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best fork for my spot

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#21 ·
What they said

PIKE air Uturn is hard to beat, I have one on mine and love it, course I'd like a slightly higher A2C, as Im more used to riding short stems and longer forks now, if ya can get a Z1 06 light ETA, I think superstock runs one, I like the setup on his spot with the green and white fork looks sweet.

I intend/hope to run one of the new Marz Rocco air shocks in future and maybe a 55 as a look, with some Push rockers ohh yeaH and drop the 90mm stem for something smaller this is then an advantage using ETA or Uturn as u can then compensate for shorter stem less leverage uphill by lowing th fork which puts u in a similar postion with a longer stem, I just wish Thomson did an X4 70 or 80 x 10 deg stem, from 90 they drop to 70mm zero rise, might try a 50mm zero rise.

Im still un inmpressed with the DHXa, RP23 would be better plus ya can get it pushed.
 
#23 ·
Definitely the adjustable travel. After 2 years of constant travel I just started using an adjustable travel fork for the spot (fox talas). The ability to reduce the front's height and weight down the fron tire for long very vertical ascents is an amazing improvement for the spot's climbing ability. Tough climbs feel much more at home now.
 
#24 ·
bikenut316 said:
I am waiting for an 07 Spot and plan on purchasing a Revelation 130 u-turn air. I am not using a through axle and ride fast xc. I want the bike to be a strong climber. Should I consider a 140mm fork?
Click to expand...
Its a personal thing when it comes to the 5inch market theres allot of options and crossover.

Either you're more of an XC guy/gal or All Mountain aggressive rider!

If the first then a 130mm fork will be fine, imo though over time you will become more dialed into the Spot and become a better rider wanting more,
the ability with Uturn is to set you travel where u feel comfortable now and as you want more in time you will find the HA steep and slowly adjust out to 140mm if u went for a PIKE etc, its expensive making the wrong fork change, if you research this board few if any have gone too big on a Spot and reverted backwards, many have bought too light, less travel fork only to upgrade to a Pike or similar size fork later wishing they'd done it sooner.

If you choose the 2nd option youre good to go from the start, maybe you will need to invest on a 20mm hub/wheel but it will be worth it the 454 Air Uturn is still light.

I rode my Spot in everything the other day lots of climbs downs switch backs etc the Pike never holds me back on the hills, its fitness rather than a few grams that will make the diff between Fox and the Pike.

Anyways at the end of the day its up to you, it won't hurt us but the advice given here is generally because we have all traveled the same path a few years back, its a bugger reinventing the wheel lol.
 
#25 ·
Good points made here in deed. It comes down to preference. One thing to ask yourself is do you tinker with your bike a lot as far as setup? Even on the trail? If so adjustable travel may be for you. If your are like me and you get the sag right, it feels good, and you don't feel it bottom out and you forget about it then non travel adjustable fork is more then likely a better fork for ya. I typically like the set it and forget it type of setup but everybody is different. I personally love the thru axle... just makes the fork feel very solid and very stiff. I am more of an XC guy but am gettting into more of the all mountain style of riding. With the Pike upfront I have never had a bike that I can just point and go down hill and feel so confident.
 
#26 ·
trailadvent said:
Its a personal thing when it comes to the 5inch market theres allot of options and crossover.

Either you're more of an XC guy/gal or All Mountain aggressive rider!

If the first then a 130mm fork will be fine, imo though over time you will become more dialed into the Spot and become a better rider wanting more,
the ability with Uturn is to set you travel where u feel comfortable now and as you want more in time you will find the HA steep and slowly adjust out to 140mm if u went for a PIKE etc, its expensive making the wrong fork change, if you research this board few if any have gone too big on a Spot and reverted backwards, many have bought too light, less travel fork only to upgrade to a Pike or similar size fork later wishing they'd done it sooner.

If you choose the 2nd option youre good to go from the start, maybe you will need to invest on a 20mm hub/wheel but it will be worth it the 454 Air Uturn is still light.

I rode my Spot in everything the other day lots of climbs downs switch backs etc the Pike never holds me back on the hills, its fitness rather than a few grams that will make the diff between Fox and the Pike.

Anyways at the end of the day its up to you, it won't hurt us but the advice given here is generally because we have all traveled the same path a few years back, its a bugger reinventing the wheel lol.
Click to expand...
I am more xc but see your point about having 140mm available if needed, especially now that the Spot is 5.5. Due to the fact that I will not be using thu axle, what is the best non-tru axle 140mm fork?
 
