Further to my thread on upgrade my cube stereo, plan is to get a new fork.

I am down to two which are the pike or the new Marzocchi 350cr – I need 650b.

Finding little in the way of reviews or opinions out there, any thoughts?

The 34s I have do have 2014 internals but they are the evo version, so fairly basic, which would suggest a step up no matter what I choose.

http://www.avalanchedownhillracing.com/Fox%2040/Fox%2034%20Open%20Bath%20Cartridge%20Kit.htm

I have look at that – but I can get the Pike for £470 and the 350 isn’t much more…

Not sure if that would be better than either the Pike or the 350 in the end?

I’m impressed with the Pike- not quite as bowled over as some, performance wise I don’t think it’s really any better or worse overall than my old Lyriks. Weight aside and that’s a big difference! But that’s not a criticism, they’re really good forks, they’re just not jesus forks.

My 350 CR are starting to bed in but I can’t say much more than that. I weighed them and they were 2040g so 200g lighter than the 55 CR but still 180g heavier than pikes. Just look at the 55 CR reviews and they should give you an idea of how the 350CR will perform. I would be tempted to go for the Avalanche upgrade to be honest.

Good points (tho not helping with my choice yet 😀 )

I might look at the Avalanche thing a bit closer as it does seem to bin most of the fork!

Halo – can I ask where the pikes are @ £470?

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/avalanche-dampers-first-impressions

My first impressions a dose of the shits and a big stack have stopped further testing…

@ Kendo – I think Hibike – £500 is achievable in the UK though.

Keeping the fox however is a bit of an issue as the cash would be handy towards a new fork.

Thanks Mike will have a look.

Fox are, well – Fox…

The Zocchi’s have taken a bit of a slagging on here of late – see hora.

Have a look at X Fusion for VFM and great performance – try and avoid travel adjust (as with most forks tbh) though.

My only problem with the Pike is whether any changes will come up for 2015.

It seems to me like the choice is either

PIKE
or
Something more interesting that might be slightly better in certain regards, but will probably fall short in another.

For the latter, the MRP Stage I rode the other week fits the bill perfectly, but my confidence just wouldn’t be as high as the current ‘default’ Pike.
Some products become less interesting, the more common they are, but usually still make a good choice – eg Hope Pro II, Reverb, Santa Cruz.

V good point – I think the answer is Pike really just talking myself round in circles.

I still need to choose new brakes so progress is slow 😀

In the end my riding ability isn’t up to finding the upper edges of the performance differences anyway, so the CR350 was probably more a tempting not to follow the herd.

Avalanche damper in your existing 34s will be a better overall fork for less money than any of the new fork options. Plus it’s a bit more interesting, custom built for you and should be very reliable.

was probably more a tempting not to follow the herd.

I can understand this thinking entirely. I do the same all the time.
There are a few bits in our group of riders become ‘standard issue’ and it’s usually for a good reason.

For your info, standard issue brakes for our group are Hope or Shimano. People who have gone with Avid, Magura, Formula, etc have all come back to Hope or Shimano eventually.

I had hope before (brakes and wheels) M4 tech and loved them. The formula RC tune, RX with pad and lever adjustment are good but have been bothering me for a month or two.

What I really want are the hope Tech3 but far too pricey for me. Because I am v heavy on the brakes been thinking about the Zees as good VFM.

Pinkbike’s review of the Manitou Mattoc

Still mulling it over – but going to email Avalanche for some info.

Its about £300 for their kit – if I sell the fox and get Pikes again probably cost me about £300 to change.

So it comes down to these two choices.

@Joe – looks good but not for me!

but going to email Avalanche for some info.

Call them. You’ll almost certainly get Craig Seekins himself. He’s very helpful and I doubt you’ll ever speak to anyone who knows and understands suspension better.

I doubt you’ll ever speak to anyone who knows and understands suspension better.

Apart from the armchair experts in here.

Apart from the armchair experts in here.

Well, naturally. I thought that went without saying 🙂

I guess it comes down to whether that will make a better long term fork than an off the shelf single air RCT3 Pike.

Would I seriously notice the difference over what I have now or further between the upgrade and the Pike.

I would suggest my riding ability the answer is no, so it comes down to my mental perception of the product giving me riding confidence and basically reliability/ability to get it fixed if something goes wrong.

Put another way – you walk into an LBS there is a pike or an avalanche 2013 34 fork for the same money – which would you pick everytime!

I would short-cut this whole issue by getting a YT Capra 😀

But lead times too long!

Put another way – you walk into an LBS there is a pike or an avalanche 2013 34 fork for the same money – which would you pick everytime!

I would go for the 34. But then I’m biased because I recently received an Avalanche 160mm 29er Solo Air Pike (and DHX 5.0 shock), and for me there was a noticeable improvement in performance.

I have a 2013 140mm 29er 34 Float on the hardtail, and it will be next in line for an Avalanche upgrade. That is if there’s any money left in the kitty after the house move next month <crosses fingers>.

Well I rode a pike over the weekend. Have to say it felt much better than the 34. I didn’t notice any stanchion differences in terms of the size but it was much plusher and felt smoother.

Build quality wasn’t quite the same on the face of it however. So once I get my cockpit right I may just plump for the avalanche upgrade.