I’m thinking that a change might do me good, mainly cos I can’t bear the thought of having to deal with the asses who are responsible for warranty of my current forks.

What fork would you go for?

Bos Deville
Ohlins
RS Pike’s with avalanche (or similar) damper

Alternative suggestions welcome

Sweep Roughcut? Very happy with mine 14months in.

New Mattoc would be interesting too..

Budget?

went from BOS to lyriks Newer BOS are pants, their QC seems to have fallen off a cliff hardly any OEM on bikes now that says enough.

My older BOS are faultless I have no idea why the new ones were so bad.

Without wanting to sound a ****, budget’s not an issue. Thanks

I think he Ohlins have been designed with 29 and 650b+ in mind so may be a compromise. We have some and they are by far more plush than our Pikes or Lyriks. The 36s are also boost. Wouldn’t want to run them on our 27.5 but if they fetched some out that were 27.5 specific I would order them tomorrow

Fox 36

What happened to your new Bos forks Bruneep?

I’m not a huge fan of Fox for some reason, they always seemed to be just like RS but harder to maintain,

Fox 36 RC2, brilliant fork.

They’re pretty easy to maintain. If you want a fork that you just plug into the bike and don’t service, get an MRP Stage.

Any other fork will require some level of servicing within 12 months, if you don’t want it to fail.

Ohlins are still a 29er27.5+ only fork really.

Personally i’d go Fox 36 for an off the shelf fork. Or Marzocchi 350 NCR ti…

I don’t mind servicing forks tbf, I do it myself every 6 months and then with TF or whoever at 12 months.

I want reliability, performance and good support, hence why my fave atm is the Pike with the avalanche damper, the Ohlins is something of an unknown in this regard.

If you are going to replace the whole damper doesn’t the yari make more sense than a pike? Haven’t tried one but don’t they have the bigger (better?) negative spring from the lyric?

Creaking CSU unit
shim stack went
damper rod knocking, after 3rd time this was “fixed” I got rid.

Forks had a bigger carbon footprint than a russian warship

Out the box, the 36 is the second best fork I’ve ever had, it really is bloody good. Stupidly expensive though, I mean, more expensive than any new bike I’ve ever bought- that’s just ****ing stupid.

I only had a few hours with an Ohlins but I spent the entire time trying to tune out diveyness- my feeling was they had a “plush” tune, to suit people who buy Specialized Enduros to ride glentress red and who’d feel cheateed if they didn’t use all the travel. Very Pikey in that regard, I don’t doubt that it can be made good but it was going to take some effort and I felt I was fighting the base tune.

Whereas with my 36s I had a setup I’d be happy to race on after about 30 minutes. Obviously I kept tweaking and there’s more to come but basically, Fox have tuned them for the job a fork like that is supposed to do.

I love my MRP Stage. Properly designed and built forks with good backup which is a rarity in the market sadly. Acres of mud clearance and they just work well in a very controlled manner. Not the prettiest, but a year on and they still feel like new, lovely.

If you are “average” weight, Marzocchi 350 NCR Ti, streets ahead of any air fork I have tried. Magic carpet, don’t blow through travel, fit & forget.

Sweep Roughcut

Formula 35..

Had 36 RC2 and Pike.

Wouldn’t change the Formula for anything else.

Lyrik rct3 or fox 36 rc2.

If budget really was no issue then fox 36 rc2.

The lyrik is really very good though,no need for avy dampers etc

Lyrik or Fox 36.

I’m more inclined these days to buy a fork for the chassis. Those coil conversions look tempting. Then maybe a damper upgrade, the avalanche open bath cartridge offers a hydraulic bottom out control which might be useful.

Currently trying to decide if I should do that stuff to my pike or get a 36.

Notice you didn’t mention Fox in the op. Is that what you’re having problems with? Damper, spring or chassis?

MRP stage…

I was (am) a fox fanboi but the MRP stage I have is just a brilliant fork.
I don’t get spending £xxx on pikes (retail, new can be £700 and more isn’t it??)and having to spend another hundred or so on a new damper

If I didn’t love it so much (and keep it in the sitting room much to Mrs Deviants annoyance) I’d sell you my coil spring Vengeance….36mm stanchions, plush feel as only coils manage, virtually indestructible and maintenance free….but they’re mine so there!

It’s not Fox as it happens that I’m having a problem with, I’ve just never felt love for them, the last set I had needed absurd levels of maintenance and threads like THIS put me off.

I had similar issues with the Fox 36 as per that thread above. I picked up a set of Formula 35’s off here a month or so ago, and they really are amazing. They’re not quite as stiff as the 36s , but thats not necessarily a bad thing. They are fairly simple to service and look around on the web – although there are only a few reviews, but they are all good. I think only STW had 1 issue with stanchion wear but that seems to have been a one-off.

Also the support guys are great – had a couple of questions about setup, sent them a FaceBook message and got a really helpful reply.. Not sure you’d get that with RockShox or Fox. (oh and it was around 7pm on a Friday night – replied within a few hours!!!)

i’ve been on a FOX 36 RC2 Factory since 2015. it had a rattly valve from new which was replaced under warranty and has never been an issues since.
I’ve done one full service where it was sent away and then lower services myself. Easy to maintain and utterly brilliant fork, more reliable than anything else i’ve had and tracks noticeably better than Pikes across roots etc.
If it is money no object, then that is the fork to get without going all custom dampers etc, which brings the inherent problems of lack of spares, downtime etc.

