Whats the real deal with pikes

So are they really as awesome as everyone says, or are they just awesome because most mags say so. For every person that says they are good i read another person asking about common problems, poor performance and warranty repair. So come on people are they really that good?

It shows how little mountain biking I actually do when I assumed this thread was about fishing!….

In simple terms Yes. Out of the box they are great, set them up correctly and they are superb. I could go on and tell you everything great about them that you have already read but, the only thing I will say is that I have done 400+ miles without an issue. Been to Afan for 3 days, rode Lee & Cragg Quarry and numerous rides in the Peak District and they have impressed me in every situation.

they dont quite have the small bump sensitivity of my older rc3tis, but not far off,
im not light so i had to fit the volume reducer tokens but they now hold up better under braking and pedalling,
no harsh bottom out- take big landings very well
and they are lighter and stiffer than my old marzocchis and certainly lighter than the equivalent foxes, which seem to have far more damping issues
and 10 months of riding and racing across the uk theyve held up very well, needed an oil change at 9 months

for the price you can get them for, they are by far the best in their class at the moment

I guess also with the sheer amount of these sold, there are bound to be more stories of failure than other brands due to the absolute numbers of them around.

In the interest of bslance lets here from some people who have disliked them then!

So are they really as awesome as everyone says, or are they just awesome because most mags say so. For every person that says they are good i read another person asking about common problems, poor performance and warranty repair. So come on people are they really that good?

Realistically, the vast majority of them out there, the problems are a very small minority.

They are one of the best out there at the moment, regardless of price I feel.

In the interest of bslance lets here from some people who have disliked them then!

Not disliked as such, in fact, when I first fitted them I thought they were amazing in comparison to the coil Lyriks they replaced.

However, from new they had that tiny top-out clunk or play that a few people have been reporting.

I just went away for 3 weeks using these forks and that nearly imperceptible clunk turned into a massive and constant clunk over every bump and chatter along with the complete loss of any rebound damping.

Mine are a couple of months old so needless to say they’ve gone back for warranty.

We’ll see what happens.

Despite this, I think they are fantastic forks and not ridiculously priced like maybe Fox or Bos, I just hope the issues are sorted.

Yes they are very good. Not sure relative to everything else out there as there are some damn good forks out there, but you’ve got to buy something. Relative to other forks I’ve owned and ridden they’re better than Revs and a bit nicer than Fox Floats, but not as nice as a Lefty.

Have not tried them but like the o/p have always been a bit suspicious.. can they really be that much better than my Revs with blackbox damper? What has changed in the technology so suddenly to make such a difference? Or is it really just because they are shiny and black and bang on trend?

id say stiffness over the revs was noticeable, just a more solid feeling at the front, better tracking I suppose, gives more confidence

If its just a stiffness difference I can live with it – at 65kg most MTB gear is way over engineered for me anyway!

Enormously better than my Lyrik RC2 DHs- I would get arm pump on those (and every fork I’d owned before them) in the Alps. Pikes- none of it. They are exceptional, and the only person I know who doesn’t like them is Northwind off here.

Worth the hype.

They’re good, few issues but no more than any other model of fork, probably less considering the amount about.
I would suggest regular lower services though due to there being 5ml lubrication oil in damper.
Just got a set of 2015 Float 36 RC2 so looking forward to comparing them with the Pikes

It’s not that I don’t like them, it’s just that my Lyriks were quite a bit better- like little downhill forks. I’ve got the Pikes working well enough now but still nothing like the hype.

@ichabod- I’ve got a set of Blackbox Revs in another bike, trying to remember what they were like as standard but I’d say the Pikes are quite a bit better (well, once I fitted the bottomless tokens, which should have been fitted as standard imo) More supportive, the Revs were a bit divey. And noticably stiffer despite being nearly the same weight, the chassis is impressive. My tweaked Revs as they are now with the damping increased are really good, and I think just a little better than the Pikes but then, I reckon with the same amount of mucking about I’ll get the Pikes to be better than the Revs.

But at the same time I don’t think it’s gamechangingly different, unless you’re finding issues with the Revs. My Ragley can’t take a tapered steerer but even if it did, I wouldn’t replace the Revs with Pikes unless it was free

Have you got fluid in Simon?

