I got the MRP Ribbon Air. You did make a video about it several months ago but why did you not put it in this video? It's the same category fork and a contender in this segment.
Fox 36 Float on my Rocky Mountain Altitude A50. Beautifully supple over roots and other small/med hits. Not the most adjustable with compression dial on top and rebound on bottom but if you don't need extra adjustments a fantastic fork for trails and some enduro. Handles my 240lb frames very well v
IMO low speed comp makes more of a difference than most people realize Wasn’t a fan of the pike on my 2015 Tracer but the pike on my 2019 Jeffsy feels great, supple and bottomless. Both RCT3 must’ve just found the right setup this time around
I had the 120mm Fox Factory 34 step cast on my SB100 and that thing was freakin awesome. Super light, handled everything that I could throw at it and came back asking for more, although I probably should have run some more volume spacers in it. I do agree the Pike is definitely more for mid travel trail bikes, although you really can't go wrong with either. Kind of like Jeff said, 130/140 I would go Pike up front and 150+ I would go with a Fox 36 with the Grip2. Boom.
Like the simplicity of 34 Fit Grip's free adjusted 3-position damper. You can change it freely between the range of dampening, not just from full open to medium, but to somewhere middle if you want to. Easy to change on the fly depending on the changing terrain. For sure something like 36 Grip2 or Fit4 will be amazing, if you want to play with different settings, but perhaps sometimes less is more.
My 2020 RockShox Pike ultimate direct mount holes for caliper are very soft metal magnesium. When you go to put on your brakes make sure you've used the longest bolts with washers or whatever it takes to get them all the way in. If not the standard Shimano short bolts May and will start the strip out the Magnesium thread and then you'll start to be into some s***.
I have a 2019 pike rct3. I've been hearing a lot lately about coil conversions from companies like Push. I think you should do a review on something like that. Anyone have experience with this type of setup on their pikes? Would love to hear it
Service intervals and serviceability are also different. I have a 36 rather than 34 and 2 Pikes and travel change on the Fox is much easier, at least going down within airshaft limits it’s just removing spacers and changing a bolt (unless your running a MRP then no bolt change). On the other hand the Fox takes 2x crush washer sizes and it’s far more preferable to have $100 of tools just to get the legs off. The RS you can just use the bolt and a 6” extension with the hex bit fitted (and reverse onto torque wrench to put back) .. but you need to do this less often with the Fox. Going past a lowers service also takes more specific tools on the Fox ...
My bike came with a Pike DJ and I was planning on upgrading to a FOX .. but now that I’ve had my ride for over a month I just don’t see the need .. the RS Pike DJ has been amazing to me and easy to adjust, and I’m a big fan of the “maxle” that came with it as well 🤙🏻
Fox 34 is a great fork straight out of the box very responsive easy to set up. I also had the Pike for 2 years had to muck around a lot to get them right with tokens etc, and then I blew the seals. But then again most forks perform best with a rider weight around the 85 kg. Not sure what would be a good fork for a heavier rider
I have both of these forks. I agree completely with the Fox 34 SC being best choice for my Gen 3 Tallboy (29er) and it is easier to set up. I weight 200 lbs and ride a XL frame but still ended up removing a factory spec token to get the compliance needed. The Pike is a great fork but Ive spent 2x as much time dialing it over the Fox and still dont have it "perfect". Another advantage is the travel can also be adjusted on the Pike with a different air shaft.
I have a Cane Creek Helm coil on my 5010 and chameleon. 130mm on both and the Helm has 35mm stanchions and is super stiff. The coil also provides a nice plush ride.
ive got a Pike 160mm rc3 on my Canyon spectral and a fox 34 120mm on my cube stereo ebike, for some reason the fox is easier to dial in and gives me a smoother ride, maybe its because the Pike is running on carbon rims and 650b,the cube is a 29 with aluminium rims. or maybe the extra weight of the ebike but the fox does more flexing and doesnt feel as stiff as the rockshox
Thanks for the video! Pretty useful information! But what about Charger RC damper? It's used in Pike Select fork for instance. There is no info in your article about it.
I have ridden both fox and rockshox, although one step down in price. And in the forks I have tried are all of them great forks but I slightly prefer the feel of a fox, but I can't really pin down what feels better.
What about quality control....which company has less warranty issues? Also, which company has the best warranty response times and coverage for the customer?
Hey I know this is irrelevant, but is it true that you can make a fork more supple off the top if you add volume spacers and decrease air pressure? I’ve got a fox 36 fit 4 and was wondering if I could make it more supple.
