Fork buying advice.COIL or AIR??

Mawby1710

Hey guys,

Im in the market for some new forks(will be buying 2nd hand) and not sure between coil or air.

my mate has Pike 426 coil and tehy feel really awsome. