What fork for a steel Hardtail?

I'd be going for one of these. Something just feels very right about a pike to me. Not too

burly, decent price for the ultimate too.

https://www.merlincycles.com/rockshox-pike-ultimate-charger-3-rc2-debonair-boost-forks-29-293574.html  

I was going to say Pike. 36's might be too much fork?

I have one of those. Pike @ 140 really suits it. Mine is a 2023 Select from my SC 5010. Upgraded the 5010 to a new ultimate (from Merlin as per link above). I run pretty low rise bars on mine, but even with a 140mm it's not high at the front. 

Mine is my backpacking bike (replacing a gravel bike) but also used for some local Singletrack. Pike is pretty light for a 140mm fork. That'd be where my money would be going.  

Oh I run 36s on the BfE you can see behind. For me, that's way too much fork for the Britango esp as it's primarily my bike packing bike. 

I’ve been running Fox 34 on my 140mm hardtail for several years. Faultless. Probably my favourite forks ever.

I have Revelations on mine. Really like them. More basic than a Pike I guess but work really nicely.

I covet a set of 36 SL. Picked up a Factory set at work… they are bonkers light. They’re not the 36 everyone is used to. There’s no reason to pick a set of 34 instead now (apart from cost).

Pike ultimate a good alternative.

Is there a lot of difference between the Pike ultimate and fox 36 sl? Is the £800 extra worth it?

Is there a lot of difference between the Pike ultimate and fox 36 sl? Is the £800 extra worth it?

With the Fox you're getting the best that Fox currently offer for that segment, until their next update of course.

With the RS you're getting the best they offered in that segment a couple of years ago (AFAIK).

I would 100% buy the Pike, no debate.

Or one of these 130mm Fox 34 for considerably less:
Fox 34 Float Performance GRIP Boost MTB Forks - 29" | Merlin Cycles

I don’t think more travel is better unless you run out of travel or find it too bumpy at the moment and/or want the bike to be a bit slacker and taller. Do you like how it handles with the 120mm fork?

I have a 160mm fork on my hardtail, partly to put the geometry where I want it and partly because I like how a big fork rides on the right hardtail. Not everyone likes that though!

The Pike, 34 and 36SL all make sense and you’re a convenient weight for the stock damper tunes actually working well!

Worth knowing also that with Fox the Performance Elite is the same damper, chassis etc. as the Factory but without the Kashima coating (just has the plain back stanchions) and are often a huge amount cheaper.

I don't think that applies with the SL, but if you were looking at non-SL they're a great deal. I think they have the Fox 34 Performance Elite for £399 on Merlin at the moment and that's a great fork.

I'm sure the new SL is lovely if you're happy to spend that much, but I don't think you'd be disappointed by a 34 Performance Elite or regular Factory for a significant saving.

I don't think you'd be disappointed by a 34 Performance Elite or regular Factory for a significant saving.

I've not ridden one of the Grip 2 dampers, but I've heard some chat that the damping is a bit harsh and they prefer the more basic Grip damper in the cheaper "Performance" forks.

My Performance 38 is certainly very impressive and comfy for an air fork anyway. I suspect that Performance 34 I linked would suit OP's use case quite well, from the riding they describe.

On my Bird hardtail I've had a Rockshox Revelation and a fox 36 factory kashima. The fox is way more capable, much better on repeated hits, doesn't bog down. Both running 140mm

On another bike I've got a Rockshox Lyrik Ultimate RC2 at 150mm. So I think the same spring and damper as the pike.

Of the fox36 and the Lyrik I prefer the fox. But for bike packing I'd say it's overkill, so would be tempted with the fox34 mentioned above.

Marzocchi z2 with 130mm travel would be a good shout

The Fox 36 SL is very light apparently, but still only 200g lighter than the Pike ultimate. The 120mm reba is ok but I don't like how it handles on bumpy Singletracks. I ran out of travel once or twice only. I think what I want to know is how Fox is better than Rockshox and is it really that much better?

I'd avoid the Z2... the bushings aren't up to the job. They cut the wrong corners making that fork affordable IMHO. A cheap 34 would be a much better bet (even the Rhythm is far better than the Z2). Looking for a bargain? That 34 Performance chakaping has linked to is the one. I've got two forks with that GRIP damper, and it punches above its price/weight. I'd pick it over any of the budget RockShox dampers.

Oh, on value... I can't afford any of the variants off the 36 SL, there are no bargains out there (in the UK) yet. So I can't make a case for spending that kind of money. I'd have one on my hardtail if I was loaded though. OP, only you know what kind of purchase this is for you... a sensible compromise or a shiny new treat.

Ive got Fox 36 & 38 Performance and a Yari with an upgarded charge 2.1 RCT3 damper, so more or less an older Lyrik Ultimate...

The Yari is on my SolarisMax at 130mm but has been on a Nukeproof Reactor @ 150mm and a Transition Sentinal @ 160mm. Both Fox's have been on my Rocket Max with the 36 now on the Transition.

They're all fricken awsome! HTH sorry.

