Hey folks! I am planning out an upcoming build and I am wondering what the hivemind thinks. I am trying to decide between these two forks - the newest Charger 3 Pike reduced to 120mm, or the MRP Ribbon SL. Some facts:
- This build will be a XC hardtail build to complement my FS bike, meant for long pedally days on dirt - probably 60/40 fire road / trail split.
- I am tall and not a lightweight - 6’2”, 204 lbs in my birthday suit due to 20 COVID pounds that never went away. So riding weight around 210 to 212.
- party due for the above, I am not a weight weenie and don’t plan to podium any XC races - when I race my goal is usually “finish ahead of that weird tandem team.” I have some very light wheels that will go on this build but otherwise not too concerned about it (frame is steel).
- I am trying very hard not to use the “DC” word.
On a previous hardtail I have owned the 2018-2019 generation of the Fox 34 Stepcast. That fork was good at being light but not much else - in particular I found the fit4 damper to be pretty inadequate as a damper once up to speed, especially on big hits. The newest one looks to be pretty much the same. The SID looks to be in a similar genre, and I’ve seen a lot of worrying reliability problems with the bushings.
i own a Fox 36 GRIP2 on my full suspension bike and that fork is great, once I got it tuned in - no complaints would buy again. But a 36 is complete overkill for how this bike will be ridden, and I don’t think it can be setup for 120mm travel anyway.
I have also owned a 34 GRIP2, and it was nothing like the 36. For reasons unclear to me I never got on with that fork despite many efforts - it was either too linear and blew through travel, or overdamped and harsh. That soured me on that fork.
So that leaves me with the new Charger 3 Pike or the MRP Ribbon SL. Things I’ve learned so far - the new Pike has a lot of new tech on it (“buttercups”) and SRAM does have a reputation of beta testing on its customers. But I do like what the reviews say. The MRP oddly doesn’t have a lot of information out there about it, versus it’s bigger cousin. All I can figure out so far is that they market it using the dreaded “DC” word, they seem to have great customer service, and you have to inflate the positive and negative chambers separately during setup.
anyone with experience on both or either care to help? Thank you!!!
- This build will be a XC hardtail build to complement my FS bike, meant for long pedally days on dirt - probably 60/40 fire road / trail split.
- I am tall and not a lightweight - 6’2”, 204 lbs in my birthday suit due to 20 COVID pounds that never went away. So riding weight around 210 to 212.
- party due for the above, I am not a weight weenie and don’t plan to podium any XC races - when I race my goal is usually “finish ahead of that weird tandem team.” I have some very light wheels that will go on this build but otherwise not too concerned about it (frame is steel).
- I am trying very hard not to use the “DC” word.
On a previous hardtail I have owned the 2018-2019 generation of the Fox 34 Stepcast. That fork was good at being light but not much else - in particular I found the fit4 damper to be pretty inadequate as a damper once up to speed, especially on big hits. The newest one looks to be pretty much the same. The SID looks to be in a similar genre, and I’ve seen a lot of worrying reliability problems with the bushings.
i own a Fox 36 GRIP2 on my full suspension bike and that fork is great, once I got it tuned in - no complaints would buy again. But a 36 is complete overkill for how this bike will be ridden, and I don’t think it can be setup for 120mm travel anyway.
I have also owned a 34 GRIP2, and it was nothing like the 36. For reasons unclear to me I never got on with that fork despite many efforts - it was either too linear and blew through travel, or overdamped and harsh. That soured me on that fork.
So that leaves me with the new Charger 3 Pike or the MRP Ribbon SL. Things I’ve learned so far - the new Pike has a lot of new tech on it (“buttercups”) and SRAM does have a reputation of beta testing on its customers. But I do like what the reviews say. The MRP oddly doesn’t have a lot of information out there about it, versus it’s bigger cousin. All I can figure out so far is that they market it using the dreaded “DC” word, they seem to have great customer service, and you have to inflate the positive and negative chambers separately during setup.
anyone with experience on both or either care to help? Thank you!!!
