[jrv]

Hi -

I am looking at purchasing a Pike for my new fork on my 5 inch suspension bike. The two pikes I am looking at are the 2005 "SL U-turn" and the "Race Air". If anybody has any time on these two forks, I would greatly appreciate if you could share with me your experience. I need a little help deciding which for to purchase. The reason I have selected these forks is because they are in my price range (~$320 - $350).

Thanks in advance.
-JR

 

[MK_]

Hi -

I am looking at purchasing a Pike for my new fork on my 5 inch suspension bike. The two pikes I am looking at are the 2005 "SL U-turn" and the "Race Air". If anybody has any time on these two forks, I would greatly appreciate if you could share with me your experience. I need a little help deciding which for to purchase. The reason I have selected these forks is because they are in my price range (~$320 - $350).

Thanks in advance.
-JR

You'll benefit more from the external damper adjustments on the Race than from the U-turn on the SL. Air Race model you can lower by increasing negative chamber pressure, if you'll want, but putting the spacer to drop it to 130mm is easy enough..

_MK

 

[XSL_WiLL]

You'll benefit more from the external damper adjustments on the Race than from the U-turn on the SL. Air Race model you can lower by increasing negative chamber pressure, if you'll want, but putting the spacer to drop it to 130mm is easy enough..

_MK

Uhh... SL has external damper adjustments as well... The knob that adjusts the rebound on the SL pulls out and can also adjust the floodgate.

The Pikes are some of the best air forks as far as plushness and linear spring rate. But the coil version is still going to be more compliant to small bumps.

 

[MK_]

Uhh... SL has external damper adjustments as well... The knob that adjusts the rebound on the SL pulls out and can also adjust the floodgate.

The Pikes are some of the best air forks as far as plushness and linear spring rate. But the coil version is still going to be more compliant to small bumps.

You need an allen key vs having a readily available knob. I would prefer to have the knob. Air on PIKEs rides nearly as well as coil and has added benefit of ramping up at the bottom of the stroke for better bottom out resistance.

_MK

 

[chad1433]

As far as I remember from riding a Reba, the internal adjustment is for the Floodgate. Like was noted, there's an allen key in the damper knob, so adjustments are easy. I didn't find that I changed the Floodgate very often, usually set and forget. The additional cost of the Race, in my opinion, is not worth the small knob at the Floodgate that differentiates the two models.

I find U-turn to be an effective method of travel change, but here again, I didn't use it much. I'm more of a "set and forget" type of rider. For me, a base SL model would be perfect and more cost effective. One nice side-effect of U-turn is that it's easy to read on the stanchions travel for both sag and total travel.

 

[bikerx40]

As far as I remember from riding a Reba, the internal adjustment is for the Floodgate. Like was noted, there's an allen key in the damper knob, so adjustments are easy.

This is correct. External compression knob, and internal floodgate adjust. I find floodgate to be a one-time adjustment, so I went for the SL. Beside the Reba SL was silver, which sealed the deal for me.

 

[XSL_WiLL]

You need an allen key vs having a readily available knob. I would prefer to have the knob. Air on PIKEs rides nearly as well as coil and has added benefit of ramping up at the bottom of the stroke for better bottom out resistance.

_MK

If you're that picky, I'll MAKE you a knob... Jeez... Who even adjusts the floodgate that often anyways? It's supposed to be a set it and forget it kind of thing.

Anyways, the air doesn't ramp up nearly as much as you think. The Pike is one of the most linear air forks on the market if I'm not mistaken.

Yes, NEARLY as well as coil. Coil still has better small bump sensitivity.

 

[eatdrinkride]

First you have to answer..."Do I want an air or coil sprung fork?" If that doesn't answer you own question then ask yourself if you want to be able to adjust the travel, if so then......UTurn it is.

I have a 05 Pike Race coil w/uturn. I rarely adjust the travel, only on very steep terrain when I know its gonna be like that for a long while. I do however adj. the floodgate more often, but thats just me.

 

[jrv]

Coil v. Air

I will be using a coil rear shock on my bike, a vanilla RC. Does it make more sense to get a coil fork to match the rear shock so that both front and rear suspension feel the same?

 

[Jdub]

I will be using a coil rear shock on my bike, a vanilla RC. Does it make more sense to get a coil fork to match the rear shock so that both front and rear suspension feel the same?

I think matching front and rear spring types make sense, but I'm sure there are people who mismatch and like it just fine.

 

[kapusta]

Hi -

I am looking at purchasing a Pike for my new fork on my 5 inch suspension bike. The two pikes I am looking at are the 2005 "SL U-turn" and the "Race Air". If anybody has any time on these two forks, I would greatly appreciate if you could share with me your experience. I need a little help deciding which for to purchase. The reason I have selected these forks is because they are in my price range (~$320 - $350).

Thanks in advance.
-JR

I have a Pike Team, and if I had to choose between: a) loosing the U-turn, or...b) having the floodgate requie an allen key, it's a no brainer for me. The u-turn is much more useful.

I'd go for the fork with the u-turn. I use it a lot. I do mess with floodgate setting, but not during a ride.

Kapusta

 

[drum714]

I to found the FG knob kind of useless after a few rides getting it dialed in. IMHO the U-turn is a far more usefull feature of the Pike. I would stick with the RACE.

 

[DGC]

depends

If you're that picky, I'll MAKE you a knob... Jeez... Who even adjusts the floodgate that often anyways? It's supposed to be a set it and forget it kind of thing.

Anyways, the air doesn't ramp up nearly as much as you think. The Pike is one of the most linear air forks on the market if I'm not mistaken.

Yes, NEARLY as well as coil. Coil still has better small bump sensitivity.

The Pike air ramps up more than a Talas 32mm, til now the Talas was considered the most linear air fork around. I could over inflate the Talas by 20 psi. and still bottom it somewhat easy. Setting both the Talas and the Pike at the same percentage of sag the Pike would not allow bottom out easy, if at all until you roll off a good sized drop and try to bottom it.

 

[kapusta]

I will be using a coil rear shock on my bike, a vanilla RC. Does it make more sense to get a coil fork to match the rear shock so that both front and rear suspension feel the same?

There is so much more at play than coil vs air that I would not give it a second thought. The rear end of the bike has such different suspension characteristics that I don't even think they are comparable. The back has a shock driven by a linkage, (or in the case of a single pivot a single lever arm moving in an arc), and the fork is just a spring that moves directly with the wheel. The rear may only have a 2" stroke for 5" of travel, whereas a fork has a 5" stroke for 5" of travel. The fork also deals with much bigger changes in the load it is bearing compared to the back. Braking has very different effects on the front and rear suspension. They react to acceleration differently. The paths the rear and front wheel follow through their travel are quite different. Basically they are two completely different animals. Trying to make them feel the same by using air or coil is like trying to get two women to look the same by dying their hair the same color. Just use whatever feels best in the front.