Pike Ultimate – Creaking CSU

My 4 month old Pikes are just about to go for warranty as they are making a hell of a noise. Has anyone else had an issue with their Pike/Lyrik Ultimate CSU creaking?

I’m aware it was a known problem on previous models and thought it wouldve been sorted. I’ve had a set of DVOs creak as well, do I just have bad luck or are single crown forks just pish.

Hi buddy! 😃

Are you sure it’s not internal cabling hose that may be causing noise under compression in frame?

What frame is it fitted to?

Hiya tdog matey,

My Swarf Contour doesn’t have any internal cabling and I wouldn’t buy a bike with it,..the work of the devil I say.

And the sound made by a creaking CSU is pretty distinctive, more like a crack. Can be isolated by removing front wheel, flipping the bike over, standing on the bars and flex the forks….its a dead give away to the issue.

The thing is my Swarf is a really quiet bike and my God the noise these Pike are making is really disturbing. As far as my understanding is it’s a bonding issue with the stanchions and the crown, micro air gaps or something.

Whatever is a pain in the arse and really spoiling my ride…I hope it gets fixed. The issue with the DVO’S was sort within a week by Windwave and they were quiet after that.

And the sound made by a creaking CSU is pretty distinctive, more like a crack. Can be isolated by removing front wheel, flipping the bike over, standing on the bars and flex the forks….its a dead give away to the issue.

Thanks for this tip to check if it’s the forks, my bike has been making some awful creaking recently that keeps getting worse, and it’s got the Lyrik Ultimate’s on it. I’ve been going over the bike checking all the other bolts etc to make sure it’s not coming from somewhere else, but I think I have to accept it’s time to send the forks in for warranty. Now is probably the best time as I’m not using the bike nearly as much.

My 2 year old Blutos had a their CSM replaced under warranty due to creaking. It wasn’t something I’d noticed, they were in for a new air cartridge. (Great service from RS UK BTW)

Fork manufacturers are pretty good at replacing them. Think i’ve managed to get the CSU to start creaking on every set of forks i’ve owned, including a set of 36s. It’s a bit annoying really but from what i understand the cost of manufacturing a single piece CSU is too high for it to be feasible. Ohlins did it for a while but have reverted to the norm for the latest forks.

It is annoying, and I cannot overstate just how LOUD these Pikes were under compression and braking. You just could not fail to notice and become distracted it was driving me mental, what am I supposed to do stick some dual crown forks on a 130mm trail bike? pfft.

I am under the impression that the black anodising is supposed to be the worst? But i’ve got some Fox 34 Performance Elite with black stanchions on my other bike they are fine, and had some Fox 32’s with the gold anodising that were more noodly than over cooked spaghetti and yet never made a sound. Are Fox less prone to this than Rockshox?I’m not particularly a fan of the aesthetics of Kashima coating but if came down to i’d switch.

In fact I kinda regret moving on the DVO’s Sapphires after being drawn to the shiny silver Pikes, they aren’t any better forks..

I had a 2016 Pike RCT3 29 fork with a creaking CSU, which was replaced under warranty by SRAM. I’ve had Rockshox forks for many years and only had one occurrence of CSU creak. Currently I’ve got a 2017 Reba and 2018 Revelation (35 mm stanchions) that are both creak free. I’ve not heard of any issues with black stanchion anodizing.

Would be worth checking the torque on the topcaps. My forks creaked really badly for ages from new. Till i found out the air leg topcap wasn’t much more than hand tight.

Torquing it up fixed it straight away.

Topcaps as above. had the same issue

Gah, both on the Ultimates? I dont have the top cap tool so haven’t been messing at all with the air side. They went off yesterday to the shop, so I will see if they can check.

Isn’t that a bit dodgy?

I am under the impression that the black anodising is supposed to be the worst? But i’ve got some Fox 34 Performance Elite with black stanchions on my other bike they are fine, and had some Fox 32’s with the gold anodising that were more noodly than over cooked spaghetti and yet never made a sound. Are Fox less prone to this than Rockshox?I’m not particularly a fan of the aesthetics of Kashima coating but if came down to i’d switch.

As far as i am aware it has nothing to do with the stanchions, the creak is coming from where the steerer tube is bonded into the crown.

I guess it can be either stanchion/crown interface or steerer/crown interface, the symptoms and end result are the same…, hellish noise and new CSU required.

http://blueliquidlabs.com/tag/creaking-fork-creaking-csu/

As far as i am aware it has nothing to do with the stanchions, the creak is coming from where the steerer tube is bonded into the crown.

Its normally creaky stanchions I fix. (though both can creak)

Both the steerer tube and the stanchions are a press fit, you can press them out, clean and refit with a loctite retaining compound. If they are under warranty then new CSU.

All the OEM ones I have stripped appear to have been assembled dry, no residue like you see on bearings installed with loctite from the factory.

Riding with the top caps slack can exacerbate the issue. The tops caps screw into the stanchions, clamping the crown. Steerer tube is pressed in from below, it has a flange which stops against the crown.

Are Fox less prone to this than Rockshox

Nope…. Had my 36 CSU warrantied within weeks of getting it…

It’s a problem across all single crown designs….