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Anyone got a bit of time on these yet? My Pikes steerer separated from the crown at the weekend so need new forks. Have been reading all the reviews and forum opinions but no clear cut winner. Bike is a carbon Stumpy 29er. Quite fancy a 150mm fork, Pikes were 140.
Lyriks; sound good, maxle, bit cheaper than the others but the Pike creaking CSU seems to be reasonably common and I'm not that keen seeing as mine failed. Assume they use the same manufacturing process
Fox 36 - win all the reviews, look orsum with the 36mm stanchions but most expensive and quite a bit of negative user feedback. Axle bolts sound a pain.
Ohlins - Decent reviews if not glowing. Mid price, mid weight. One piece crown/steerer eliminates a weak point (interestingly CSU is made by X-Fusion or in the same factory according to LBS, serial number typeface and layout would seem to support this. Possible the whole chassis is made by X-Fusion and Ohlins make the internals and assemble?). Again no QR axle, slimmest chassis which is just a looks thing but I'm shallow. Only 140mm and can't be adjusted (160 is too much). Unproven reliability although I'd expect Ohlins to stand by their product.
Guess I've read all the arguments for and against the others so real world experience on the Ohlins and riding comparison to the others would be good if anyone has had the pleasure. Ta!
I had a bit of a fork dilemma at the start of the year for my new build Turner RFX.
After A LOT of humming and hahhing i went with a set of MRP Stage 27.5 forks. So far i could not be happier. I could ramble on for a long time but in essence they just work very well.
External adjustment is LSC and bottom out control which works in the last 4" of travel in the same way pikes have tokens.
Buttery smooth in the first part of the stroke and very supportive through the rest. Oh and dropping the lowers for a 30 hour interval service is exactly like it is with the pikes. It could not be easier.
If you have any questions fire away 🙂
Fox 36's on a Stumpy? Really?
I'd have thought the 34 would be a better bet, especially in FIT4 flavour.
If ohlins shocks are anything to go by i would have the fox any day. Fit4 if you are really bothered about the axle
FIT4 is another option I guess. Are the 34s available in 150mm? Hadn't really considered them to be honest, assume they have improved drastically over the old ones? To be honest I'd rather a small weight penalty for a stiffer chassis.
Will take a look at the Stages. Warranty support with decent turnaround times is important too, the Stumpy is my only MTB. Dunno what MRP/their distributor are like?
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I've held them, if that helps. They look a lot like pikes, the brace is virtually identical . I think there is a new 36mm version coming out?
If you had the Stumpy from new it may be worthwhile talking to Specialized UK direct. I have always found them very helpful.
Ohlins - Decent reviews if not glowing. Mid price, mid weight. One piece crown/steerer eliminates a weak point
Generally the weak point is the stanchion/crown interface, that's where the Pike has historically had most of it's issues (and other forks).
I'd probably have a 150mm 34 on there. It doesn't seem to be having the mixed end user reviews of the 36.
Actually, i'd probably just replace your Pike with another one. A steerer tube debonding issue is pretty rare to be honest.
@howsyourdad - yeah saw that about the 36s but not release date yet and I have a knackered bike
@Tracey - built up from a frame so no luck there, thanks though.
If ohlins shocks are anything to go by i would have the fox any day.
What makes you say that? I lobe the Ohlins shock on my Demo, loads better than the Fox one on my previous Demo.
A colleague had enduro with the ohlins air shock and it blew up 3 times in a month...
I've gone from 140 Revs to a 160 Öhlins on my Nicolai so can't give you a direct comparison against the Pike. They are in a different league to the Revs, reason I chose over Pikes was not much difference in price and they match my bike amazingly well (not the best reason in the world granted).
Very happy so far, will be trying them out at the Mega next week so'll let you know how they perform out there...
Ta. I found the Pikes to be a massive step up compared to the revs I had before, I'm not expecting the same jump going to the Ohlins. However as you say there's not such a big price difference at the moment (can get the Ohlins for 680) and always like to try something different
We are runing a couple of Ohlins air shocks with no problems. They are very plush.