Seen some Rock Shox Pikes! Are they any good? Wondered if they are worth putting on BFe build. Or what other options are worth a look. Don’t want to over spend.

coil or air, what damper? age/use etc?

Brand new air. Cheers cruzheckler

Sorry just checked they are these. Rockshox Pike 426 Coil U-Turn 140-90mm – Forks 2009 still brand new.

heavy or light ones??

Hi mikewsmith they are 5.4lb

Righty, 426 coil U-Turns are about the heaviest in the Pike range, they’ve got a steel steerer tube in addition to the coil spring.

However, don’t let that put you off, they’re the Pike of choice for most people given that they’re reputedly the stiffest of the range and also the plushest. I’ve a set of coil 409s on one of my bikes (as per the 426, but with allen key threshold adjustment) and I rate them very highly. They’re incredibly reliable too.

I’ve a set of 454 Air U-Turns (alloy steerer, air sprung) and a set of 426 Air U-Turns (steel steerer, air sprung) and they’re all easy to look after. In many respects I prefer them to the Revelation Race forks I’ve fitted to my long travel XC bike.

Thanks for the info PJM1974. I’ve also been looking at Rock Shox Rev’s but it’s all a minefield BFe my first complete build so grateful for all help.

I’ve got 426 pikes & they’re ace, I paid £290 new about 2 years ago, if you can get them at that sort of price I don’t think you could get better for the money, I ride quite hard 4x, dh, trail & BMX. A bit weighty compared to forks twice the price but hey.

How much do you want to spend? What sort of use? They’re good forks but a little old- stiff and strong, but the damping isn’t quite up to the standards of the current Rockshox top end.

I bought a set of used Revelation Teams for about the same as you’d pay for a good condition set of Pikes, and they seem a better option for all but the hardest of use… They’re not as stiff but they’re more controlled and I know which one I prefer.

426 dual air u-turns here on a trance X.
Luv em…
super stiff and very very reliable…

I’ve just taken some 454 coil pikes off my 5spot.. They are great forks, stiff, plush and really reliable so why did I change them..

They are quite heavy and I found the performance over small bumps to be not as good as some other forks I’ve had, namely Fox Vanillas. I also got to a point with the bike, when I put Maxxis 2.4 advantages tyres on it, that I’d turned it into a real bulldozer. there really was nothing that would get in its way. So slightly smaller tyres and back to vanillas and I’m really happy with the bike. To me it feels “right” Not that if felt wrong with the Pikes at all.
What I’m trying to say is they are brilliant forks, they just wern’t quite for me

I have a set of Pike 454 airs that were on a BFe and they’re spot on imo. Great forks and very reliable despite a nackered motion control assembly (I bought 2nd hand and think they were a bit battered by the previous owner). I prefer air becuase coil forks are a pain in the arse for tuning if you fall inbetween coil weights. Air’s also very easy to adjust your small bump sensitivity via the negative air pressure. Should be a bit lighter as well if you care about that sort of thing.

Anyone want to swap a set of coil 454’s for air? I love them but they are a bit overkill and a tad too heavy.

I’ve got Pike 454 dual air u turns on my BFe and they are a good match for the frame, only downside (apart from weight) is that the rebound assy isn’t great at coping with big, repeated hits, chokes the fork a bit making it feel rigid – this can be fixed by fitting a rebound assy from the latest revs, i’d like to try that upgrade in mine when money permits.

Thanks everybody for your help. I’ll keep looking see what’s about. Cheers all 😀

Pikes are ace.

I’ve got coil Pikes on my Soul at the moment but I think they’ll almost certainly end up on my BFe at some point as they’d suit it well.

I run Pikes on my BFe – they’re a perfect fork for the frame imo. Ideal in that you can wind them in when climbing, and wind them out when things start going downhill.

Although I tend to run mine at 140 most of the time, and at 120 for most trail duties.