Rockshox Pike: RCT3 vs RC. What's the difference?

As per title, what’s the difference between the RCT3 and RC?

According to what I’ve found on t’int’net the lockout on the RCT3 has 3 stages (lock, pedal, open) and the RC only has 2 (lock, open) but you can place the dial in between for a low compression setting like RCT3’s pedal mode.

There’s also talk of the charger damper, but it’s a 50/50 split between those saying it comes with and those saying it comes without. The SRAM site says the RC comes with the charger damper, but it also says available for retail from June 2015. Does this mean the current OEM ones don’t come with the damper, with so many saying they don’t?

What are the real differences between the forks and what warrants the £140 minimum difference?

I think the main reason for the price difference is that the RC are OEM only. I don’t use the pedal mode anyway and I’m pretty certain all the new Pikes have the Charger damper.

My mate has the RC and me the RCT3. From memory the RC does not have the separate external low speed compression adjuster.

Yes it has the Charger damper.

Unless you’re a real fiend for using lockout, the RC model will be fine.

Mine just has a compression dial, which I keep at four clicks from open and never adjust on the fly.

Sounds like some may have an on-off switch and a dial though, from above comment?

I’ve got some RCs on the way from France. I’m assuming it’s pot luck and that you may get some older OEM forks with stripped down internals just as readily as you may receive some with the Charger Damper.

all the mail order places I found seemed vague in their description but then I’ve paid a massive chunk less than I would pay for a guaranteed set of aftermarket RCT3s so I understand that compromise may be involved.

Shop around of course but don’t ultimately expect to be sure of getting the moon on a stick for £350 if you want to avoid disappointment.

Hopefully I’ll find out tonight if UPS have redelivered as planned.

RC are OEM. Rockshox website is no use. I asked them what was the difference last year but they came back with the stock answer that they are OEM and not available after market so i shouldnt be able to buy them so they wouldn’t tell me. :-/

Don’t know where the ‘no Charger’ comes from. The new Pikes, OEM or not all have the Charger damper as far as I know and I’ve seen zero evidence that they don’t. Mine (OEM RC) certainly do, people have opened them to prove it, and the switch on top says “charger”!

The difference between the RC and RCT3 is the RC does not have the pre-set options on the switch. It does have adjustable compression in clicks which achieve the same result just you have to work out how many clicks to turn to get the setting you want, plus at one end it becomes a lock out. If you are the kind of rider that sets and forgets about it, the RC is all you need.

With the OEM, some (or all) of them come with a cheaper finish. Gloss finish and stickers for decals instead of the diffusion matt and decals under the top coating.

The RC will become available after market in 2015.

Loco’s mentioned there’#s some difference in the upper assembly of the damper, (aside from the adjustments) so the RCT3 is slightly better. Not a big compomise for the money, though.

Yep upper assembly of damper different between the two, IMO the main plus of the RCT3 is the low speed compression adjustment and ‘trail’ setting for pedally fast stuff.

we have a couple sets of 26″ ones on sale at the mo too 😉

Would assume the upper assembly is different to accommodate the extra adjustment mechanisms. Other than that the cartridge and performance should be identical. Low speed compression is on the RC, just integrated into the single big dial.

Different top end, and internals, performance on RCT3 will be a bit better.

150mm 26″ RCs here and they’re mint. Defo got the Charger damper. A mate has ridden both and says the posh ones are slightly better, but at £300 new from that French website, I wasn’t that fussed. Mine dive a bit but I probably just need to stick in another red token. Plusher than my 55s – wtf?!

LoCo – Member

Different top end, and internals, performance on RCT3 will be a bit better.

How are they different? And what kind of performance improvement is there?

Sorry if I seem a bit sharp with the questions, I just want to make sure I get what’s right.

have a look at page 53 and the damper drawings 😀

https://sram-cdn-pull-zone-gsdesign.netdna-ssl.com/cdn/farfuture/4Xf78mjFrEfFbddhgtYmMCCtIgQ05gKb5iAitb5OfRM/mtime:1404405152/sites/default/files/techdocs/2015_rockshox_spc_rev_a.pdf

Uhh…. I’ll be honest; I have absolutely no idea what to make of that.

I’m only really interested in the purported performance improvement and if it’s worth the extra cash.

Tgey are all charger damper.

Just to ad confusion however iirc I think on the psa thread for the deal on the rc’s, one poster mentioned that the newer 2015 rc’s might have a 3 position compression dial. Never confirmed it with anyone else though.

Presumably if true the 2015 rc just has 3 fixed modes and no adjustment to the level of compression in open mode (otherwise if it did it’d effectively be an rct3). Anyone else got the 2015’s and care to confirm?

I have the 650b RCs on a 2015 Whyte G150S, and they have the LSC dial without the preset Lock/Pedal/Open switch on the top.

They are also quite wonderful. I never understood why everyone was going on about plushness until I had my first proper ride on them.

@robware, might be a teensy bit rich pushing a UK aftermarket spec retailer to help validate your decision to buy the cheapest option available elsewhere.

Who’s the retailer? All I’m trying to do is work out if the RCT3 is worth the extra cash over the RC. LoCo has claimed there is a performance benefit, but hasn’t said why. While I’m appreciative of the help, unfortunately I can’t go on “because it is”.

Don’t know where the ‘no Charger’ comes from.

SRAM’s website was a bit crap. Under the Pike webpage they had RC and RCT3 versions listed and on the Charger Damper webpage they only listed the RCT3 version of the Pike. So I think people took this to mean that the Pike RC did not have the charger damper. This has now been corrected and the website shows both RC and RCT3 have the charger damper.

What’s the going rate for a Pike RC from Europe? It could make the Revelation a bit obsolete. There is only ~100g weight difference between the two and reviews stating how much stiffer the Pike chassis is. If there is only a little price difference between a Rev and a Pike I see it hard recommend buying a Rev any more.

TBH if I was building a less monstery bike- big hardtail, lightweight full suss- I’d not consider the Rev obsolete, it’s still a little lighter (I’m pretty sure the claimed weight of the Pike is without bottomless tokens, when with the 26 inch at least you’ll probably want 2 or 3 in there- 50/75g. Trivial for the difference it makes but still)

I can’t fit tapered steerers to my Ragley anyway but even if I could I’d choose 140mm Revs over Pikes for it.

While I’m appreciative of the help, unfortunately I can’t go on “because it is”.

I would guess its similar to the standard motion control and black box motion control dampers. I think the BB damper added a separate (non adjustable) high speed compression circuit.

Again its pure speculation and I may be wrong about the BB damper but I have some recollection of reading it on a forum somewhere and we all know that everything on the internet is true.

You have more adjustment on the RCT3 therefore more control how the fork performs, not really sure what else you’d like to know.

RCT3 is more enduro and will go better with full face goggles and your audi

Fair enough, thanks. I thought by more performance you meant it handled terrain better or something to that effect.

So it sounds like there’s little difference beyond greater configurability.

Whatever the case, both versions have the charger damper, and I have to say I’m impressed by the OEM RC. So much that it got me fiddling properly with my Lyriks as I realised they weren’t a match because I never set them up properly. Now got them similar, though the Lyriks have a bit more dive in them and prefer hammering it downhill. The Pikes track the ground beautifully, a little firmer and yet feel plush when it needs to be.

If the RCT3 is at least as good as the RC, then they’re bloody great too but with more tuneability and a better finish (for £200 more 😉 ).