I have 34's 160mm,,no issues with them and have enjoyed riding them am I going to notice a big difference with upgrading to 36's or Pikes.
I'd like to treat my bike but if no need I won't,, Alps in the summer so makes me think would I see any benefit. What is the best fork bareing in mind I'm guna do some flying on my Whyte g150(mines 160 tho)
I have gone from 2014 34's to 2016 36's. The 36's are amazing but I still really like the 34's and use them on my hardtail. I have never owned pikes as I don't like them. I have ridden plenty and they always feel cheap (which they are) and I have never been able to set them up well and I'm not particularly fussy with suspension.
You will get many opinions on here so don't expect a clear winner. You will hear a lot of hate for fox because they are expensive.
You will also probably hear how amazing pikes are with small bump compliance. To me that says they are good when mincing at slow speed on smooth terrain. A lot of comments about the new fox say they really come to life when the going gets fast and rough which to me is exactly where you want them to work best.
I have gone from 2014 34's to 2016 36's. The 36's are amazing but I still really like the 34's and use them on my hardtail. I have never owned pikes as I don't like them. I have ridden plenty and they always feel cheap (which they are) and I have never been able to set t
Glad I'm not the only one!
I've never had an issue with Fox forks (although the early CTD forks I ride were poo). What about upgrading your 34's to the latest Fit 4 cartridge?
Had some 2001 Judy's, put me of Rockshox for life.
Good advice, iv heard the pikes are great forks plenty times but still always been more drawn to fox, what benefit did you find from upgrading from 36s from 34s?
The best way I can describe the 36 is that they are the closest feeling to a full on downhill fork that I have tried. But at the same time they feel perfectly controlled when climbing. I went from 160mm to 170mm thinking I would probably revert back to 160mm but the bike feels even better at 170mm.
The new, current 34 is actually a really nice fork, doesn't really feel like a 36 at all, it's mimics more like a RS.
Whether you can feel/notice an upgrade depends what you want from a fork.
I really dislike the new 36, as mine were harsh, and nearly impossible to set up properly unless you wanted a perminant 'race' feel. That's great when you're racing as I do, but it's sh*t for 95% of the other riding. They were also hideously unreliable.
I prefer a fork that feels great for all of that & can give it a bit of a tweak for racing. For 160mm personally I think the Deville & Lyrik are the best two forks on the market, based on performance alone.
But then one mans meat, is another mans poison.
I loved my Deville d would have stuck some 140mm ones on my hardtail if they hadn't got rid of the independent LSC and HSC.
My Devilles were easily the best fork I've owned and were reliable too.
i found pikes pretty good,but wouldnt have thought theyd be significantly better than the 34s you have now.
i've had some 2006 and 2010 fox 36 and the pikes whilst being more supple and generally a lot better overall were not as stiff. havent tried the new 36,so cant compare those.
ive just swapped a set of 2015 pikes for the new 2016 lyriks,havent ridden them yet though so cant comment on how they feel.
Depends what year 34s you have. I had 2013 34s and never got on with them . I even tried a push upgrade but they were never good on small stuff and I was never able to get full travel no matter how soft they were set up . Current 34s are supposed to be much improved . I changed to RS Yaris and they feel way better .
I've had high end 36's and pikes are just as good. In fact with the tokens, they are perhaps more suited to hard charging than the 36s are.
Money no object, I'd probably have the 36s but if buying my own new; pikes.
I've got 2014 34's. How do I know if they are the terrible CTD or the upgraded version?
Pikes not very good and cheap? Amazing when a craze starts to wane, any excuse to knock the incumbent. Pikes are bloody great forks.
Unless you have had the new 2016 36's then you don't really have a proper comparison.
I have never liked pikes since day one or rockshox forks in general. I have always preferred marzocchi or fox. But I do like rockshox shocks and droppers but prefer fox shocks given the choice.
Also a lot of bikes come with the low end fox forks which isn't a fair comparison either. These are no where near as good as the factory spec top end models. I don't disagree that the non factory aren't brilliant.
I had 34 Talas on a 2014 Bronson & total dog poo, 2015 Bronson with new 36RC2's absolutely mega & did the Ard rock on them & to be blunt they pi$5sed it, they feel solid near bomb proof, well in my limited capacity, then went for some 2016 34's on another bike & really like them FIT 4 is a step forward after all the negative press Fox got for CTD & very close if not there against pikes possibly.
Briefly owned Pikes never really rode on them so can't comment.
Unless you have had the new 2016 36's then you don't really have a proper comparison.
Why because Fox forks were complete crap for about 3 years until then? The pike design is a few years old now, it's not RS' fault it took Fox that long to catch up.
Also a lot of bikes come with the low end fox forks which isn't a fair comparison either.
And comparing £900 forks with £450 forks is?
Aren't those new volume spacers a great idea too? 😉
Unless you have had the new 2016 36's then you don't really have a proper comparison
2015's, then replaced under warranty with 2016's, which also repeatedly went back for warranty work.
Still don't rate them.
All I meant was that a lot of people say they have had fox 34 or 36 and they were rubbish. Yes apparently they had a bad period with ctd but when someone wants to buy new (presuming new 2016) forks then all comparisons to older model forks are useless.
A lot of comments about the new fox say they really come to life when the going gets fast and rough which to me is exactly where you want them to work best.
Ideally you want them to work best all the time,.
I like the bit when you can't get consumable parts for 3 year old dampers. Great service that.
I like the bit when you can't get consumable parts for 3 year old dampers. Great service that.
😀 It's built in obsolescence. Apple do it aswell. I plotted a chart once and found that people who buy Fox racing shox also buy Apple products. Funny that...
andysredmini - Member
All I meant was that a lot of people say they have had fox 34 or 36 and they were rubbish. Yes apparently they had a bad period with ctd but when someone wants to buy new (presuming new 2016) forks then all comparisons to older model forks are useless.
Yes but the OP is asking about upgrading his existing 34s and it's impossible to tell whether he will notice a difference without knowing exactly which year they were from as the new ones are supposed to be a lot better .