I think I’m in a position wher I can keep my Rune and replace my Skackline with a Switchback so will need new wheels and forks too.

The big question is about forks. I’ve ridden some 2013 34’s and didn’t like them but the 2014 ones have supposedly been reworked. I’m still slightly worried that I’d be mad to buy a set of these discounted over some Slants. I’m toying between a new set from CRC OE sine ex demo ones from Mojo.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I know everyone will say get Pikes, but they’re a bit too much money and still seem expensive second hand.

I ordered the 34’s. CRC sent 32’s badly packed. The only way to tell was to type the serial number into Fox’s model I.D page. Plus (with hindsighgt) 1yrs warranty? **** that. Forks returned.

The 2013s are really bad but you can update them with the 2014 fit cartridge… I did it to mine and it made a massive difference. They dont blow through their travel and small bump compliance is better..

Im selling mine in the classifieds if you are interested 🙂

Are they that bad? Never really noticed lol

2014 Talas are fine. Was very happy with mine but, when mine needed a service I swapped to a float cartridge for an extra £60 or so as I didn’t use the Talas part and had them tuned a little. They’re now every bit as good as Pikes, so if they’re a good price then go for it.

I have 2013 Talas that were OEM fit on my Cube. Interested in getting them upgraded when I get round to having them serviced. The Talas seems like a waste of time anyway!

34 yes, TALAS no.

My talas came of a cube and they were shockingly bad.. they blew through the full travel really easily. After fitting the uprated cartridge it was like having a completely different fork. You could run them softer and they would soak up bumps much much better. Its definitely worth doing..

Good news buddy I think that’s the best result.

Have you thought about RS revs? I know they are only a 32mm chassis but at only 140mm travel they will be stiff enough and they are cheaper than pikes.

.mikewsmith – Member
34 yes, TALAS no.

The 2014 Talas bear no resemblance to earlier ones at all and feel very similar to floats.

Good news buddy I think that’s the best result.

Have you thought about RS revs? I know they are only a 32mm chassis but at only 140mm travel they will be stiff enough and they are cheaper than pikes.

I did think about Revs but wasn’t sure how they compare to Pikes / 34’s. I’ve also hit my irrational dislike of Rock Shox to get round!

Absolutely love my Slants. Much stiffer than the Fox 32s they replaced. Damping is great; good small bump compliance but very supportive in corners and don’t blow through travel.

They’re very well made too; internals are all metal, damping is via shim-stacks which can be tuned (big thread on mtbr). Seals are excellent; I lowers service mine every 3 months and the oil is always as clean as it went in.

If you buy the slants from J-tech James will custom tune them for you at no extra cost, and provide awesome after sales service.

Of the two you mention, my choice would be the 34 with a future plan to put an Avalanche cartridge in it. Then it doesn’t matter how naff the damper is as it would be replaced. Just take any fork that one of their dampers would fit in.

They’d have to be really cheap (£300 say, not oem as well) for me to consider not spending more on the Pikes. Tried some 2015 34’s back to back with Pikes and the RS won hands down. Saying that, if I could afford it I’d have 36’s.

I did think about Revs but wasn’t sure how they compare to Pikes / 34’s. I’ve also hit my irrational dislike of Rock Shox to get round!

My old style Pikes are plenty stiff enough on my BFe but when changing to the Lyriks on my Stumpy i notice the difference. The new Pikes have 35mm stantions but they are a narrower chassis than the lyrik (not sure about old pike) so I wouldn’t think they are as stif.

If you don’t want RS get X-Fusion they will probably last longer than fox stantions.

CRC are shipping 2015 34’s under that deal. Sent back the wrong order rcvd and received back 2015’s. RESULT 😀

Stanchions? Have you seen my forks after just 3months use? 😆

I’ve never had an issue with Fox stanchions. My 05 36’s are still on the original CSU.

To be honest I think I’m gonna my to give the 34’s a whirl. The 14 versions are supposed to be much better. I don’t really like Rock Shox (not really sure why but I never liked either of the original Pikes that I had or my Boxxers). If they’re poo, I’ll just sell them on.

Always thought the same mindmap, have not been a fan of RS for years and have always liked Fox. I then tried 2015 Pikes back to back with 2014 34’s and the Pikes were miles better. Mate has some new Revelations and they’ve come on along way since the pair I had in 2012.

Saying all that, for the right (low) price I’d still have a look at some 34’s. They’d have to be a good couple of hundred quid cheaper then Pikes though.

Had 2013 and 2014 34s preferred the 2013 ones for the damper settings. Both of them had to have the csu replaced under warranty within 3-5 months from new. The 2014 ones were rubbish full stop. Never ran smooth at all. Went to pikes in the end. Had a go on the 29er version of the slant, awesome fork, so I’d plump for that over anything from fox.

I tried the Pikes RC3T. Preferred the fettled 55CRs

The Pikes are shed loads more money which eats into my wheel budget. Even second hand, they’re not cheap.

The 13 versions that I rode on a demo bike were a horrible divey mess. Ideally I’d have another set of Devilles but my budget won’t stretch that far.

Tbh I found the Pikes to be divey but as a amateur I felt embarrassed versus the frankly gushing reviews. I went down/up psi/etc in my usual blind haphazard tuning way etc and still dove. Firmer meant kicking back. The charger damper is the bees knees but I still found old fox floats as fit and forget they are there whilst riding.

Alit of riders become evangalistical when they see reviews as backing the product. They convince themselves that it must be amazing.

Volume spacers are what you were missing hpra 😉

Had two – the recommended for solo air

Tbh I found the Pikes to be divey but as a amateur I felt embarrassed versus the frankly gushing reviews. I went down/up psi/etc in my usual blind haphazard tuning way etc and still dove.

Incompetent tuning = poor result. Quelle surprise…