Pike U-turn alternatives?

tegwin

I have no idea what the current parts are like...its been four years since I have needed to buy bits of bike :shock: even though I have been riding hard all this time....

I want to put new forks on my 04 enduro....

I really like the Pike Air 454 u-turn forks...But at over£400 they are a little bit too expensive...I could afford them, but would rather not!

What similar travel and quality forks are out there?....140mm travel, good damping etc?...

What is the firect competitors for the air u-turn?

dave_hill

tegwin wrote:

I have no idea what the current parts are like...its been four years since I have needed to buy bits of bike :shock: even though I have been riding hard all this time....

I want to put new forks on my 04 enduro....

I really like the Pike Air 454 u-turn forks...But at over£400 they are a little bit too expensive...I could afford them, but would rather not!

What similar travel and quality forks are out there?....140mm travel, good damping etc?...

What is the firect competitors for the air u-turn?

You're not going to see a lot of price difference for comparable forks, in fact Rock Shox are usually about the cheapest for a given type of fork. Plus they are excellent (some might say not as good as Fox, but I think you pay for the name).

Bear in mind with a Pike you'll need a 20mm bolt-through front hub too so you might have to budget for a new wheel unless you already have one.

If you want similar performance and quality but only have a standard q/r wheel, check out RS Revelations. They're basically the same fork with 9mm dropouts.

delcol

i seen them for £390 on the net i think it was royals who had them..

have you looked on egay or considered ordering them from the states and shipping them over,..

Splasher

Fox Vanilla R is lighter and plusher than a Pike 454. it doesn't have as many "adjustables" but it has the essentials (preload and rebound) and it doesn't need a new wheel since it's QR. Best of all it's £309 RRP.

tegwin

Hmmm...The Fox Vanila R does look quite nice...

Would be perfect if it was air not spring...not sure why I have that preferance tho....Deffiantely worth a look!

Splasher

It's not air sprung, it's coil sprung. That's why it's smoother.

BlackSpur

He's saying he prefers air over the coil in the Vans. The 09 Revs may be worth a look if you can wait. 140mm travel/QR dropouts. No idea on pricing though.

andyturner28

If you know someone with coil 454's, try and blag a ride. I got mine for £289 from www.activesport.com and i love them I haven't tried the airs but the coils are so plush it's rediculouse, as is some of the terrain i have ridden them on which previousely scared the crap out of me but now i just fly over it A lot of people that have tried both say the coil virsion is better.

Andy.

tegwin

Hmm....Its been a while since I have ridden with coils up front..

I am assuming it adds considerable weight....

Splasher

Unless you have a dislike for the feeling of air or the feeling of coils, the only consideration is the weight of your fork, irrespective of what's inside (if that makes sense). Weights for 08 forks are:

Pike 454 U-turn coil: 5.0 lbs
Pike 454 Air U-turn: 4.7 lbs
Vanilla 32 R: 4.31 lbs
Float 32 R: 3.75 lbs

So clearly for the same fork, air is lighter than coil, but a coil Fox is lighter than an Air Pike. In terms of performance, coils are a bit more of a faff to set-up in the first place but buy the fork from TFTuned or Mojo and they'll put the correct spring in in the first place (and you get the other two in the box anyway) and unlike air, once it's right it never needs topping up. The suspension performance of coils is much better too with far less stiction (fewer seals) and a much more natural ramp-up rate.

Finally, there's the new wheel to consider. Assuming your front wheel is quick release, you'd need a new wheel to use a Pike, whereas an 08 Float or Vanilla is still QR.

I'm not saying a Vanilla is a better fork than a Pike, but it's at least as good and I do think it's more suitable for you given your desire to save a bit of money (about £100) and weight (about 0.4 lbs over an Air Pike).

tegwin

Thanks for that splasher.

My current hubs are totaly trashed anway, so I am going to have to get new wheels built anyway.....so it makes little difference which fork I buy from that perspective.

Not sure how much heavier a 20mm hub is going to be as aposed to a normal QR though...

Im currently leaning towards the pike coil as aposed to the Vanilla...... I assume the pike coil has the same travel adjustment as the air....

Splasher

It has more, 90-140 IIRC compared with 110-140 for the air. It's not the lightest choice but it is a cracking fork and the 20mm bottom makes it steer more accurately. The only thing with Rockshox coil forks is that I don't think they come with anything other than a standard spring. So have a look on their website and check you fall within the weights for the standard spring, otherwise you'll have to ask the supplier to order you a lighter/heavier spring when you order the fork.

A 20mm hub shouldn't be any heavier on a like for like basis. Hope ProIIs for example are slightly lighter in 20mm guise because there's less metal in the 20mm spacers than the QR stub axles.

passout

Pikes are hard to beat and the 20mm bolt through really stiffens things up - go for coil PIkes if you can't afford Air. I prefer Pikes to the Fox.

andyturner28

What swung it for me was that i haven't heard or read a single bad thing about any model of Pike (except for the U-Turn knob sticking, but that is an easy fix) but loads of bad stuff about Fox forks. I think the only model to escape seariouse critisisme are the Talas models, but they are stupid money! Ok the Foxes are lighter, but is that worth the extra £100 or so over the Pikes, which can take a lot more abuse and are stiffer. Buy a carbon handlebar to offset the weight difference

Andy.

dave_hill

Splasher wrote:

Unless you have a dislike for the feeling of air or the feeling of coils, the only consideration is the weight of your fork, irrespective of what's inside (if that makes sense). Weights for 08 forks are:

Pike 454 U-turn coil: 5.0 lbs
Pike 454 Air U-turn: 4.7 lbs
Vanilla 32 R: 4.31 lbs
Float 32 R: 3.75 lbs

So clearly for the same fork, air is lighter than coil, but a coil Fox is lighter than an Air Pike.

Yeah, but a Van R has standard dropouts where the Pike is a 20mm Maxle. That's where the extra weight comes from.

If you look at the Revelations (which are essentially the same as a Pike but with 9mm dropouts), then your list would be -

Revelation 426 U-turn coil: 4.5 lbs
Revelation 426 U-turn air: 4.0 lbs
Revelation 426 Dual Air: 3.75 lbs
Vanilla 32 R: 4.31 lbs
Float 32 R: 3.75 lbs

I have no doubt that the Fox forks are (marginally) lighter, possibly plusher and torsionally stiffer (but this isn't always a good thing) but you don't get a lot of bang for your buck with Fox and there's still the question of reliability.

I'd go for RockShox every time. But then I am Paul Turner's bee-atch.

Splasher

Dave, a Revelation is not the same fork as a Pike with QR bottom, it is shorter, has a lighter crown and a lighter steerer.

If you don't mind me saying, I find your last sentence quite telling. I don't have a Fox 32 (actually I do have a Revelation) but I was trying to give the OP exactly what he asked for, in other words a lighter cheaper alternative to a Pike air. It would seem that you will recommend Rockshox regardless.