(New) Pike set up

At recommended air pressure, I get 100 – 110 mm travel on a normal trail ride (eg Rushup Edge / jacob’s Ladder) on my 140 mm 29’ers. I think I have 85psi for my 15 stone or so

I have seen full travel a couple of times on big front end landings off drops, but not in “normal” use

what pressures do you run – should I go softer?

thanks

less pressure more bottomless tokens for me,

yours should have 2 in from factory

what is the recommended psi on the fork? My RCT3 160mm 27.5 forks I was using all the travel so fitted one of the red volume spacers now the fork is perfect, am 14stone

I am running quite a bit lower pressure than recommended in mine.

I’m going to try more bottomless tokens, seems impossible to get a decent spring feel with the out-of-the-box setup… See how that goes. Not very impressed so far tbh.

what do the tokens actually do?

Best forks out there are BOS only if you can service your own or outside of warranty…

Oh my gosh. Don’t show this to all the folk waiting on their fork from that French shop on the other thread! Sacre bleu!!!

They’re just air volume reducers, same as we’re used to with air shocks. Only with a cool new name 😉

About 5psi under the recommended, with 2 spacers, and a few clicks of compression (from memory).

Otherwise they are a bit divey. Good support, but I do find if I’m having a more chilled out ride they can feel harsh.

Better than a BOS 😉

Forget recommended psi, set sag properly, sat on bike in normal riding gear, then go from there.

(that said, I’ve yet to receive mine).

I’m sure it’s very different to Lyriks, but on my Lyriks I put about three clicks from hard maximum on the low and high speed. Any more and gets divey. Would assume similar here.

Forget about what the guide says. Just do what ever feels good.

Not sure if they’ve improved the accuracy on their guides at all but the recommended pressures on my 2010 Rev and 2011 SID are WAY off

Set them up on the sag: http://locotuning.co.uk/tech-info.html try with 3 tokens.
Also the rebound needs to be set possdibly a click faster than you think as it only the mid/end of stroke ‘catch’ you’re adjusting

The BOS devilles are nice, but have a set of the 2015 36 RC2 floats on order as supposed to be very good, will be interesting to see back to back tests between all 3 in near future

I was wondering if anyone’s put a Lyrik coil into a Pike- depends a bit on lower leg fitting I think but presumably the top cap threads are the same (as the charge damper can be put into a Lyrik- not sure why anyone would do that mind) and the dimensions are pretty similiar…

Still working with the air spring and trying to get a bit better resutls out of it but I think maybe I’ve just been too spoiled by years on the coil…

Not something we’ve done as haven’t been asked.

I’ve set mine by sag. (27.5/160 on Liteville 301) The pressure is a long way below what the chart recommended but that’s not an issue.
Initially set it up without any tokens. Currently got one token in. Will be fitting a second when I get around to it.
Getting almost full travel and not felt them bottom out yet 🙂
I do like the Pike, so much so that I’ve bought a second one from that French company, to go on my hardtail.

Heh. As much as I’m tempted to be the mad scientist, it probably risks rashing up the inside of the stanchion with the coil, doesn’t it… So maybe a one way thing, assuming they’re still sealing the air spring against the stanchion.

If I’m bored I might get them in bits and trial fit things. But maybe I can get adequate performance out of the air spring if I keep working at it. Or maybe they just need a long time to bed in?

Set mine up by sag, running around 75psi (recommended was 110-120), not bottomed out yet as far as I’m aware, and not currently running any tokens.

Loco – got any tokens in stock?

I know they are air volume reducers but being a luddite can’t really work out what effect having them in would have?

thanks

Yes we have them in stock, they basically reduce the air volume so that in the mid end of the stroke the ‘spring’ become stiffer so harder to get deeper into the travel.

Mine are soft and springy – very plush. For springiness I have dialled out rebound damping. Started in the mid position and am a good few clicks less rebound damping from there. I have just settled on air pressure via trial and error so have no idea where its at. I just took my shock pump out with me for the first few rides to dial it in.

I find that even though i’ve got them set up quite soft the damping over the higher frequency small bumps is very good, quite firm and not bouncy when pedalling. For the bigger hits and rocks the compression is nice and plush. I’m really pleased with mine.

thanks Loco

so does that mean you can run them at lower pressure without risking bottoming out?

