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Tell me about the new pike vs a Fox 34.

stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,970
7,818
Colorado
The cost of adding a TALAS damper to my 36 vs selling it and buying a new fork is close enough that a new fork is on the table. Nick has told me that the new Pike is supposed to be pretty awesome, but I have no idea. I've been riding Fox by default for 10 years.

Sanction and 15mm are the same; weight it a wash.Rigidity should be about the same. It comes down to the damper.

Does anybody have info, or has anybody ridden both?
 
CBJ

CBJ

year old fart
Mar 19, 2002
13,082
4,801
Copenhagen, Denmark
I have in recent time not seen so much positive buzz as the Pike is getting. Seems like people really like it and prefer it over the 34. Besides this I am buying a Pike because I can lower it to 140mm which is not an option with the 34 and I do not want to get the travel adjustment. Also better service intervals.

I have seen a MTBR group buy thread in CO with a price of 745 for the Pike. Much better than what I think you can get the 34 for.

Dogboy runs the Pike with the Yeti

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263225&p=3942861&viewfull=1#post3942861
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,970
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Colorado
SkaredShtles said:
All I know is that I can't run a Pike on my frame. :rant:
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Buy a modern bike with a tapered headtube. You'll be fine then. I know somebody with a neon green Yeti SB66 for sale. He might even throw in the headset and front derailluer for you,
 
HAB

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,586
2,018
Seattle
stoney said:
Buy a modern bike with a tapered headtube. You'll be fine then. I know somebody with a neon green Yeti SB66 for sale. He might even throw in the headset and front derailluer for you,
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O rly?
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,970
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Colorado
Kevin, please use your words.

Hab, I'm selling the SB. It's an xl.
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,970
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Colorado
Has anybody heard anything about heavier riders on the Pike damper? I know the Fox forks are not particularly happy, but they can handle it. Has anybody found anything to that yet?
 
OGRipper

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,723
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NORCAL is the hizzle
Not sure about super heavy guys, but everyone I know with a Pike is super happy and I haven't heard of any reliability issues.

Despite widespread complaints and attempts to improve it, Fox just can't seem to get the right mix of compression damping and progression in the CTD 34's. If you set it up with a decent amount of small bump compliance it blows through the mid-stroke way too easily, especially under braking. It's also annoying that they don't trust customers enough to set up their own suspension.

The new pike has a great mix of buttery initial stroke, mid-stroke support, and bottoming resistance. It's also super easy to mess with air volume to tune progression, and it's lighter than the 34.

I've been on one for maybe half a dozen rides on borrowed bikes, so I can't speak as an owner. That said, I'm getting rid of my perfectly fine 34 for a Pike.
 
slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,752
5,554
Ottawa, Canada
I'm 215 w o gear. Does that qualify as heavy? If so, I have a (new) Pike and I love it. That said, I would also look into the X-Fusion. I hear they're great.

edited to add this. lots of great info in there.
 
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stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,970
7,818
Colorado
slyfink said:
I'm 215 w o gear. Does that qualify as heavy? If so, I have a (new) Pike and I love it. That said, I would also look into the X-Fusion. I hear they're great.

edited to add this. lots of great info in there.
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Stupid DH forum. Do we need to add an enduro/all-mtn/trail forum now?
 
kidwoo

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Aug 25, 2003
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OGRipper said:
Despite widespread complaints and attempts to improve it, Fox just can't seem to get the right mix of compression damping and progression in the CTD 34's. If you set it up with a decent amount of small bump compliance it blows through the mid-stroke way too easily, especially under braking. It's also annoying that they don't trust customers enough to set up their own suspension.
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Sounds like their old coil 36 forks :D

stoney said:
Kevin, please use your words.
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VVVI'll just use hisVVVV

OGRipper said:
The new pike has a great mix of buttery initial stroke, mid-stroke support, and bottoming resistance. It's also super easy to mess with air volume to tune progression, and it's lighter than the 34.
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Stones: you ever ride one of the last fox 40 coil forks? The dampers actually worked as advertised. Good LS compression damping with a smooth threshold blowoff that really works is huge. And almost no one has gotten it right until those 40s and the new pikes. Plus you can easily reduce the length of the air spring to get it to ramp. I never used that when mine was setup as a solo air because I thought it ramped up pretty well. The funny thing is that I think the dual air rides a little better without as much mid stroke looseness. Certainly it's the only air fork that I could ever say that about. Plus it's stiff as hell. Plus it weighs nothing. Plus it's smoother out of the box than any fork you've ever owned. It's literally the best all around mountain bike fork I've ever owned, dh forks included.........mostly because the compression damper does exactly what it's supposed to with no fading that I notice.
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,970
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Colorado
See, how hard was that? The Pike is on order already.

This will be the first non-Fox fork I have had since my boxxer back in '06.
 
kidwoo

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Aug 25, 2003
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Fox is kind of stepping in it right now with their trailbike stuff.

Takes a lot of work to mess up ongoing success. I'd still have no problem running their trail bike forks from 3-5 years ago. That stuff worked. But in the meantime, the RS charger damper happened.
 
Nick

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
24,724
16,143
where the trails are
CBJ said:
I ordered one today too. 150mm and will lower it to 140mm for my trail bike. Whatever I can do to make Kidwoo happy.
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Bump!

CBJ (or anyone that knows) how did the travel reduction work?

In the past you used 10mm spacers to change travel. Is this still the case? I'm thinking 150 is going to work best on my 5.Spot as I'm already stuck having to add an external lower hs cup.

Can the 160 be reduced by 10mm? Is the 150 just a 160 with a spacer pre-installed??

Thanks!
 
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Nick

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
24,724
16,143
where the trails are
thanks CBJ.

While you were typing I did the math and I'm only adding 9mm with the Pike (542 a2c) + 12mm lower EC cup versus my current Fox36 (545 a2c) + lower ZS cup for the same 160mm travel. That's fine.
 
OGRipper

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,723
1,224
NORCAL is the hizzle
Just adding that I got a pike not long after this thread started and am super happy so far. The damper is as good as everyone's been saying, it's stiff as I could ever want, and it's like half a pound lighter than my 34. Time and abuse will tell if it's also reliable, but out-of-the-box? Believe the hype.
 
Nick

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
24,724
16,143
where the trails are
Can somebody confirm that if my 5.spot frame headtube is 44 I want to use the EC44/40 lower cup for this tapered steerer tube?

Aside from that I'll need to convert my 20mm CK hub to 15mm. I'm sure that's not expensive. :rolleyes:
 
Nick

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
24,724
16,143
where the trails are
also: STONEY .. how does the 2-position feature work on your fork?

I used to use my 130 TALAS setting often for some climbs, but yesterday I grunted up CG at full height and, well, and it sucked. What am I thinking again? I figure the additional seals required for the 2-p = more drag, maintenance, etc.
 
Jim Mac

Jim Mac

MAKE ENDURO GREAT AGAIN
May 21, 2004
6,352
282
the middle east of NY
The lack of 20 mm options and having an "old bike" (aka 26", non-tapered headset) lead me away from a Pike, purchasing a 140 mm Argyle RCT instead. Has most of the same features and costs less.
 
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