#27 ·
R.T.R. said:
I agree ! I ran an adjustable 160mm Manitou on a Six Pack and as I would gradually lower it it seemed to make the swingarm grow in length making the bike feel like a slug on climbs. Granted they're not the most nimble beast out there but they still climb technical steeps very well. So I quit using the travel feature and could still climb anything I can on my Flux or Spot, and I LIKE to climb. I didn't realize any positive benefit whatsoever. I prefer to set my bikes up for what their designed for fork wise. Adjustable travel, just more bells whistles 'n maintenance AFAIC. BTW, what ever happened to the Titus Talus Switchblade ?
Click to expand...
I am also a set and forget guy. I had a Reba u- turn on my flux. Never had a need for anything but the 100mm setting. The spot being 5.5 now, would'nt a 140mm fork balance it out and not hinder climbing at all?
 
#31 ·
I know the Pike is the overwhelming favorite in corner of the web due, it seems, to the stiffness of the thru axle. Just curious how many of you have ridden 07 or 08 Fox 32s? I've been riding the 07 32 Vanilla and at 185 lbs and riding fast aggressive trails with jumps/drops, I never once noticed any flex in the fork or felt that stiffness was an issue. Apparently Fox stiffened up the lowers in the 07s from previous versions (as well as upping travel to 140 mm) but I've only ridden the 07 32s so I can't comment on that aspect.

So outside of stiffness, how is the bump compliance of the Pike air and coil forks? Do they compete with the Fox 32s in that regard? I'm in the market for a new fork since my bike was stolen and I would buy the 32 Van again in a heartbeat, it is a buttery smoove fork, but I'm curious about the all the hype the Pike gets over here.

Thoughts?
 
#32 ·
hardboiled said:
I know the Pike is the overwhelming favorite in corner of the web due, it seems, to the stiffness of the thru axle. Just curious how many of you have ridden 07 or 08 Fox 32s? I've been riding the 07 32 Vanilla and at 185 lbs and riding fast aggressive trails with jumps/drops, I never once noticed any flex in the fork or felt that stiffness was an issue. Apparently Fox stiffened up the lowers in the 07s from previous versions (as well as upping travel to 140 mm) but I've only ridden the 07 32s so I can't comment on that aspect.

So outside of stiffness, how is the bump compliance of the Pike air and coil forks? Do they compete with the Fox 32s in that regard? I'm in the market for a new fork since my bike was stolen and I would buy the 32 Van again in a heartbeat, it is a buttery smoove fork, but I'm curious about the all the hype the Pike gets over here.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Depends which PIKE of course, they all seem to get good reviews though, I run a PIKE 454 air Uturn.

Ive not ridden an 08 and if offered I would take a spin, but I have no interest in it though, once ya go TA ya don't go back:D if I was to look at another fork for the Spot it maybe a Marz 55 to slacken the HA some more but its not required, if anything I need to do something with the DHXa this does an OK job but compared to the fork lets the ride down a bit, I'd like to try some of the 2008 Roco air series.

The damping of the PIKE and (RS forks) has come along way under Sram, I prefer the damping of the PIKE compared to anything Ive ridden in this size, esspecially as an AM fork, if setup correctly which is pretty easy to do, the pos and neg, comp adjust are all great features, my fork has had over year of abuse and has been totally reliable considering when I do ride the Spot it tends to till get treated like I'm riding my RFX:D when the trail goes down or jumps etc comp up.

When setup properly Ive found this a very supple fork which soaks up anything, Im always impressed by its quality after riding her again esspecially as the benchmark of me in small bump suppleness is Marz and my 66rc2x is still gold but the PIKE surprises every time for AM.

Plus this fork is light enough still to do endurance events on, light FR, hard AM and endurance thats hard to beat, I wouldn't do some of the stuff I happily do on my Pike with a QR fork, my buddy Spotz is getting his wings again he runs an AM (150mm at full travel) which is a beefier fork than the Fox and is still finding his confidence, he would have it now if on the PIKE, we may upgrade him to a 55 yet:D

To answer your question though, if you are happy with the Fox I'd stay with it but no QR will provide as stiff a ride as a TA, you may not notice stiffness issues until you ride the same peace of trail on a TA vs your QR and of course it depends how hard you push your bike.

Most never know the difference and are happy to stay on QR, but if you look through the history of the forum you will see most of us have taken a similar path, often repeating this very question over and over, even recently Ive seen people choose a QR only to go PIKE in a couple of months.

I blame the Spot for this its a more capable bike of helping you grow as a rider, so you progress pretty quickly only to soon find you want more from your suspension and brakes, this is a DT in built feature to get you to upgrade so you will end up having multiple Turners:D

Enjoy the ride its what its all about in the end:thumbsup:
 
#33 ·
trailadvent said:
To answer your question though, if you are happy with the Fox I'd stay with it but no QR will provide as stiff a ride as a TA, you may not notice stiffness issues until you ride the same peace of trail on a TA vs your QR and of course it depends how hard you push your bike.

