Is that essential, where does that hang out in their, does it have a purpose?
 

Bulldog

Turbo Monkey
Sep 11, 2001
1,009
0
Wisconsin
BTW, there was a little oil that came out of the fork when I did the swap of springs, maybe a couple teaspoons. Is that essential, where does that hang out in their, does it have a purpose?
It's only to lube the seals. Just splash some back in there the next time you have it open.
 

bikeit13

Chimp
Jul 31, 2006
77
0
Sorry to go off topic, will the duke spring work with all the pikes (in particular the 05 pike).

thanks
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
Sorry to go off topic, will the duke spring work with all the pikes (in particular the 05 pike).

thanks
Yes it should, as long as it's a uturn (which they all are). Also, Contrary to the post above, BTI has the springs, QBP doesn't. They have all of them except the XFIRM, I think I bought the last one. But there is almost no dif between the firm and xfirm, Ive tried both.
 

t1maglio

Monkey
Oct 29, 2001
855
0
southern wisconsin
Actually, right before I got the spring from you I asked our local shop if they could get them, they called BTI, QBP, and some other suppliers and couldn't get anything.
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
Strange, 2 days before you contacted me I orded from BTI. Their website also has them listed as in stock. Sounds like your bikeshop might just be lazy :'(.
 

t1maglio

Monkey
Oct 29, 2001
855
0
southern wisconsin
Hmmm, I see what your saying. I will retract my statement to you and hope that my local shop isn't as crappy as I am feeling they are right now.

There are some great shops out there, don't get me wrong, but I'm not to excited about most that I come in contact with. All I need is parts, and at competitive prices. I have wrenched for over a decade and am able to service the things I need. I research everything and don't need their help in that department either (not that most shops even have a clue about matter like 24" mtbs, slamming forks, or BMX in general). My buddy Tony (Bulldog) and I were discussing this matter last weekend and I'm a little disappointed with shop mentality.

I guess what I'm saying is if you have a good shop near you appreciate it. I sure as heck don't appreciate mine.
 
Sep 20, 2007
443
0
Champaign, IL
I don't expect anyone but roadies and commuters to appreciate our shop. It seems to be all that the owner is interested in dealing with.... it pisses me off but its a nice shop and you can't beat employee pricing.
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
ya, this is the midwest, shops around here don't know anything about MTB (except bloomington cycle, they are amazing), or speciality MTB's beyond what we tell them. I worked at a great shop in high school, boss was great, but it wasn't important for him to know anything about bikes that go flying, so he didn't care. We can't blame them, its not there fault.

But ya, nothings wrose than shops that aren't helpful and then are shocked when you expect to get discounts on high margin parts that they don't ever even stock, or won't have to deal with after they sell.
 

t1maglio

Monkey
Oct 29, 2001
855
0
southern wisconsin
Thats the easy stuff. I know its hard to keep up on all trends and the little stuff that goes along with each area, but for Pete's sake just make the effort. I used to get crap for running riser bars and short stems and long travel forks back in the late 90's. They just couldn't embrace change. Now those same guys run that same style of bike for XC. Just makes me laugh, but not the happy kind.
 

Bulldog

Turbo Monkey
Sep 11, 2001
1,009
0
Wisconsin
I am disgusted to pay full retail at my LBS because all their arguments for price gouging don't apply to me. They don't have the items I want in stock. I can't walk in and sample it. They don't spend valuable time educating me about the product. They don't need to install it. They don't need to service it. They are simply a pathway to a product and I require nothing more from them than 2 minutes to order from their vendor and 2 minutes to receive it and call me. Big deal. If I ever find a shop that recognizes this I'd support them wholeheartedly. Until then, it's mailorder unless I need a tube or a cable.
 

t1maglio

Monkey
Oct 29, 2001
855
0
southern wisconsin
F that S!

I gotta say, I recently went through a stage of trying to work with my local shop again, ordered parts, tried to order parts, whatever, but I'm with Tony.

I too worked for a cool shop owner not to long ago who was very intrigued about my interests. He wouldn't stock and he wasn't the best on cutting deals, but he at least tried to learn (with me at least). He is a lover of bikes, though, he has worked in the industry for years, including being one of the only employees that the Schwinn family took with them when the company went under (and they then started Waterford and Gunnar).
 

cully

Chimp
Jun 1, 2007
54
0
so, back on topic....

I just got a line on a $125 pike and if thats not amazing enough...

I went the old shop that I used to work for in the suburbs and they just happened to have an xfirm duke u-turn spring, that they ordered a while back. WTF who in their right mind would really stock that. but thats another story for another time.

oh, and I happen to know a real live member of the schwinn family, he's living here in chicago. he's my age so I think he'd be like 3rd gen or something like that..

and thats it.
 

t1maglio

Monkey
Oct 29, 2001
855
0
southern wisconsin
I think I know that kid. He rides 20's? Is his name John? I forget, but I used to ride with a Schwinn kid a couple years ago. I actually worked for a shop where the owner was the only emplyee the Schwinn fam took when they went bankrupt, and then started Waterford. He was the head builder for both companies for a long time.

Anyway, good score on the fork and spring!
 

pHeller

Monkey
Nov 5, 2007
106
0
Anyone have any comments on the naysayers who say that the Duke x-firm spring is softer than the Pike version?
 

cornfed

Monkey
Jul 30, 2007
199
0
I just tried to order a Duke spring from Rockshox and the woman I talked to freaked and wouldn't sell it to me once she found out what I was doing. They have them; don't tell them what you're doing with them.