I’ve been experimenting with mine while out in the Alps (PDS). I’m riding a 29er Carbine and was running then quite hard with 20% sag and the LSC about 75%, max rebound and 2 tokens. Being a lot faster and rougher I’ve finally settled on 25% sag, no LSC and max rebound. It’s much plusher and gripier, no arm pump. I did try 30% sag but was going through all the travel regularly. I didn’t bring any tokens with me but will try 30% with 3 tokens when I get back. Using the climb assist a lot more on the flat and climbs now I’m running them softer in “unlocked” mode.
Forget about air pressure, just use the sag indicator and make sure you have all your riding gear on when you are adjusting it. Personally I think Pikes are now better than BOS Devilles.

Great info – this thread should be handy soon.

very handy chat

Charlie, yes it would mean you could run lower pressures but still have more support deeper into the travel as the spring curve become less linear.

Some info on one of the review sites

“While we’ve often found manufacturer’s recommended air pressure settings to be well off for real world use by a competent rider, and that’s including previous RockShox forks, the pressure chart on the Pike’s left leg turned out to be close to spot on. At 170lb full geared up, we began with 75psi (RockShox says that 65 – 75psi is ideal for a 160 – 180lb rider) pumped into our Solo Air spring, and actually ended up dropping that down by 5psi, not something that we often find ourselves doing with an air sprung fork. We believe that the Pike’s Charger damper, with its ability to properly control the fork’s compression stroke, is one of the major reasons for the slightly lower air pressure than we were expecting to have to use, as well as RockShox’s spring rate that ramps up just right when pushing the fork hard. In fact, we didn’t find the need to use RockShox’s ‘Bottomless Token’ volume spacers, which was surprising given that we tested the fork on relatively steep terrain with some good sized impacts. ”

I found the pressures on the leg a good starting point. A first for Rockshox, every pressure and spring guide of theirs I’ve had before has been gibberish.

First front air fork i’ve owned, so some questions after setting up today…..

Used my fox pump which took 3-4 times the pump action to get the dial moving compared to my rear fox shock, is this simply down to a large air chamber in the Pikes?

I’m 190lbs with all the gear (75-85psi for 180-200lbs in manual) so went with the lower limit and put in 75…

Sag seems far too low…

I’ve got the red dial set x4 clicks from slowest

Set the compression one click from fully open

So apart from letting more air out how can I achieve more sag? or is 15% ok?

So apart from letting more air out how can I achieve more sag? or is 15% ok?

Why are you determined to not let more air out? If you’re not getting enough sag then you need to let more air out.

So apart from letting more air out how can I achieve more sag? or is 15% ok?

Are you setting your sag in the attack position?

timmys – Member
So apart from letting more air out how can I achieve more sag? or is 15% ok?
Why are you determined to not let more air out? If you’re not getting enough sag then you need to let more air out.

Hey Timmy,

I’m happy to let more air out but as already on the low PSI for my weight wanted to get some opinions. The fork came with 40 psi in, and I was getting 25% sag @ that. But the compression was locked out fully at this point so probably not accurate sag?

chiefgrooveguru – Member
So apart from letting more air out how can I achieve more sag? or is 15% ok?
Are you setting your sag in the attack position?

POSTED 4 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Stood on the pedals, unseated etc but didn’t bounce about.

Let more air out and ignore what’s printed in the manual/on the fork leg for air pressure. The RS pressures are frequently far too high.

I’m happy to let more air out but as already on the low PSI for my weight

I’ve had previous RS forks that are rigid on the suggested pressures. Set by feel not by numbers.

Just ride them adjusting the air until you get full travel once or twice per ride.
If divey under braking add a token.
Repeat air adjustment.
Setting Sag is just a starting point

If divey under braking add a token.

See in this situation I would normal dial in more low speed compression.

I would use tokens if I felt the fork was using too much travel in mid to large sized bumps or was feeling a harsh bottom out on hard landings.

@soap cheers will do, don’t think i’ll need to add any tokens at this rate, just braking and pushing on the bars, almost feels as if they’re locked out! Will be dropping 10 psi a time and checking sag, then trialling on a ride. Is there a PSI setting considered too low on rockshox Pikes? (i’ve seen fox shocks warn of going below a certain minimum)

@rickdraper @mikewsmith would it be worth me getting a rockshox suspension shock, i’ve read some say the fox shocks can be out by 10psi.

The actual pressure is not important as long as the shock pump is consistent thats all that matters.

eg. As long as 100psi on your shock always gives you 30% sag you don’t need another pump.

Also make sure you check your sag with the compression damping in the fully open position.