This video is very informative. I need to possibly get a new fork better fork rather I'm currently running a Rock Shock 29er SID. I have a question is it possible to get 29er Fox, Rock Shocks or any fork with 34 or 35 mm stanchions with straight 1 1/8 non- tapered Streer tube? I know that it may just be time to get a new bike with a tapered steer tube. Thank you and Keep up the good work!
Great review and I agree with the way you would spec these forks to the bike. It nice that Fox still supports non boost. Not that a front hub cost that much but what if you have a couple front wheels that you like to exchange, say a 27.5 and 29er front wheel.
Don't know about fit4, but fox grip damper has unlimited number of compression settings, despite the fact that there are only 3 "positions". You can rotate the knob in between those positions and compression will change.
I wish you would do tire videos and reviews like this. Comparison of similar tread design but different brands. You know, as opposed to riding the maxis D
If you're building a lightweight XC Hardtail you might prefer the Rockshox SID (available up to 120mm travel), which competes well with the 34 step-cast. For a more trail oriented HT, however, you can't go wrong with either the 34 or Pike.
coming from an old school riding history I always loved the rockshox… having owned a rockshox pike ultimate and now owning a fox 36 on my new bike... I still love the pike... don't hate me
Great and very interesting video! I would love to see a review on the new Boxxer Ultimate, maybe even a comparison to the Fox 40 Grip2? Greetings from germany!
Hey Jeff, I noticed you show a Revel as your current bike, so I'm just curious what you thought of the Pivot Switchblade if you've ridden it? And was it 27.5" or 29"? Thanks Bruv
Was on the 34s for a long time and bought a bike with pikes, thinking I'd swap them out. I don't know if it's my riding style, but the pikes feel bottomless and supple off the top. I'm converted.
I like both brands but when I bought my Bronson in 2014 the Fox 34 was less well reviewed at the time so I opted for the PIke. It's been a solid performing fork over all. I had new lowers put on last year (bushings had worn out ) and this year I've upgraded to the new Debonair spring and Charger 2.1 damper and that cost me about 300 bucks (did the conversion myself). The performance improvement has been amazing. Rides higher in it's travel, more supple and has good mid stroke support. No complaints about the Pike.
Pike for me, I always prefer a hardtail bike have three mountain bikes a conanunu runs Manitou micro lubes my Kona Lanai runs marasashi dirt jam comps and my carbon fiber nine runs my rock shocks Pike have to say of all the shocks I've ever tried I like the Pikes the best but I've never had a set of fox shocks yet still looking to try some out I would love to get my hands on the 34 the 36th and be able to compare them directly to these but I don't have the money to have both man so I'll have to say I like the fight better but it's also because I like the additional adjustability that it offers I find when you run a hardtail bike the more suspension tuning options you get in the front the better it is
I currently have neither (Sektor Debonair). Pike sounds more my type, however I'm not going to constantly adjust my settings (or ever). I'd run whatever came on the bike!!!
I ran a Manitou Mattoc Pro this year. Next year, I will run the Mezzer (in 160mm for the stanchions) and my son will run the Mattoc. How does the Mattoc compare to the Pike and the Fox? I personnaly loved it.
i am wondering, i checked the pike on the website, the drop out of the fork (where the rebound damper placed) isn't tilted while the one in the video is. Can someone tell me the difference? Or is it just an update? thx
Im tempted by the pike ultimate 2021 for my stumpjumper alloy. I currently have the stock fox rhythm 34 with 150mm of travel and basic grip damper but the RS fork im looking at are the 140mm model. Is this a sensible upgrade? Everything iv read leads me to believe that the pike ult is a much better trail fork and loosing 10mm of travel is no big deal if it improves the ride quality??!
New riddle is: Coming from a basic Fox34 @140mm on an aggressive plus hardtail do we look at a Pike or Lyrik Ultimate at 140-150mm? 🤔🤷♂️ anyone? I'm keen for some feedback and looking to try some of the new RockShox in Colorado conditions. Thx WC!
I still cannot decide between these two (also the MY21 Fox 34 Factory is using Grip2, which has a similar LSC and HSC setting to the Pike). Funny because the difference is just 1mm stanchion diameter or a gold (Kashima) coating...
I'm considering both of these forks for a new Ibis Ripley V4 build, but also throwing DVO Sapphire 34 into the mix - any thoughts on which one I should pull the trigger on?
