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Mulling over a new HT build in 29" flavour, around 100-120mm travel do it all trail centre/ xc bike.
Looking at fork options, and I love my Pike's on the FS but not sure if they would be overkill on a lighter weight bike. But - looking at spec sheets there's virtually nothing in it weight wise between them. I want to get something that's as light as possible without losing anything, harsh ride etc.
Anybody got both to compare? I remember Rev's being flexier than my pikes are now, but never ridden them at 120mm. SID is another option but could be a little bit too weight weeny, and I cannot find any of the forks in stock at the right length so it's new air spring on all of them.
I was pretty much set on Rev's as don't want to fork out for the Pikes, but those charger RC versions from Merlin are very tempting, as that's cheaper than either Rev or SID RCT3. Has to be the black 14 models either way.
The Revelation is a great fork but the new Pike is very close to it on weight and much better performance and if the Merlin deal is still going then roughly the same price.
So really its SID or Pike? If its for XC and Trail riding and you are not too aggressive on the bike then the SID. Otherwise if you are going to give the bike a good battering the Pike.
But I think you might have to get a specially machined air spring from Loco if you want a 120mm travel Pike. I think the 29er only goes down to 140mm.
I have a 2010 26" version of the SID with QR and its not too bad when pushing it hard. For something so light it really isn't that flexible more than OK for XC and trail riding for me and I'm not light or terrobly smooth.
So I would guess a newwer version with tapered head tube and thru axle would be plenty strong enough.
I think you've got to really work out how hard you're going to be pushing it when out on the HT.
I have both 140mm revs on my Yeti and the 2014 120mm Sids RCT3s on my Solaris. Both really good forks, both with 15mm axle. The Sid is a tiny bit flexier but you dont really notice it as I ride the Cotic for XC and light trail stuff and the damping is still really good. If I want to go ride bigger technical stuff id take the Yeti with Revs.
The Damper is not going to be as good as a pike, but by no means bad. If I were you id get the Revs.
My decision in this exact situation was to go with the Revs as I felt that the Charger damper was probably going to be wasted on a the front of a hardtail, and the Revs are a tiny bit lighter, plus I was 100% convinced that the Merlin sourced Pikes definitely had the better damper. So I've got a pair of 29er RCT3 Revs modified down to 120mm coming from Loco.
Similar situation here, but building a light XC/trail full suss. I went with the SIDS, which I found at a decent price through bike24.de.
[img] https://flic.kr/p/nMkYvK [/img]
I went for the lighter fork, as my other bike is a 160mm mince tank, (my favourite current phrase!) and I didn't want too much crossover in purpose. The result is ideal. It's been perfect on trail centre stuff (Afan trails, Swinley) as well as local riding (Chilterns) and XC racing (Gorrick). I can't fault them. Stiff enough for small jumps and rocky XC, great platform for climbing too.
Wouldn't the Carger damper be more suited to an HT, in some ways, than anything else? (genuine question)
My thinking is that anything that keeps the fork more stable in it's travel will help avoid the drastic changes in geometry, that are more pronounced on an HT, when descending, turning, braking. Of course this is still really just a question of how hard you ride, as to whether it is really necessary. I get on perfectly well with a Rev. on my 26" LTHT.
Wouldn't the Charger damper be more suited to an HT, in some ways, than anything else?
That's my view as well - I find the pikes so much more supportive than the reba's on my current HT. They are stiff and firm but give the travel away when needed. The Reba's are super plush and cope really well - i've got dual flow rebound in there which is a massive improvement. They are a bit soft though, and if I ramp up the air to a point where they are as firm as I like them for general pedalling and XC they lose a lot of composure on rougher stuff. I end up using the lockout more than i'd like to as I always forget to turn it off!
With the pike's I never leave the trail mode for regular riding. I suppose it's down to how well the RCT3 damper in the SID's and Rev's address this, i've not tried either of them. I wouldn't even consider the pikes normally for this as I don't want the same as my FS, I want a lighter trail XC bike but the SID's are £100 more than the merlin cheapy pikes and the revs only seem to weigh a few grams less for having the worse damper.
Could be worth waiting for the 2015 models, as whats the odds that the charger damper will be fitted to the revelation, reba and SID for 2015?
Sid 120mm RCT3s.
[img][url= https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2869/13866527845_6b8b0c63cb_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2869/13866527845_6b8b0c63cb_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/n8kzCi ]Solaris on the bridge[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/94699916@N04/ ]55b7bb821ed24e40ecaad9db375d2e57[/url], on Flickr[/img]