I’ve had Pikes for a few months now (2015 RCT3 solo air) and they have been good overall, but some rides out they just don’t seem to track too well and give me a harsh ride.

I’ve just done a diy oil change and cleaned the seals and foam rings which was easy enough.

One thing I notice is that only the last 3 clicks on the rebound adjuster seem to have any noticeable affect in the car park test.

I’m 75kg, use one token and run them around 70-75psi just now, try to keep compression open and rebound around the middle. I don’t quite get full compression, but fairly close. When I ran them with lower pressure they felt too divey, and I think when I upped the compression they got harsh. I just can’t seem to get them running really smoothly, they have a lot of feedback on fast chatter. Maybe I haven’t tried some settings that would work because the car park test doesn’t feel right. Any suspension experts around Glasgow want to go biking with me?! 🙂

It feels as if high speed compression isn’t very compliant, but I may be mistaking something else for this.

Any ideas?

my default rockshox problem reply is in here
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/reba-solo-air-forks-advice-needed

When you did the diy oil change for the lowers, did you make sure to compress the lowers all the way and remove any trapped air before tightening the two bolts up?

I’ve just done mine today, working perfectly.

This is also worth a read…
http://www.mbr.co.uk/how-to-2/tech-advice/rockshox-pike-5-ways-perfect-set-324890

From what you’re describing it doesn’t sound like any kind of fault with the forks, just a case of getting them setup correctly for you.

For what its worth (not much really given that everyone likes a different feel), I have them with 75psi in the air spring, I have the compression set at 3 clicks from minimal compression damping, and the rebound set at around 14 clicks from minimal rebound damping. I am running with no tokens, I tried with one but didnt like the way they ramped up.

I did find that I needed to pump them up to around 30psi, then slowly cycle them up and down 10 or so time, then add air up to around 50psi, and cycle them 10 or so more times, then finally pump up to normal pressure. without doing this, it seems like the negative air spring didnt charge correctly, and they felt really really pogo’ish.

With no compression damping I found them too divey, but much more than 4 clicks they start to get harsh.

I found a lot of the ‘advice’ on the massive MTBR thread about pike setup to not work at all well for me, so generally ignored it, especially the stuff about having the rebound really fast.

Yep Golddigger, did the compressed forks thing to set neg chamber. Might go back to no tokens and use the pressure alone. Not tried a lot of rebound control yet. I’ll try your trick julians ta

When you did the diy oil change for the lowers, did you make sure to compress the lowers all the way and remove any trapped air before tightening the two bolts up?

I’ve just done mine today, working perfectly.

This is also worth a read…
http://www.mbr.co.uk/how-to-2/tech-advice/rockshox-pike-5-ways-perfect-set-324890

That is the worst guide on the Internet for servicing a pike. Best to follow the Rock Shox guide in the SRAM tech docs.

Car park test isn’t really a good indication of how they perform out on the trail though.

I’m within a couple of kilos of the same weight, and I have mine at 60psi, one token (though I might put a 2nd one in), 2 or three clicks of compression damping (almost completely open) and 12 clicks from slowest (a little faster than halfway).

At first I couldn’t get them to feel amazing, but my problem was I had too much compression and too slow a rebound – so they packed up and felt harsh over small bumps.

Try putting another token in and lowering the air pressure; the tokens will combat the dive, and the lower pressure will improve sensitivity over faster bumps.

Book marked as just starting to tune a pair of Pikes.

That mbr link shows the wrong info, i was chatting to a SRAM mechanic at an event this year and he told me not to compress the forks before attaching the footnuts.

But i doubt thats your isdue anyway dan. My pikes took a LOT of fiddling to get right. I eventually had a FAST damper fitted as i had some spare cash one month and it made a big difference to how they run.

How much travel are they? And what bike are they fitted to? And how and what do you ride? Us on here should be able to give you a good idea on what we run.

If you’re running lots of compression or high air pressures, then its likely you want less air volume, so I’d suggest trying another token.

You also sound like your rebound is too slow, so a couple of less clicks of rebound damping will help it ride higher in the travel too.

It’s a bit personal too, as I like fast rebound and a stiffer fork than most.

Just gonna chime in with a different POV.

With suspension you’re playing a game of having the suspension soft enough to track, but not so soft that the wheel can’t be loaded enough at the correct moment.

If you have the suspension so there is zero sensation of the bump, i’d argue you’ll have very little load on the tyre and are in fact compromising on grip.

I guess what i’m saying is not to get too hung up on eradicating all sensation of a bump, that isn’t what suspension is for, and is counter productive.

Arms getting tired? Get stronger, it’s a physical activity after all.

Whats with all the mental ideas about releasing trapped air in the lowers and compressing the legs before tightening the footnuts? Why are people so quick to jump on board with a home-written service guides when there are very thorough (and accurate) service guides from the manufacturers and service videos from the manufacturers.
Cracks me up when people would rather trust a complete stranger than the company that made the product! Ha!
As for the original post, I’d take it to your local store and see if they think the damper is working correctly or compare your ‘3 clicks of rebound’ with a new fork on new bike. I’ve had a few sets of pikes and the fork was extremely slow with the rebound at 2 or 3 clicks from fully on (with 70ish PSI).
Sounds like your damper may be leaking as with many this year. Warranty claim if under 2 years old. Or a simple seal head change on the damper if second-hand.
That’s my rant over 😉

I’m having a similar problem to the OP where the control on the r/h leg is not having any effect. I’ve spoken to a couple of people(lbs) who suggest the fault is in the control dial itself where it isn’t turning the valve underneath(known fault apparently). Mine are being sent for service/repair this week. Mine appear to be stuck wide open which is ok but not ideal. Fingers crossed they’ll come back sorted. Incidentally they are 160mm dual pos pikes.

I’ll clarify after reading my hasty OP… It’s the COMPRESSION that only makes a noticeable change 3 clicks from max, not rebound doh! But as thats just a car park test i should probably ignore it.

I’ve done the zip tie air thing and set it back up, removed the token and hope to test ride it tomorrow. Releasing the trapped air made an instant difference to them i must say.

I’ve done the zip tie air thing and set it back up, removed the token and hope to test ride it tomorrow. Releasing the trapped air made an instant difference to them i must say.

Good luck. I found that releasing the trapped air made a big difference, but it only lasted for an hour or so.

Air forks – ultimately they will be slightly harsh

I’m the same weight as you. 2 tokens, 68 psi, 1 click of compression – worked best for me,

have sold the forks though now and back on 5 year old coil lyriks which are basically a much better fork!

Releasing the trapped air made an instant difference to them i must say.

Interesting. Seems to be affect a lot of people! Fox have put air bleed ports on some of their lowers and people have been DIYing them on other forks.

Check that the oil in damper side is actually where it should be. All of mine had migrated from damper into lowers. Got a whole new set under warranty and from what Ive heard I’m not alone. Warranty was brilliant, took about a week.

Just the usual oil in the damper side lowers so that’s not an issue here. If it’s just the seals trapping air i can see it not lasting long but it’s easy to do again i guess.

slightly heavier than you dan with one token, lots of rebound, no LSC, 80psi. no idea what sag that is though. soft enough while staying high in travel when braking and going down steep rocky decents.

I started with 30% sag but it was too soft and adding LSC just ruined the small bump sensitivity so I just added some air till I was happy. This of course is good for my bike and riding style.

Poah, i am 82Kg and those are my magic numbers as well. Ill play about with the LSC depending on where i am riding but thats all.