[toodles]

Maybe You can put it on the bottom of the fork leg (it is the thickest part of the casting)? Drill a small hole and tap it for a schrader valve core? Put the bike up side down and just press the valve to burp the lowers.

If you don't mind the hassle of finding a pin or spike, then I'd get a flush mount zerk fitting for a nozzle type grease gun and mount that. They're a much smaller fitting (less likely to get hit in a shuttle or trail situation and broken) and require a much smaller tapping hole (less compromise to the fork lower's strength). You just have to depress the spring loaded ball bearing with a pen or a small allen key or multi-tool screwdriver to relieve/equalize the air pressure inside.

Plus, if mounted in the area between the seal and foam ring near the top of the lower then you could use it for it's original purpose and squeeze in a bit of slick grease afterwards.

 

[Nick]

 

[Udi]

I would personally drill the hole in the air-side stanchion, that way you'll substantially reduce the pressure differential between the air spring and the lowers, solving the air migration issues.

The air spring probably won't work as a spring anymore but now you can install a far superior coil spring, while also enjoying longer service intervals and more consistent performance over the interval - yeah, even with the hole in the stanchion.

 

[Jm_]

No more coils for the same reason high/low speed adjustments aren't offered on most stuff, because screw you end-user, we know you ain't got time for that.

But I'm going to offer a counter argument:

Air forks and the shocks like X2s are a godsend when renting at a DH park. Most of the time, you are given some bike with some wacky spring rate and there's no option to switch out the coil to something more appropriate, so you get to "enjoy" the day on your severely over-sprung bike. Being able to dial in suspension for different weight riders in these cases is a huge benefit.

 

[Flo33]

Yeah, I actually have all the parts to make the fork you describe but I gave up on the project because honestly I don't ride my spenduro bike enough to bother (the 40 conversion on the other hand... ). The other reason I didn't bother is because while Fox advertise 100g saving on the new lowers, I weighed both and they are identical, AND the old lowers fit 650b with plenty of clearance - so unless you want the change in offset or increase in A2C there's really no point.

Now that's exactly the sort of information I was hoping for. You even blindly scored the bonus for the 650b part
I'm not actively planning on swapping my tiny wheels, but who knows...

If for some reason you were still keen, you'd need to fabricate some parts or buy more from the new fork than just lowers - because the new lowers are deeper and the new uppers have longer stanchions (I have both 2017 parts here). The damper threads are also different. I believe if you use both the upper and lower from the 2017 then the coil rod will fit and thus it would be a working fork (with the new damper), but in your case you'd need many expensive parts.

The guy running the Fox office over here is an old racing mate from the past. He has always been generous with parts and pricing, so it would be possible. But I think it's nowhere worth the hassle and the €.

Thanks mate!

 

[Electric_City]

I'm a #coilandoil and #26forlife guy myself, but my air forks haven't been a disappointment by any means. 2010 36 Talas, 40 and now Pike are all air and feel great. I prefer coil for some reason. Maybe cause I owned an '07 888 rc2x and loved everything about that fork. Maybe cause my' 12 888 rc3 was smooth as butter. But since going to air, I can't say that I feel harshness or sticking. Riding Creek, Platty, Blue and Whistler last year, I don't think I touched any of my dials all year.

 

[toodles]

Installed another Vorsprung Luftkappe in the 160mm Pikes on the Patrol yesterday after good experience with the same in my 150mm Pikes on the Scout. I don't want to gush about them, but its a seriously simple and effective upgrade to an already competent fork. Well worth looking at if you're trying to get the best out of your Pike/Lyric.

 

[92SE-R]

Is there really interest in coil conversions? Im kinda bored and want to make one. Give me some ideas. Start with fox 36 and then do pike? The dampers dont have hbo's on them, would that be an issue? How about topout?

 

[kidwoo]

36, and lyrik

Pikes usually work.