Pike Ultimates will be awsome and Fox perfomance level are all great. Just depends how much you want to spend, I'd always go cheapest best as I don;t care about having the newset option.

Yep, same as everyone else is saying - RS Pike or Fox 34.

I've got the previous 2.1 Pike Ultimate and it's been on several bikes and been great in every setup.

A couple of weeks back I bought one of those Fox 34 Performance Elite with the Grip2 damper from Merlin for the £400 deal and so far it's greatly impressed me. I'm still tweaking the settings a little, but starting from a great place. It feels like a lot of fork for the money, as is the regular 34 Performance for £300.

Manitou Mezzer here, travel can be adjusted from 140 to 180 in 10mm increments, 2kg so sensible weigh, lots of adjustment and 37mm stanchions are plenty stiff enough. 

I have a grip 2 fox 36 and a grip in a fox 38.

Both awesome.

The grip is easier to set up. For me the damping is not enough, perfect, too much over 3 clicks.

The grip 2 was back to back runs with tweaks here and there over a month.

Happy to ride both down the steepest stuff I'm prepared to ride.

Glad we got a Mezzer recommendation in the end, it felt like standards were slipping. The Mattoc might be the better option for OP if they wanted to join the Manitou cult though?

The grip is easier to set up. For me the damping is not enough, perfect, too much over 3 clicks.

Sorry to take a tangent, but this is interesting - on my Performance 38 I have to run the compression at least 50% to get enough support, going up to about 60% for more demanding terrain. And it has surprised me with how good a fork it is. 

I think I remember a chat with someone else on here discussing bushing tightness - mine may just be a particularly loose/good tolerance example?

Posted by: chakaping

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Glad we got a Mezzer recommendation in the end, it felt like standards were slipping.

For anyone that's interested i have a very lightly used Mezzer Pro 29 for sale.

Had a service and new CSU fitted by JTech and unsused since.

Currently set at 150 but comes with all the spacers, un used mudguard and still have the box for it.

I could also swap the travel to whatever you need as part of the deal.

I moved from a Yari MoCo to a Lyric Select+ with Charger 3.1.

Even without it being the "latest and greatest" damper, it is noticeably better controlled and does not 'choke' like the Yari did on higher speed things.

I also ride my sons Fox 34 Peformance Grip - a really nicely fluid fork, it seems to work better on smaller and medium hits, but it is like a Pike and sacrifices stiffness for weight. As a 90kg rider, I notice this more than the damping.

On balance, and I surprise myself saying this, I would take the Lyric...

So did you get anything OP?

At your weight and use case, I really think that £300 Fox 34 I linked would suit you very well.

Extremely cheap (RAIL damper) 34 here

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/fox-racing-shox-34-a-float-29-awl-140mm-rail-sweep-adj-boost

Hi chakaping,

I went with RockShox Pike Ultimate Charger 3 RC2 DebonAir+ Boost Forks - 29" - Gloss Black / Grey / 140mm / Tapered / 15 x 110mm / 29" / 44mm Offset from Merlin. Cost me £420 so first of all an omen figure and also I guess a good price.

Now I need to figure out how to tune it 🙂

Thanks for all your input. I almost spent 3 x the amount I paid for Pike on that 36 SL. Time will tell if I made the right decision but I guess any of the ones suggested here are an update to a 2017 Reba SL. I can now ressurect my Grand Canyon AL SLX9.9. A canyon when they still made decent bikes for good prices.

Posted by: honourablegeorge

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Extremely cheap (RAIL damper) 34 here

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/fox-racing-shox-34-a-float-29-awl-140mm-rail-sweep-adj-boost

An amazing deal even with duty on top

I've got the Britango 2. Love it. Had an older Pike RCT3 at 130mm on it and it was great. Just fitted an Fox Performance 34 at 140mm to it. Both nice forks. Not sure I'd put a Factory fork on it though. That's a lot of money on a fork for a fairly "budget steel frame". Disclaimer I haven't called it budget, Bike Journos did. I think the ride and geo on it is superb

An amazing deal even with duty on top

Very heavy and built to be cheap that version. I’d avoid for a hardtail… or for any bike really.

Posted by: haggis1978

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I think the ride and geo on it is superb

I rode mine on Friday for the first time in ages. I bought it to replace my gravel bike for bike packing adventures. Rode it a bit on the road in the summer when rehab'ing collarbone. First time properly on very wet trails with XC tyres, it's a really well sorted bike. Maybe for long days, I'd like it a tad longer (ML for me at 5ft11), but geo wise it feels really sorted. 

I'm used to riding pretty slack bikes, so even with a 140mm fork it feels pretty agile. 

I went withRockShox Pike Ultimate Charger 3 RC2 DebonAir+ Boost Forks - 29" - Gloss Black / Grey / 140mm / Tapered / 15 x 110mm / 29" / 44mm Offset from Merlin. Cost me £420 so first of all an omen figure and also I guess a good price.

Yeah, good fork at a good price for sure.

I have a Reba on one of my bikes at the mo, it's surprisingly good for simple XC - but you'll really notice the difference on trails with lots of bumps.