Pike

https://www.merlincycles.com/rockshox-pike-dual-position-air-275-sale-fork-101866.html

or

Yari

https://www.merlincycles.com/rockshox-yari-solo-air-275-sale-fork-101864.html

And why??

I bought the Yari 29 Boost in that sale for my Solaris, so I can squeeze a bigger 27.5 plus in the front 🙂 Not the question you asked!

Depends what you want from a fork. Pike has the better damper out of the box (Charger) but that one being dual position is going to be a PITA if you want to change the travel via airshaft.

Yari has the beefier chassis (is the Lyrik chassis with cheaper damper basically) and will take all the Lyrik mods but won’t directly take a Pike-sourced Charger damper — although I believe there are possibilities there if you’re prepared to do a top-cap mod. A Lyrik-sourced Charger will drop straight in if you find someone who’d done an Avalanche mod etc. Any of the Lyrik mods will fit the Yari.

Pike is nearly half a pound lighter on paper but apparently this isn’t always true.

Depends what you want, price up the solo air kit for the pike?

Yari plus lufftkappe, update the damper at a later date if you feel the need.

It depends what you want. I’ve never ridden a pike but the damper in that is supposed to be a lot better than the motion control in the Yari.

I’ve read the DPA Pikes / Lyrics aren’t meant to be as good as the solo air, but I don’t really understand why particularly.

The Yari is heavier and has thicker forks legs so is likely stiffer – it’s basically a lyric with a cheaper damper in it. Advantage to that is you could upgrade to a Lyrik charger damper / aftermarket alternatives if you find the Yari isn’t good enough for what you want.

The Pike is still a stiff fork though – it has the same diameter stanchions – just thinner Ines – hence the weight saving.

What fork are you on at the moment? I have gone from a Revelation with 150mm travel to a Yari with 160mm travel. So far it’s a nice upgrade – going down Pedalhounds at Cwmcarn it steered through all the roots / drop offs / rocky sections really nicely and absorbed all the hits without resorting to the last inch of travel. Happy with that as it’s there for when i really mess things up and need it.

My experience of dual position Pikes was poor small bump sensitivity, running lower pressures resulting in a very divey fork.

Many new forks arrive pretty dry from new, so a lower lube service is always a good idea. While they are open stick in a luftkappe, ditch the tokens and you are still quids in.

I’ve been using Pikes for years but I’ve now converted to Yari on both bikes. I can feel the difference of the stiffer chassis and I’m quite happy with the damping and the feel, I do weigh around 100kg so perhaps that’s a factor. Nothing wrong with the Pikes but at the current price in Merlin, Yari are a total bargain.

I’ve had dp forks before and they were great.

Just moved to a standard pike and I can’t tell the difference.

If like me you fit and forget and just ride a bike then the pike dp are the ones to go for.

If you fettle and you can tell the difference on the settings then you should look for something different.

I really miss the option to drop the forks on technical climbs. It made a massive difference to me.

Depends what you want, price up the solo air kit for the pike?

Not economically viable, as you need a new crown assembly.

Second hand pike and a luftkappe would be my advice, or if you want to go new , go for the yari + luftkappe.

Luftkappe makes a big difference to the feel of the fork, more grip and more supportive and no more wallowyness or harshness, as found balancing tokens (for ramp up) and air pressure (for ride height) quite tricky.

Another vote for Yari and Luftkappe.

The damper is fine, easy to tune, easy to service – no need to bleed it etc. I bought a Yari with the plan to upgrade to Lyrik spec, haven’t felt the need.

Luftkappe made a good fork, great – plush, yet supportive.

I’d wait til I saw a deal on a standard Pike instead.

Bound to be a few as the new model comes in.