[capoz77]

Evening Guys,

My trusty Pikes have been going strong for 5 years, still look like new, still ride well, the poplock for climbing is great but i'm getting the new component itch

My LBS tells me Pike coils are now regarded as heavy, with poor small bump compliance compared to the huge advancements in front suspension in the last several years.


I want to spend between £300-£500, (Pikes only cost me £275!) For XC/All mountain, on my Santa Cruz Blur with lock out preferably. The new Pikes seem very expensive @ £600 and the whole fork market looks a bit of a minefield! Are there any bang for buck go to forks which have the same reputation as the Pikes back in their hay day?

ps. would it be worth looking at 650b ready forks or would that ruin the geo if keeping 26" for the short term future?

 

[Gman086]

650b is the future and will mess up the geo on the BLT so just stick with what you have until you save up enough for a new bike. Also your LBS is feeding you garbage trying to get a sale. The coil Pike was and still is one of the best forks ever for small bump compliance. It is over a pound heavier than the newer Pikes though so the weight savings would be the only benefit. I've owned both and the new Pike is not as good over the small stuff but is better on bigger/faster hits and big drops, largely due to the larger 35mm stanchions. I think you'll be disappointed tho if you just spend the jingo to upgrade a 26" fork. A fork service with syn motor oil for splash oil works wonders for getting that old Pike running like new again - trust me.

Have FUN!

G MAN

 

[eatdrinkride]

What huge advancements in front suspension over the past few years? I'd love to hear a detailed analysis of that from your lbs shop guy, haha.

I rode a pike coil for years, and loved it. I've since moved on to the longer travel Lryik coil and still ride it to this day. Love both forks and would not trade either for what's on the market today.

If your looking to dump weight from the front end then that's a different story. But todays comparable forks are almost twice as much money and don't provide any huge benefits over your old Pike

 

[dwyooaj]

No reason to give up that pike coil. I miss mine. Almost all new forks are air and even though air has come a long way they will not have better small bump sensitivity than a pike coil. Just wait till u get a 650b bike to get a 650b fork. And then ull have no choice but air, prettty much.

 

[Fix the Spade]

IIRC a coil Pike is 2.5kg-ish? Not light but hardly cripplingly heavy.

Regards 140mm forks, a 140mm BOS Deville would be a big improvement, especially across small rapid bumps, but the rrp hovers around a thousand pounds(!).

The new Pike and Xfusion's Slant are pretty great too, but you won't see change from £500 for either, the Slant needs a bit of tuning to get really really good.

If you're feeling adventurous the Dual flow rebound damper from newer Revelations can be crammed into a Pike, if you really want. Or send it to TF Tuned for the ever popular PUSH treatment.

On balance I'd say keep riding the Pike as is though, they're really nice forks and as long as the stanchions/bushings are good it'll keep going and going.

PS, The Deville, Pike and Slant all weigh in the region of 1.8-2kg with air springs, your LBS is over egging it just a bit...

 

[keen]

I ran a the Pike 650b'd running a 2.3 Pacenti Neo-Moto. My BLT was a 2006 and SC said the frame would run up to a 160mm fork - 140mm Pike & 650b was no problem. The only thing I didn't like about the Pike was it lacked progression for bottomout control.