Depends entirely what you are after.

I don’t get spending £xxx on pikes (retail, new can be £700 and more isn’t it??)and having to spend another hundred or so on a new damper

I love the way that Pikes are suddenly rubbish. Like you need to gut them, fit a new damper and a coil and then they might be okay… I’m just glad I’m not a good enough rider to need all that extra performance. It’s saved me a fortune in parts.

Quite happy with my Marzocchi 350 NCR

At the other end of the budget spectrum, I really liked by Mattocs. They were really plush but not divey and easy to work on yourself – they were miles better than the 34’s they replaced.

Currently running Marzocchi 350 NCR’s which are pretty good for air forks (even better now they have been fiddled with by TF). Would love the coil ones, especially of they feel similar to the 380’s on my bike bike.

BadlyWiredDog – Member

I love the way that Pikes are suddenly rubbish. Like you need to gut them, fit a new damper and a coil and then they might be okay…

Daft isn’t it. A totally stock Pike (except for the inevitable 2 or 3 air spacers they need), in good condition, is a perfectly decent fork. Not amazing, but very good.

If I was keeping mine, I would put a coil in it, I like coils. But people talk now like it’s a necessity.

I’d get a Lyrik.

The Pike shows its limitations at 160mm in my experience.

RS Pike’s with avalanche (or similar) damper

If you’re going down this route, don’t get a Pike or even a Lyrik.

Get yourself a Yari which is a Lyrik with a old-school MoCo damper, and then junk the damper in favour of the Avalanche.

Daft isn’t it. A totally stock Pike (except for the inevitable 2 or 3 air spacers they need), in good condition, is a perfectly decent fork. Not amazing, but very good.

I’m a little bemused by it. I think there’s also a process where people ride stuff – not necessarily well adjusted – until it’s tired and needs servicing, then upgrade to something else with the result that the new thing, straight out of the box and fully functional instantly feels disproportionately better.

You get it a lot with tyres when folk switch from something with trashed and rounded off tread blocks to a new tyre with square edges and more tread and declare the new rubber exponentially better, when actually it’s just not worn out…

I’m not saying you can’t improve stuff or the Pike is perfect, but let’s have some perspective eh…

Ill third the MRP stage here. I have a set on my Turner and they are brilliant.

They blew a seal after about a year and both MRP and ISON were ace to deal with.

They really are great forks.

The reviews I’ve read suggest the Ohlins is only a pound or so heavier than the 36 and is nearly as good.

Not sure Id be tempted myself

As said already by others, can’t help wondering if half of the tweakers on this thread are just obsessives. What’s all this aftermarket upgrade damper stuff about? The best and most regular riders I know just get decent off-the-peg kit, set it up once, and are happy with it. Bit different if you’re racing, perhaps.

BadlyWiredDog – Member

You get it a lot with tyres when folk switch from something with trashed and rounded off tread blocks to a new tyre with square edges and more tread and declare the new rubber exponentially better, when actually it’s just not worn out…

Braided brake hoses- fit the new hose, bleed it, probably change the pads and give everything a bit of a clean, maybe lube the pivots or tweak the lever angles or whatever. Go for test ride, brakes feel awesome, it must be the braided hoses!

wl – Member

As said already by others, can’t help wondering if half of the tweakers on this thread are just obsessives. What’s all this aftermarket upgrade damper stuff about? The best and most regular riders I know just get decent off-the-peg kit, set it up once, and are happy with it. Bit different if you’re racing, perhaps.

It’s the magpie in me that causes mine.

It’s an evoulutionary thing isn’t it – couple of years ago, you might ask Mojo or TF to tune your fork for your weight, which probably makes sense.

Fast forward a year or two and they’d add riding style into the mix, which must have been said whilst trying not to laugh.

Then it was PUSH tunes, which added a few little bits and gave it a name.

Then Enduro seals for extra plushness

Before finally all these new devices.

I’ve got one mate with a set of Pikes with a coil conversion on one side and a FAST damper on the other, another with MRP Ramp control and Luftkappe and soon to be a Avalance Damper.

How far can you go before you can buy forks in kit form? Buy a CSU and Lowers from Rockshox, damper from Fast, spring from TFT – build it up in your shed.

PS… if anyone has a 160mm 650b Lyrik Charger damper they’ve put on the shelf in favour or something cooler, let me know 😉

BadlyWiredDog – Member

I love the way that Pikes are suddenly rubbish. Like you need to gut them, fit a new damper and a coil and then they might be okay… I’m just glad I’m not a good enough rider to need all that extra performance. It’s saved me a fortune in parts.

Who said anything about Pikes being rubbish?

I like my Pike’s but I really really like my other forks, however the distributor support is frustrating and poor as it has been with the frame I have that they also distribute. I’m therefore voting with my feet/cash and will get something else however I want to make sure that I really really like whatever I get.

Evidently you’re not a good WUM either, why not trot off to the politics thread and have a row there?

If you’re in the middle of the weight range and not ridiculously fast you should be well served by any of the decent forks’ dampers – but if you’re heavy, light or FAST then few have external adjustment range to perform great without a custom tube.

I recently put a Luftkappe into both my Pikes. Based on that improvement I’d go for a Lyrik (whose air spring is more liked the Luftkappe’d Pike) if buying new. Can’t fault the Charger damper for my needs.

Oooooohhh

A late newcomer with pedigree!