 

[92SE-R]

Lyrik because air spring is different or the typical lyrik rider isnt a weight weenie and wants super duper performance?

 

[kidwoo]

Lyrik because unless you run them at the natural spring length (180) they get all fucked up since the negative chamber doesn't set in the right spot/correct pressure. There's a reason most people wanting a 160mm travel fork end up running them at 170. Dropping below 180 you have to kind of balance that out with volume spacers and that ends up taking away some of the benefit of an air fork.

So yeah, the air spring is different only in that most people with pikes run them at 160.

 

[92SE-R]

Interesting. Might have to pick up a cheap yari to play with.

 

[Udi]

Start with fox 36 and then do pike? The dampers dont have hbo's on them, would that be an issue? How about topout?

See post #38 re: HBO, short answer is definitely no.
I'm probably one of the few people who has tried a lot of these Fox forks back-to-back in coil guise both with and without the HBO (since the old pre-invert days, and also the later invert carts, on both the 36 and 40 separately) so you'd have to take my word for it, but my experience in all cases was that if the HBO was necessary it went along with a lack of support in the rest of the stroke - i.e. insufficient spring rate and/or damper.

When set up for riding fast, it's less likely to actually bottom them out, so I always felt it was better to remove the HBO after the correct spring rate and damper setup.

And yeah, I'd do the 36 first because the Pike air spring is better and has less problems, plus has more options with the Vorsprung upgrade. For topout (and the entire spring rod) I would replicate the original Fox setup identically or as close to it as possible, there were no flaws with the design. I would imagine you can still buy the part so I'm not even sure that you need to make much apart from a few spacers (and sourcing springs if unavailable for purchase) if that's the case.

I don't think that many people in the big scheme actually own Lyriks.

 

[kidwoo]

I don't think that many people in the big scheme actually own Lyriks.

Given RS's stronghold on OEM build kits (at least here), I'd say more people own lyriks than 36s from what I've seen. As long as we're talking about similar model years and not 8 year old fox forks.

 

[92SE-R]

Got any pictures of the fox setup?

 

[Nick]

Plus it seems that RS is going bump the Pike down to trail bikes and move the Lyrik into the 'enduro' category. I'd expect to see many more in the next year or two.

 

[kidwoo]

http://bikemag.hu/images/2010/02/36_van_01.jpg

There was a little variation across the years. The setup you could change travel with was a little different from what I remember.

 

[scottishmark]

Don't think it's been mentioned here but that's TF Tuned now doing Pike and Lyrik cool conversion kits now. I've had one for a while now but got it CR Conception instead - is good.

 

[toodles]

Plus it seems that RS is going bump the Pike down to trail bikes and move the Lyrik into the 'enduro' category. I'd expect to see many more in the next year or two.

They've reduced the weight on the new Pike quite a bit and made some changes to the negative spring on the new Pike and Lyrik. Don't know if anyone has had time on them to compare them to the previous models yet though.

 

[Jm_]

They've reduced the weight on the new Pike quite a bit and made some changes to the negative spring on the new Pike and Lyrik. Don't know if anyone has had time on them to compare them to the previous models yet though.

Quite a bit? It was already like 4.1lbs. What now, 2.3?

 

[toodles]

Ah 150g (claimed). Not super crazy but pretty nice saving there.

*Edit for non metric -
35 Zoltniks
28.5 Cullingey
96.4 Pennyweights
0.33 pounds

 

[Nick]

How many Henweigh?

 

[Udi]

*Edit for non metric -
35 Zoltniks
28.5 Cullingey
96.4 Pennyweights

@troy useful data in units you commonly use.

 

[Gary]

cool conversion kits now

Now mind you don't go ruining it with spazzy mudguards or goggles n XC lid.

 

[mtg]

Quite a bit? It was already like 4.1lbs. What now, 2.3?

The 100mm axle width version was about 4.1 lbs. Then, when the axle width went to 110mm, the weight went up to 4.4lbs. MY18 Pike with 110mm axle is 4.0 - 4.1lbs, from what I've measured.