Most never know the difference and are happy to stay on QR, but if you look through the history of the forum you will see most of us have taken a similar path, often repeating this very question over and over, even recently Ive seen people choose a QR only to go PIKE in a couple of months.
Click to expand...
While I will agree that a TA is much stronger than a QR, the difference in stiffness that you feel is not due to TA. In most cases, those comparing a TA to a QR are comparing different (and usually beefier) forks and different hubs. In many cases, they are using different wheels and tires, too. It's not the QR vs TA, it's everything else.

I believe it was Tcheezy that had a good opportunity to compare 2 Z1FR forks... one TA, one QR. Everything else was the same and he couldn't tell the difference in stiffness.
 
#35 ·
Blue Shorts said:
While I will agree that a TA is much stronger than a QR, the difference in stiffness that you feel is not due to TA. In most cases, those comparing a TA to a QR are comparing different (and usually beefier) forks and different hubs. In many cases, they are using different wheels and tires, too. It's not the QR vs TA, it's everything else.

I believe it was Tcheezy that had a good opportunity to compare 2 Z1FR forks... one TA, one QR. Everything else was the same and he couldn't tell the difference in stiffness.
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree more BS, not mentioned as I thought that was obvious, but they are good points re changing other things, the hub needs to be changed for sure to run TA unless ya using I9 or a Hope hub which can be converted.

For me I have run the exact same setup on 2 Spots with the same specc using the same wheels rims spokes everything except Hubs (kings vs Hadleys, wouldn't be much in it there) and I can feel the difference is it better for most I doubt it but it depends more on the type of ride you want in the end I think the benefit comes with improved confidence and increased ride skill over time that the Spot delivers the TA PIKE completes this package is all I'm saying.

My buds Spot has the same DT 5.1, same spokes different hub King Iso QR he runs my old fork I had on my Spot AM1 which is a stiff fork in itself for QR drop outs and nice damping on the trail, I run the same rim and spoke combo on my Spot but Hadley/PIKE hub combo.

Since I changed to this fork I push the Spot allot harder more so in the air but on the trail too and where I might get caught the PIKE has proven itself many times, I'm not sure I would have stayed on the bike with the AM 1, I find myself riding more aggressively almost more like DH which is why Im looking for slacker angles shorter stem so I can carve instead of turn more XC than I like, I give a little on the climbs bu the Spot geo means I can compensate, and Uturn:D.

I have ridden more to my ability with the PIKE than any other fork on this type of bike than any other fork Ive ridden, Fox, Marz AM, the PIKE kills it for me. So when asked what fork for the Spot to me its simple, for the balance of the Spot, for maximizing what the Spot frame can deliver I don't think there is a better match the bigger and harder ya go the more you can feel the twist.

As I covered earlier many have upgraded to this fork even recently after first purchasing the Fox 32 after saying the cost of TA dosen't seem worth it, yet it happens.

Ya don't see many Spot/PIKE owners changing these forks once done, again as usual it comes down to the ride you need or want.

Even Tcheezy has Barny riding both TA forks on both her bikes.

Cheers BS all good points:thumbsup:
 
#36 ·
trailadvent said:
Even Tcheezy has Barny riding both TA forks on both her bikes.

Cheers BS all good points:thumbsup:
Click to expand...
Ironically, I'm also using a TA fork on my Spot. It's not because I thought TA would be stiffer, it's simply becasue the forks that I currently prefer are all TA. The Pike was one of the forks that I considered.

Thanks for the kind reply.:thumbsup:
 
#37 ·
Another vote for the Pike. I had it on my 07' Spot and it felt great! Easy to set up too.
Since I got the RFX the Pike and the Spot are for sale if anyone want either.
 
#38 ·
Blue Shorts said:
While I will agree that a TA is much stronger than a QR, the difference in stiffness that you feel is not due to TA. In most cases, those comparing a TA to a QR are comparing different (and usually beefier) forks and different hubs. In many cases, they are using different wheels and tires, too. It's not the QR vs TA, it's everything else.

I believe it was Tcheezy that had a good opportunity to compare 2 Z1FR forks... one TA, one QR. Everything else was the same and he couldn't tell the difference in stiffness.
Click to expand...
I don't know if stiffness is the correct term. The TA does go a long way to adding more lateral rigidity to the sliders. I could tell the difference when I had my AM1. With the QR lowers (CK hub) I could here the rotor scrub the pads in hard off-camber turns. Once swapping to the TA lowers and a 20mm Hope hub it rarely ever happened.

I believe this is "sheclimbs" new ride
Image
 
Discussion starter · #40 ·
SSINGA said:
I don't know if stiffness is the correct term. The TA does go a long way to adding more lateral rigidity to the sliders. I could tell the difference when I had my AM1. With the QR lowers (CK hub) I could here the rotor scrub the pads in hard off-camber turns. Once swapping to the TA lowers and a 20mm Hope hub it rarely ever happened.

I believe this is "sheclimbs" new ride
Image
Click to expand...
How did you know that?
 
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