[MD Sleep]

I have always been a huge fan of coil forks (Set it, ride it, and its smooooth).

I currently run a Pike coil 454 on my Ti hardtail (set to 120mm all the time) and really really like the fork.....but.....I have recently been bitten by the absurd weight weenie bug madman: ) and know that I have an extra pound and a half sitting on the front end of the bike.rolleyes: ) Hmmm. Got me thinking.

So I am actually re-considering an air fork madman: ). Reba Team with 20mm axle at 120mm. Curious if anyone has ridden both forks and could comment on how much of that stiff bomb proof feel of the Pike I will sacrifice with a Reba. I ride long climbs with rocky technical decents. The Pike is so solid and just eats that sh#$ up.

Also, how much fiddling is required with the new Reba once it is set up? I don't mind tuning the fork, but once tuned, how much effort does it take to keep it there. That has always been the deal breaker with air forks and me.

I can stay put with the Pike and be stoked, but the 2010 20mm Reba has got me re-visiting the air fork option.

Lovin' Rockshox either way. Great products right now.

Thanks.

 

[shopcat_cycles]

Also, how much fiddling is required with the new Reba once it is set up? I don't mind tuning the fork, but once tuned, how much effort does it take to keep it there. That has always been the deal breaker with air forks and me.

Go for the air. Initial set up can take up to a few rides to get dialed, depending on how much you are messing with it during those rides. Once it's set, forget about it - has been my experience with newer dual air RS forks.

That's all I can comment on. I haven't owned a Pike. I don't think you'll sacrifice much as far as stiffness goes.

 

[Obi-Juan]

So I am actually re-considering an air fork ( ). Reba Team with 20mm axle at 120mm.

Well I´m kind of wandering the opposite: how would a Pike feel on my Shift R5 instead of the Reba?
I have a Reba Team set on 120mm with a Thru-axle. Really happy on the stiffness it gives to the front of my bike, I don´t think of it as a xc noodle fork, but I can´t compare to a Pike cause I haven´t ride one…
The thing is I used to ride a coil fork (Fox Vanilla) and I can tell you that once you have tuned properly your fork it´s gonna give you a hell of a hard time to justify going back to coil… Just keep track of the +/- pressure that you need based on weight and riding style and you are set. There is a really cool thread on how to set your Reba, if you end up buying it you should look for it.
Also if you get a Reba Team you´ll get the Blackbox damping instead of the Motion Control, which is an upgrade that has been tested by factory riders. (It comes with a maxle lite)

 

[MD Sleep]

The Pike ride

Obi

Cool reply. The other side of the coin.

I had a Marzo XC 600 coil on my previous bike setup and was really not happy. Dampening was marginal. On one of my favorite faster technical decents, I would just blow through the travel and it just felt like a noodle up front. I felt out of control honestly. I needed a little more solid fork apparently.

I started looking into replacing the fork (I put it on my wife's bike) and went back and forth with air vs coil as the coil options are fairly limited these days in the XC style forks. Not the obvious choice, but I took a chance and got an AM fork (Pike) and put it on a light XC hardtail rig.

Night and day. Super solid on big hits. Extremely smooth through all the travel. Great dampening adjustments which really work well. Maxle is awesome. U-turn let me put it at 122 so that I could sag to the exact stance I wanted. I work on the fork myself. The only drawbacks have been that it is still a little harsh on small chatte,r and it is a 5 lb fork on my otherwise really light Ti hardtail. The bike does feel a little nose heavy to me.

Thanks for the Reba info. It probably would be worth a try to balance my bike a little and shave some significant weight. People told me to get a Reba when I was looking into forks but I just had to try the Pike. It is a really good fork.