 

[troy]

@troy useful data in units you commonly use.

How is Your knee?

 

[Jm_]

The 100mm axle width version was about 4.1 lbs. Then, when the axle width went to 110mm, the weight went up to 4.4lbs. MY18 Pike with 110mm axle is 4.0 - 4.1lbs, from what I've measured.

F-ing excellent how they do this. In two more years, they'll introduce super-boost front hubs at 125mm, and then two years later they'll figure out a way to save some more weight.

 

[mtg]

F-ing excellent how they do this. In two more years, they'll introduce super-boost front hubs at 125mm, and then two years later they'll figure out a way to save some more weight.

That's probably true, but my guess on why the Boost Pike gained weight was for reliability. Extra aggressive riders could wear out a set of lower bushings quicker than ideal. Now with the availability of the new Lyrik, the MY18 Pike seems to have taken on a more "trail" role, and hence, lost weight again. This is also evidenced by some of the longer travel Pike skus being replaced by the Lyrik. That's in no way an official Sram answer, but my opinion based on what I have seen.

 

[Happymtb.fr]

About pressure build up in the lowers, are the Fox's forks more prone to it than the RS's?
My 2016 Float does it but my 2016 Yari don't...
And is there a way to avoid it? Beside burping the seals.

 

[kidwoo]

I just flip my bike, pop off whatever nuts hold the rods on each side and barely push the ends down.


Every fork I've ever owned does it so I don't think it's an appreciable difference between brands.

 

[Jm_]

About pressure build up in the lowers, are the Fox's forks more prone to it than the RS's?
My 2016 Float does it but my 2016 Yari don't...
And is there a way to avoid it? Beside burping the seals.

They are keeping that as the ace up their sleeve, once they run out of other upgrades, like changing the spacing and then making it lighter again, they'll eventually put a bleed valve on there, but not before they come up with all sorts of other crap to upgrade for the sake of new models, so I would plan to see this maybe 20 years from now...

 

[Happymtb.fr]

Every fork I've ever owned does it so I don't think it's an appreciable difference between brands.

In my case the difference is quite clear: I rode at least 400km on the yari without needing to do a thing and 125km on the 36 before burping the seals...
Maybe I had a lucky draw with the Yari?
By the way, the stock Yari is not fabulous but with a Splug damper unit from Novyparts , it is better than my 36 Fit4 with custom shimstack.

 

[kidwoo]

Did you even burp the yari to see if it needed it?

I will say one of my 36 forks does seem to pressure up more than the pike I had. Both still did it though. Every single time I went to burp my pike it did have air in it.

 

[Happymtb.fr]

Did you even burp the yari to see if it needed it?

No I didn't yet but the amount of travel used after each ride is consistent : around 2cm unused for trail riding without big jump, big drop or big mistake.
On the Float, there would be 4 to 5 cm unused for the same type of riding when pressure had build up...
I will check the Yari!

 

[Gary]

very quick question:
Does the air side need burped more? (2016Lyrik if it matters)

 

[toodles]

very quick question:
Does the air side need burped more? (2016Lyrik if it matters)

I has less leg volume area so it would tend to be worse than the damper side I think.

 

[Happymtb.fr]

I will check the Yari!

@kidwoo just a tiny negligible burp on one side, nothing compared to what the Float did after 3 times less riding time.

 

[Gary]

Ah.. sorta makes sense I suppose. Certainly seems to be the case with mine.

Cheers.

 

[scottishmark]

Now mind you don't go ruining it with spazzy mudguards or goggles n XC lid.

True, keeping my eye blister under control is totes overrated

 

[Gary]

True, keeping my eye blister under control is totes overrated

it must only be a matter of days until every ailment you're ever likely to encounter will be placed one rung lower anyway.



mind n keep me in the loop... you do have carrier pigeon don't you?