I ride a Charge Blender as my do it all bike, love it but forks are just a bit heavy they're 426 Pikes weighing in at 2.5kgs looking for something lighter and have seen some 2012 Rev's within budget, they're only 1.6kgs.
I know they're lighter and damping should be much improved but have concerns over two things:
1/ How stiff are they vrs Pikes? I ride 4x, mini dh & generally quite hard, will they be stiff enough & strong enough?
2/ They're fixed travel (no uturn), how much will I miss it?
Any experiences or opinions welcome.
(i know people will say they don't know if I'll miss the adjustable travel because it depends how much I use it but I'd like to know others experiences, I.e have they changed & regretted it or have they changed and not looked back?)
Swapped from Pike coil U-turn 409 to 150mm Revelation RL 2012 on my Prophet.
The Revs are way lighter and the damping is far better. I can see the Revs flex when braking hard but they don't feel flexy when riding along. Not missed the U-turn at all.
So would you say it would be good for aggressive riding, also not sure if it would make any difference but I'd lower them to 130, keep the geo right.
Not as stiff as pikes but still pretty stiff. Depends how much you use u-turn now. I like it as it allows me to tweak the geometry of the bike and bar height. I never bother to change it during a ride, but like the flexibility to alter it for DH to DJ etc.
I think if im getting a significantly better fork thats lighter I'm happy to loose the adjustment but if its flexy not as stiff that's 2 negatives!
Iv,e got a pair of rtl ti (dp)revs and a pair of 426 dual air u-turn pikes.
You can definitely ride the pikes a lot harder but they do tend to choke up a bit.So it,s swings and roundabouts really.Lighter revs that flex a bit more but with better damping or bombproof pikes.Still can,t make my mind up which ride better.
Both really really good forks.
Just did the same thing on my heckler. My Pikes were the non uturn versions so cannot comment on that but I don't regret the swap at all! The Revs feel brilliant, no noticable flex and super smooth over everything.
If you lower them to 130 you're going to get a bit of increased stiffness over when they're run at 150mm due to increased overlap/less exposed stantion/shorter fork/less leverage etc etc. If that helps make your mind up.
Yeah mine choke up a bit sometimes too, guess damping isn't the best on Pikes the design is quite old. The other option is lyriks but far more expensive with little to no weight saving!?
If money wasn't an issue I think I'd get Fox 36 Talas but that's not an option....you make good points and everything I tend to read about Revs is positive just concerned I'll not like them as much.....saying that would really love to loose a couple of pounds, rest of the bike has a lightish build (apart from the frame).
cheers vinnyeh I was wondering if it might make a slight difference, anyone tried them at 130?
Sure you can just get the new damper and retro fit them to the Pike. Ask Loco.
The geo wont be right at 130mm, the blender is slack with 100mm.
The improvement in damping more than offsets the loss of stiffness for me, but I'm sure some folks would disagree.
If you think you'll miss the u-turn, have a look for a set of u-turn Teams from 2010-ish, the chassis is the same as the current Rev and you get the blackbox damper etc. Fantastic forks... Apparently Uturn doesn't sell but I can't see past it, best height adjust system there is, by miles.
The weight is a concern though, hadn't worried too much about the damping, but cheers, food for thought.
David...I hear what you say but currently ride 100mm for BMX track/dj 120mm trails & 140mm for mini DH, all very good.
From experience 120mm is a good compromise but I think you can only lower 150 to 140 or 130? Not 100% but thought 130 with a decent amount of sag would work pretty much all round. Contacted charge, they said 100 - 120mm.
Northwind....good call will search the web to research 2010 teams.
I'm wondering the same thing but to replace my 2008 Revs U Turns. I've never really clicked with them, but there isnt anything intrinsically wrong with them, apart from leaking oil, bushes gone, don't really need the u-turn any more...
Any other opinions?
What about some rebas mate? Should be alrite if you're smooth. 120mm of travel to and nice n light.
I reckon the Revelations are a good upgrade for reasons listed here:
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/pikes-to-revs-any-difference-axle-content