has anyone had this or am i just imagining it being the forks?

basically on compression of the fork (even stood still over the top of the bike) i get a crunchy/creak type noise

i thought it was the headset tbh, so had new bearings put in, but it still remains, i can create the noise stationary, but its obvviously worse down hill or climbing off road (on any slight bumps)

dont know what else it could be really, its not the bar/stem combo as cleaned regreased, so its either wheel somewhere or the forks them self?

Anyone?

Last nights ride it was quite bad, going up stepped boardwalk as you hit the steps edge on the noise was quite awful, it seems to be in the first 10mm of travel, but as it gets in deeper in the travel and stays in above 10mm it seems to not be as bad

Descending any singletrack that’s undulating it’s also very apparent, but anything rocky not so much as it’s much deeper in the travel everytime

Headset has had new bearings and greased, bar/stem combo greased, noise can be repeated stationary pushing down on forks so something in the wheel or the fork itself(bearings feel fine on wheel and no side to side play)

Generally the forks now seen to not feel as nice and plush, they don’t have that lovely feeling of just going over everything without issue, seem to notice all the descents more than I did when I first had them

Have taken wheel out and turned bike upside down and had a good pull at the lowers but cannot replicate sound by moving the fork lowers in various directions etc

My mate has sent his back twice now for something similar IIRC. Think the steerer comes loose in the crown causing the creaking (but don’t quote me on it)

A mates Pike started creaking a few weeks ago. He sent it back after the creaking got worse but I don’t think he’s heard anything back from the shop yet. Nothing wrong with my solo airs yet thankfully.

been happening on their short travel forks a lot with the steerer creaking in the crown, guessing same process same issues

Cheers, well at least it’s not just mine, will have a final strip of headset tomoz just to make sure, but fairly sure it’s the forks

I’ll email sram see what turnaround times are like first!

Turn the bike upside down, take the front wheel out, flex the legs in opposite directions and listen. If it is the forks it’s usually the stanchion crown interface, but steerer crown also possible.

My first pair creaked like mad under compression which was mainly noticeable when climbing at low speed. Fisher’s (Rock Shox UK) replaced them no questions asked, almost as if they had had lot’s of pairs back like that.

I never received a reason why but I suspect it was a bonding issue between the crown steerer/stanchion interface. I had the same issue on my 2012 Revelations.

Before you send them back it’s worth changing your shock bushings and checking your hub bearings. Oddly a creaking can sound like it’s coming from the fork and be somewhere else entirely on your bike.

The bikes only 3 months old so bearings etc should be fine

Upon closer trying I ca semi create the noise upside down by pulling at the forks

I’ve also noticed that there is oil around the rebound damper knob, and before riding today I cleaned it, and by end of ride it was sticky oil visible again!

The performance has gone absolutly shocking in them, so maybe the creaking noise could be damper related? The first 10mm travel feels completely dead, and a knock type noise is there too ( like a few others has said)

So yeah defo something up with them not sure it’s the steerer but I’m sure either the dampers goosed or something’s snapped/cracked inside

Will be sending off to sram / fishers this week so hopefully a quick turn a round

Turn the bike upside down, take the front wheel out, flex the legs in opposite directions and listen. If it is the forks it’s usually the stanchion crown interface, but steerer crown also possible.

Been chasing a creak in the front end, tried wheel wedged between knees and twisting the bars, gave this a go, definitely there. Good work.

Been chasing a creak in the front end, tried wheel wedged between knees and twisting the bars, gave this a go, definitely there. Good work.

Good stuff. Good technique for finding stem/bar creaks that one. Wish my Jedi spannering skills translated into Jedi bike skills!

The performance has gone absolutly shocking in them, so maybe the creaking noise could be damper related?

Regardless going back is the first thing to do there. Sounds like the Pike’s not quite as perfect as some have claimed.

Isn’t there a thread every other day on this about Pikes? Seem to to be great when they work but also prone to creaking and/ or knocking…

Sounds like the Pike’s not quite as perfect as some have claimed

Do you mean that there are issues that most people haven’t experienced and then not reported about? How dare they. 🙂

maybe a touch harsh on them folks, all forks have issues, i had issues with my fox’s before them too so none are free from fault

FWIW – i had a set of 26″ pikes when they first came out and they were still working fine when i sold the bike, some 6 months on with just the lowers oil changed once, so its just one of them things, just annoying really having to send them off to be sorted, but ive just had an email from sram saying its a 4 day turnaround so not to bad provided the shop can get them in the post this week

just a quick update

sram have sent a brand new set out to me, they said the damper was completely blow/split, and they were indeed creaking from the crown coming loose, so not fixable and a new set arrived yesterday!

top work from sram very much appreciated, bit disappointing after just 3 months from brand new (although i expect it happened a bout 1.5 months into ownership really), seems like its an issue as a few above posts had the same creak

its got rid of the creak anyways, and they are silent again! so im chuffed to have a new set as mine looked fairly beat up too from cable rub etc etc too

so good work sram on the replacement set very much appreciated!

My Pikes have done 350 miles. They are about to go back for warranty due to the crown creaking. They have already been back once when they lost damping in the first 25mm of movement and started to knock (aparently the damper cartridge had leaked internally and was low on fluid). Also had issues with them loosing the last 15mm of travel which is due to dirt/swarf blocking a bleed hole for the negative spring (Dirt swarf in a brand new fork, Nice one Rock Shox :roll:)

I dont really want to send them back as Im have not been 100% happy with the way they work, but as they are breaking in they do feel a bit better. I dont want to start from square one again.

I also had troube with the crown creaking on another set of RS forks on my 29er. They were changed under warranty. They had also done less than 300miles. I never refitted them after they came back from warranty, I fitted some Fox and never looked back.

