I recently bought a pair of Rock Shox Pikes and I'm generally pleased with them except that they bottom out on relatively small jumps, drops & compressions (I'm about 13st/80kgs).
I presume they came with the standard spring - has anybody upgraded to a stiffer spring? Did it make much difference and was it all for the better?
Did you fit the replacement spring yourself - how easy was it - any special tools needed?
I ran a firm and I'm 70kg. Easy to do- 5mm allen key, rubber mallet/soft faced hammer and a socket set for the top-cap
It makes a big difference and it's dead easy to do. RS would say you need the x-firm but personally I found it too stiff and went down to the firm which seems about right, and I weight over 16 stone.
I weigh 81kgs and carry a lot of gear when I'm guiding. I broke a regular spring and now use a firm. I think that the firm only really comes into it's own when I'm going quick and definitely wouldn't want an x-firm.
Fitting the spring is super simple.
http://www.cycletherapist.co.uk/step-by-step-guides/rock-shox-lyrik-lower-service/
Try checking how much oil are in the bottom of your lowers first? Really easy to add in 15ml in each leg
17st here on X-Firm. Never bottomed mine.
As above...oil level ?
85kg here. Running a firm currently. I find it sits too deep in the travel during any kind of aggressive riding so i'll be popping the xfirm back in at some point.
Just standing up gets me 50% sag on the firm. Makes the bike feel sloppy and out of control.
Just standing up gets me 50% sag on the firm.
Weird, I weigh quite a bit more and never have over about 35% sag with the firm.
Yea i reckon the springs aren't made to very good tolerances.
Could also be down to my moobs er i mean muscular torso weighing the front down more 😉
Yea i reckon the springs aren't made to very good tolerances.
Hmm. I've offered this theory up before as well, but I have no way of checking it.
FWIW I'm heavier than Grumm and a firm is spot on for me in my Pikes...
16stone on xfirm here.
xfirm on the Lyrik though was waay too stiff.
Heh just as a quick example of how soft they are, if i wind down the uturn to the lowest setting and gently bounce the front whilst rolling along, i can make them bottom out.
Are you absoulutely sure they are using all the travel?
RS forks can leak damping oil into the lower right leg, which will rob you of travel, and feel like it's bottoming out (Well it is, just early) quite harshly. Bottoming them out properly is bloody hard work! At your weight the standard spring should be spot on. It really should....
I agree with the thought that the springs are not made very accurately. I have a standard spring in mine and do not get full travel or enough sag - despite weighing over 12 stone.
No the damper is not leaking afaik.
They bottom out with the wiper a few mm from the crown.
Fairly certain it is a firm spring as its the right colour and feels harder that the medium i've got knocking about somewhere.
No the damper is not leaking afaik.
They bottom out with the wiper a few mm from the crown.
I'm assuming you mena 3-4mm ish? If so then no, they're not leaking.
Interesting.....
Have you checked the spring is the right weight? Well, the one you think it is, put it that way! I'm guessing you have by the sounds of it. (Blue = Standard, Red = Firm, IIRC)
retro83, that's weird. I'm between 80 and 85kgs depending on food/dehydration and I find my firm a teensy bit too firm. Maybe it's down to the geometry of the bikes? My Hustler is quite slack and i have a short stem on it so my weight will be further back resulting in less sag.
Yea its def a firm.
At this point i'm willing to admit defeat!- must be something funky with my setup. 80 mm stem and short top tube on my meta 5 maybe making me put too much weight over the front?
run a firm sprung pike on my orange 5. was bottoming the standard. 12st dripping wet.
we've done this thread a couple of times now BTW. 🙂
Anybody got a firm spring for sale?
have you adjusted your mission control correctly? Try winding in more on the flood gate and 3/4's towards clockwise on the compression dial?
Retro might have on soon if he has tu buy an x-firm! 😉
Thing is. When I had a set of Lyriks before I immediately went to a xfirm spring. Felt awful then on the mtbr forum there was someone who said dont go with the weight spring that RS etc recommend- go one down from theirs and learn the mission control/floodgate properly.
I think its true - everyone knows that if you have your compression dial fully anti-clockwise the forks are fully active/divey. Full clockwise- stiffer.