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I'm really struggling to get on with the 2017 Pike RC's that came on my 29er Jeffsy.
I've tried lots of different settings and added a Vorsprung luftkappe but they still feel a bit meh, particularly on chatter bumps and fast rock gardens. No problems on big hits.
I've got an opportunity to run a set of 2018 Fox 34 140mm with Grip damper.
I haven't used fox forks in over 15 years!
Excluding the issues around Mojo etc. What's the general consensus of which would perform better?
I'm about 80kg and reasonably smooth but ride hard and love technical stuff.
Thanks!
You dont seem to have got much input here, so i'll throw in my limited 2p. I had a pike on my old five 26er was so much better than the fox 32 it replaced, my new 29er segment has a 34 which is good, very good but not as stiff as the pike was. Now i know wheel size and travel will make a difference, but with the jeffsy being 140 and 29 i'd say pike would give you a better platform. As far as getting the pike setup right it should be possible, but muight need some tweaking, volume spacers etc. Shouldnt need a new fork to improve the ride. Both excellent, but i'd persist with the one you have.
Deffo Pike out of those two.
Fox look fancy but are not durable or last long as in performance from internet and fair bit of real time experience, like kashima gets gouged to $$$$ seeing other rider’s rides.
Plus Pikes are stiffer and seem great addition on my new modern bike that all concerns of RS new breed of forks having had nightmares/losing sleep on many older sets leaves me impressed.
I was even thinkng of swapping out to some other more specialist boosted forks like Ohlins or MRP on a brand new bike, but thought no, ya know what, I’ll give them a go and thouroughly good so far even if early days.
I honestly reckon you’ll get on like a house on fire with them, tracking is decent as ever could be having owned a fair share of decent forks over the years.
I suppose the Fox might be more sensitive over small chattery stuff.
Have you considered a set of Bos Devilles as they are the best feeling & performing & built fork I’ve ecer ridden
I’d personally go Pike, there will be differences but Fox and RS are so competitive I doubt one is ‘better’ than the other.
I say Pike mostly because after years of Fox ownership I bought a RS fork and instead of thinking ‘yuk’ it’s actually lovely and I can Home service it which means it will actually get serviced, where as if I have to piss about with couriers and pay someone £100 to do it, it probably won’t be.
get the damper tuned.
Yes that what Pjay mentions re: working on fork, my lbs certainly recommends them over say Bos for good reason.
I’m struggling to set my pike up on the jeffsy so I have just bought a shockwiz in the hope to sort it out.
Perhaps try the TFT coil conversion. A friend of mine had trouble bonding with his Pikes, so he converted it to a coil. He is very pleased with the results.
I say 'try' but it is a one way conversion as the spring rubbing the inside of the stanchion will stop it from being able to make an airtight seal if you swap back to the air spring.
The grip damper, as I'm sure you are aware, is Fox's entry level model and possibly doesn't perform as well as the Charge in the RS. The chap from vorsprung did a good video talking through the design.
If you do want to try another fork there are a lot of options these days.
Fox look fancy but are not durable or last long as in performance from internet and fair bit of real time experience, like kashima gets gouged to $$$$ seeing other rider’s rides.
That, is mostly drivel.
The Pike can take a bit of setting up to find the balance between a supple fork and something that's just harsh. There are a few suggestions people have made on this post though to work through. For the most part it's a pretty good fork that only seems to struggle on really rough stuff at race pace.
The 34 is fairly comparable, it doesn't give up its travel quite so easily and as such could be considered a little harsh, or 'racey'. I find general riding I prefer the Pike, but for racing my 34 feels like a slightly more flexible 36 (a good thing as that's brutally stiff).
FWIW I run a 34 on my 29" FS bike and a Pike on my 29" HT.
Blimey! From nothing to some great input. Thanks all!
My mind says stick with the Pikes too, especially given their superior stiffness and they are very easy to service.
I'll call TF tuned on Monday and see about the coil conversion.
Always loved my marzocchi rc3ti's. Maybe a damper tune too/instead.
I want to love them so bad!
I found my likes to be overly damped with the standard air spring. It felt unbalanced compared to my coil. The luftkappe made a huge difference but on some hits it still felt too damped. I've now got a mattoc with a IRT that is much better set up for my weight and riding.
If the fork is brand new then send it away to get tuned and it shouldn't cost much as it won't requires service