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I'm running a set of RS Recons on the front of my '20 Cannondale Habit, and frankly they let the whole bike down a little. Before I pulled the trigger on the Habit I was looking at other 29" bikes running Revelations and they were much nicer.
I figure I should be able to get a set of Revs for about £250 (new-is from eBay) and up the travel to 140mm at the same time. Will I see much performance gain in going from Recon (SoloAir / 32mm stanchions) to Revelation (DebonAir / 35mm stanchions), or should I just go the whole hog and get a set of '20 Pike Selects for about £400 from one of those German websites?
Revelations will be stiffer, as they have a 35mm chassis, but the damping will be similar (or at least the same generation) as what you have.
Pike will have the stiffness plus the debonair spring and a newer damper. If it was me, I'd stretch for the Pike. But I'm a sucker like that.
How much do you weigh and what kind of riding do you do?
Weighing in at around 75kgs, so not lardy. I’m riding general trails, a bit of dropping and jumping. Nothing big.
Yeah, Revs have the DebonAir spring vs. Solo on my Recons, the damper’s the same though, and upgrading to the Pikes means charger rather than MC.
I’m guessing there’s no way of dropping a DebonAir spring in a 32mm fork?
Seems to exist for the 32mm forks.....
https://cyclinic.com.au/products/rockshox-air-spring-upgrade-kit-reba-sid-debonair-2013-2020
Try the Rockshox Trailhead web app and it will tell you what upgrades are available.
https://trailhead.rockshox.com/en/
You an stick a Debonair spring in a Revelation and a Charger 2 if you feel you need to.
Buy the Rev’s it’ll be a great upgrade, & are a very capable fork. You only getting a slightly upgraded charge damper (basic version, not to 2 or newer 2.1) on the pike select over the motion control on the Rev. The rev’s damper can be upgraded later with a much better RS or after market unit.
Don’t know if it applies but the Charge damper Pikes I had (2014?) were a million miles better than the MC 2017 Yari On my old P7.
The Revs are a great stiff fork. I found them excellent for fast flowy stuff and good for big hits. But the Rev's MoCo damper is terrible for fast repeated small-medium bumps/chatter. It can't handle the oil flow. Get the Pike. Or..... get the Revelation, run it for a while, then upgrade the damper to a Charger. Thats what I did.
Revelation is definitely a worthwhile upgrade but Pembo has it right above. The MC damper isn't fit for task and I felt a massive difference upgrading up to Charger and Debonair, should have bought a Pike.
I went from 32mm Sektor Gold RL to 35mm Rev RCs late last year. The Revs seem more plush & stiffer. I feel like I can batter through bumps better than before. They run at lower pressure which maybe helps make them feel better, along with the debonair or whatever gubbins is inside it. I can't say I've noticed the 'bad at repeated hits' thing but my local trails are muddy rather than rocky anyway.
For some balance - I've got some Revs that are Deobonair (but MC damper) on one bike and Pikes on another(Charger damper) and true enough the Revs arent "quiet" as good: but considering the price differnece I wouldnt consider myself too short changed if I had to live with the Revs. And either would be a noticable upgrade to Recons.