I also have 2 Rock shox rear shocks. Both had worn bushes in 250 miles and the unlock,trail,lock lever has just fallen off one.

I think there is a serious lack of quality with anything Rock shox. I recently sold a Commencal which did 1800 miles in 12 months through mud, snow and dust. Fox front and rear and they never missed a beat, they also worked better than the RS equivalent. Fox forks in my hardtail have done 700 miles without issue, Fox forks in my 29er have done 800 miles with no issues.

Ive pretty much made up my mind, when I do send the pikes back for warranty, something else will be fitted. The pikes will then be sold when they return. At the moment I’m leaning towards the X fusion Metric HLR.

Steve.

Guys shhh,

All this negative talk about Pikes and you give us Fox fanboys something to feel smug about. 😆

Good news on warranty. watching this with interest as I’m a fairly new Pikey and am known to throw things around a bit.
mine have the small top out thing, but so far work very well.

Anyone had this on other forks? Got some not very old sektors which seem to be doing the same creak. How long a warranty might I expect and otherwise is it just a send them off to loco etc job?

If they’re legit aftermarket UK forks then warranty is 2 years. If they came as part of a bike you’d have to check your manufacturer terms. If they’re grey import you’re in the lap of the gods. If they’re UK then you have to send them back to fishers, via a bike shop (usually where you bought them from). You’d better hope it’s not a Loco job as you’re looking at ~£200 for a new CSU.

So after hunting a clicking noise coming from the front end of the bike for a while without success I remembered this thread, put the bike upside down, wheel out and pulled the fork legs in opposite direction. Sure enough, that’s where the noise is coming from.

It’s like there’s two stages; I pull in one direction (i.e. left leg towards me, right leg away from me) which generates the sound, but just once, then it’s silent until I pull them in the other directions which gives the same noise again, and so on.

Definitely CSU then? Definitely nothing to do but send it back? Will I die if I ride it for a while longer?

I put it above but on the short travel stuff I know someone who has gone through 2/3 csu’s. Best bet is to go to the shop you got the forks/bike from and get them onside. If it’s good then SRAM may send out a new CSU to the shop without you returning the original.

I bought them from Merlin (which is overseas from me) so unfortunately it’s a matter of shipping them to one place or another either way. The downsides of online shopping. 🙂

Is it dangerous though, or just an annoyance? Postponing it to the end of the season would be brilliant, but I don’t much fancy dying.

My replacement set of pikes are now doing the same 🙁

Pulled at the lower legs in opposite directions and can replicate the exact noise again

It’s not as bad as last time as the damper had blown too but the creak/click is defo in the forks

2 pairs in 6 months is pretty gutting

If only the new fox 36 were in the price range I’d be trying them next

Svaglis – did you get them sorted under warranty? New pair or fixed?

Haven’t returned them yet, I figure I might continue using them until the warranty is towards its end unless it gets worse… Or at the very least until winter. 🙂

Every comment I’ve read so far point towards SRAM replacing them rather than fixing them (not just Pikes either).

They did replace mine no questions asked first time, they admitted to the creaking CSU too, but on closer examination the bladder had blown too so whether that’s why the noise was even worse last time I don’t know

I’ll prob wait till winter kicks in now to send them back again 🙁

Can’t see how it’s going to improve although the wet weather may well sound it out a bit more

Will keep an eye on them

So, hypothetically speaking, if you were speccing a new build today would folk go with a Revelation, Fox 32 CTD or a Pike…?

id probs have none of the above, and go for a 36 float as it stands

pikes are great, and my first set on my old bike were faultless (for about 4 months I owned them)

these last two sets are seriously starting to put me off RS again, which is why I always ran fox in the past 🙁

that said when they are working properly and not creaking/clicking they are absolutely great forks

guess its the usual sram quality control

Short term memory loss much? Fox 36 used to be the number one culprit for noisy CSUs. My ones had a couple of CSU replacements before i found that wicking loctite cured the problem…

Its new forktime and I was hesitating over RCT3 dual pikes for 499 from Germany or fox36’s.

I just hear too many issues with pikes compared to any other current forks. 36’s had the odd issue but that was years ago. Do Sram qc things properly in their factory or rushing through due to demand on a line/product?

Who knows hora, but after reading everything above, I’d still stick with my pikes. There are obviously a few issues, but as ever, Fisher/SRAM warranty is excellent. I’ve had my RCT3 dual travels for 9 months now, and they are superb.

It was mention yesterday when in my LBS that RS forks are been manufactured by Suntour – is this something new?

Was while I was looking at the new Cubes with Manitou’s, which are also apparently Suntour manufactured.

Serious question- how they compare to your previous forks? I want to avoid warranty returns even if it meant having great forks compared to niggles superb forks.

A tramp on the street is closer to a pro than I am so marginal gains would be lost on me. Ive always been a Fox fan due to the quality/construction/looks etc).

Bloody Nora! Had me finger hovering over the buy button on a pair of 160 26″ Pikes to go on my Alpine 160 but with this and other recent posts on STW about various clunking, tapping and creaking issues I’m not so sure now 😐

Fwiw got 3 of us in ou our group been riding and racing on pikes this year all over uk and they’ve all been faultless

Kimbers which pikes have you all got? The solo air sucks down on travel I think?

Still all good here, 12 months on. In fact i’m going to crack them open & give them their first service soon.

What you read is a very, very small minority of people having issues. That wouldn’t put me off.

Mine are the solo air

After 8 months including a lot of very wet and muddy riding through last winter- that had my rear shock and dropper back under warranty due to water ingress, mine did the suck down thing

A 30 minute oil change (oil was very dirty and a bit low) and they were good as new

8 months isn’t a bad service interval IMHO although I’ll try and do em every 6 now I think