Can someone please tell me the difference of What the difference is between the Pikes range..327, 426, 454??

454 alloy steerer and ext floodgate

426 steel steerer and ext floodgate

409 ‘steel’ steerer and Int floodgate

discussion of late

The 327 came stock with the specialized pitch which has no motion control (turnkey instead?), therefore no floodgate, compression or lockout featured on the non OEM models. (327 info sourced from ride.IO)

oh and some are air and some are coil, no idea which though…

409 is coil, 454 and 426 can be coil or air. All 20mm Maxle

My 327’s are coil u-turn with rebound damping, nothing else.

409 – Coil, internal floodgate, steel steerer and solid crown. These are usually OEM
426 – Coil external floodgate, steel steerer and solid crown. These are retail.
*note that some OEM Pikes are labelled 426, with air springs. Slightly lighter than coils.
454 – Coil, external floodgate, alloy steerer and hollow crown. Rare aftermarket fork
454 – Air, external floodgate, alloy steerer and hollow crown. Common top end fork.

Most Pikes come with U-Turn adjustment, but there are a few Air forks that are solely dual air.

How do the 327 fit in with the range??
Ive been looking at a set of these..

IIRC 327 were OEM fit to Specialised Pitch.

“The 327 came stock with the specialized pitch which has no motion control (turnkey instead?), “

If the pre-sector 130mm Recon(AM) are anything to go by then:
327 has no lock out or MoCo damper in the top. Just oil and the rebound adjuster (and OE)
335 has a turnkey lokcout in the top +rebound(and OE)
351 has MoCo compression damper, but no floodgate adjust. Available aftermarket

Also IIRC:
454 dual-air, fixed travel ~ 2050g
454 dual-air U-turn ~ 2150g
426 coil U-turn ~ 2400g
Not sure on the others, I seem to think there were some claimed at more like 2450g, and 454 coil U-turn would be something like 2200-2300ishg

I have the 454’s coil and they’re well light compared to the coil 409’s I did have.

454 – Coil, external floodgate, alloy steerer and hollow crown. Rare aftermarket fork

Not happy about them being rare though as I’d buy another s/h set when I eventually destroy my current 454’s

Is there anything to really replace Pikes yet?

Is there anything to really replace Pikes yet?

Isn’t the Sektor meant to be the Pike replacement?

I’ve never had to consider replacing my Pikes – they just won’t die…

Thanks tor that… given the choice of 2nd hand market I think I’ll pass on the 327s and look for some 454s. Does anywhere still stock these new?

Winstanleys – new 454 Pike Dual Air

Isn’t the Sektor meant to be the Pike replacement?

No not really – Sektors are just cheaper Revelations. Same chassis, less posh damping and heavier innards (compared with Revs).

Apparently there’s a 140mm Argyle now, so that’s probably the closest thing. They shared a lot of parts back when the Argyles were released as a DJ fork, I think the chassis is / was the same anyway.

Yeah, I wouldn’t bother with the 327s unless you can get a replacement MoCo unit to go in them. Last time I looked, I found some place selling 454 Pikes online for £450 or so. I sold mine for £110 a few months back, second hand is definitely the way to go!

+1 on trying to find a MoCo unit if you find 327 pikes for much less than 426’s

“Sektors are just cheaper Revelations”
Not really. The spring is different (though for 2013 not so?) the dampers are different (revs have dual-flow rebound or more now) and maybe also lighter

It would appear Pikes and Recon AM (not Recon XC (XC/SL/Race, all 80/100mm)) have been replaced by Revelation, Sector and Argyle 140mm, sort of
As in:
Closest thing to a dual air 454 Pike would be an ’09 Rev in Maxle 20mm, same lowers, then 2010 onward Rev Maxle (lighter crown/lowers)
Closest to Dual-air U-turn 454 Pike similarly ’09 Rev Maxle, then ’10 onward
Coil U-turn Pike kind of replaced by a Sector Coil-turn in Maxle (but newer lighter/flexier power bulge lowers)

[Recon (QR) solo air (80-)130mm/coil U-turn 85-130mm replaced by Sector solo air and coil U-turn in QR]

With the OE (felt/commencal) 140mm Recon 20mm (pike lowers) probably closest to a 140mm argyle? Though somethings likely different as the 140mm solo air argyles are still around 2400/2450g IIRC

Yeah it depends what you’re using them for. As a ‘trail’ fork, which is what I bought my pikes for back in 2007 (although I don’t think anyone was really using the word ‘trail’ back then) because options were limited and Pikes were the obvious 140mm option from RockShox. For that usage, new Revelations are definite upgrade and obvious successor from Pikes IMO.

But I reckon the pikes excel at the kind of hard core hard tail thing – I.e. on a bike that gets thrashed/ hucked/ jumped etc. So I’d imagine a 140mm Argyle is the better successor for that sort of riding.

Sektors are definitely not as strong/burly as a Pike. I’ve had both. The problem with Revs is that there’s no coil option, so you’re forced to go with the Sektor, which is more basic internally.

Rockshox dropped a b@llock when they stopped the Pike.

Rockshox dropped a b@llock when they stopped the Pike.

Not convinced, the damper is the one used in the Sektor and and a world away from the newer ones in the Revs terms of performance and the Pike is/was massively heavy for what it was, Lyrics are only about 200g heavier!

What I meant was the Sektor is more basic than the Rev internally, not more basic than the Pike.

Pike was heavy sure, but it was tough too.

Pikes are pretty cheap second hand, I got a set of 426 Pikes and a Hope Bulb/XC717 wheel for £250 last February, although that may have been slightly mates rates. Been serviced once, probably need it again now though. Very very tough forks, heavy though. I could get a set of 120mm SIDs for my Specialized and save almost 1kg for approx £300, but I like having the extra travel for big descents, it also means if I got something like a Five, I could still use these forks.

I have a set of 426 Dual-Air U-turn Pikes that came on my ’09 Wolf Ridge. Had them just over two years and just got them back from servicing.
Apparently the only think that needed sorting was the piston, it had swollen slightly due to the oil being contaminated with water and so needed resizing and polishing. Apart from that they were fine after two years of abuse and my hamfisted riding style.

Yes, the buggers are heavy,but i love them 🙂

Pikes absolutely rule. I’ve a set of 454 Air Turns from 2006 – which cost me £330 brand new, damn those price hikes – which are still going great guns. The only thing wrong with them is some cosmetic flaking of the paint on the crowns, everything else including the stanchions looks brand new.

They’re certainly in a different league stiffness-wise than Revelations – and ergo Sektors, plus for minimal extra investment at service time you can have a PUSH damper fitted. What’s not to like?

My missus has the 426 airs from my Wolf Ridge on her bike and stepson 2 runs Pike 409 coils on his hardtail. Any issues are very easily rectified so long as you have circlip pliers, allen keys and the correct oil weights to hand.