Yep litre bottles of 0w30

For me stiffness is the most important factor. Coming off an ultra stiff Lefty and onto revs it was like riding on jelly. The flex in the forks was visually noticeable, prevented the fork from working properly due to binding/increased resistance, especially under braking, and led to a really harsh ride – the suspension just didn’t react properly and work as it should. A real dissapointment. I had a few rides on some 2013 Fox Floats. The improvement in stiffness was night and day and a far better ride – they floated over the bumps rather than crashing through them, and front end grip and stability was improved considerably as a result. The Pikes are a slight improvement over that – very similar in feel I think, but just seem to be a slight step up, though not night and day so you could probably tune the Floats to feel the same given time and faff, but the Pikes were like that out of the box. The other thing with the Pikes is that they are very light. Not much heavier by the hand scales as the far flimsier Revs they replaced. Not tried the BOS forks, but they are much heavier on paper. Nothing i’ve riden so far compares with the Lefty though – just a shame they don’t do them in the travel I want – though they are so good you could probably get away with 20mm or so less travel. My experience is with 140mm Revs and Floats and 150mm DPA Pikes on 29″ wheels. I guess its subjective and down to personal preference.

Have ridden both FS and hardtails with the new Pikes, they’re good….but then i couldnt find fault with the Fox 32s i had on a previous bike so i’m probably no judge here!

What i would say is that stiffness is not the be all and end all.

On a FS then go ahead, buy the new Pikes or buy Lyriks, Fox 36s etc, the FS chassis with bounce at both ends is designed to work with stiff forks and shocks but with hardtails its not so simple, with a hardtail a less stiff fork may actually give a better ride.

Pikes will make your bike around 20% more enduro

Deviant – I’d have to disagree…these dual RCT3 pike on my HT are startling good at either 130 or 160!

So look at something else like the X-Fusion sweeps. I love mine, 7 months in and nothing but good things to say about them.

Have had the Pikes, sweeps, several sets of Revs.

The sweep are good for the price and solid, damping wise the Pikes are more refined IMO.
Revs have been run at 140 29er to 110 29er not found them that bad flexwise at 140mm tbh riding enduro/dh stuff but use them at 110mm on my ‘race’ hardtail and they work very nicely, but could do with a few extra air tokens.
The new 36s are nice and light 5.14 lbs on my scales and should be stiffer, they also allow 15 or 20mm axle to be used.

Swapped out my Revelations (RLT Ti, BB Moco) for a set of Pikes on my Mega TR

-There is a noticeable change in the front end stiffness, a lot more confidence in where the front wheel is pointing. (My other bike is a Makulu with a set of Boxxers)
-Pikes sit a lot higher in their travel, even when they feel a lot softer than the revs
-Damping is more composed and can deal with repeated big hits without packing down.

Very impressed with the Pikes and can ride the bike a lot quicker on the downhills with the added confidence and predictability of the front end.

Took a break from biking for for like 5 years , and currently have some RS sektor TK forks which compared to forks five years ago are fantastic. Would I benefit from Pikes? Will they make me faster?

TK is a pretty basic damper so I reckon you’d feel a benefit there, especially in harder use- TK tends to run out of control a bit.

Other option would be to put better damper parts in your Sektor as it’s a very upgradable fork- interchangable bits with Revelations.

wobbliscott – Member

The flex in the forks was visually noticeable, prevented the fork from working properly due to binding/increased resistance, especially under braking, and led to a really harsh ride

Not being funny but it just sounds like they were broken tbh. The flex is pretty noticable in mine but they have none of those issues.

The sektor silvers/tk have different uppers that mean you can’t swap parts over so easily, the golds are the old rev chassis.

I find that over roots they go a bit wild . Interesting about upgrading but then there prob comes a point when just buying anew fork is the more cost effective option?

LoCo – Member

The sektor silvers/tk have different uppers that mean you can swap parts over so easily,

Ah. I’ll shut up then.

Actually, is that the same of all TK sektors? I’ve got a set of TK coils in the garage with alu steerer, gold stanchions etc. I’d never had a TK in bits before, I kept looking in the fork leg for the rest of the internals.

Which is the better tracking chassis? Pike or Fox? Tempted d by a new bike/fork but would probably end up fitting the avalanche ssd open bath damper so not to fussed about fork innards.

Northwind – Member

I’d never had a TK in bits before, I kept looking in the fork leg for the rest of the internals.

I upgraded a Sektor R – took out the “damper”, to discover it was a plastic cap with nothing at all underneath, no compression damper at all.

Loco – you mention above that the Pikes do have some issues – what are these, out of interest?

How are the Charge dampers bearing-up long term?

Great so basically I can justify buying pikes as the damper is just a price of plastic . This is wonderful news

Pike 426 coil for years absolutely stunning albeit a little heavy. Pike 150 rc 2014 solo air, just as supple but super light. Dont miss the poploc lockout as the rcs climb so well.

At 300 quid they are an absolute snatch!

😯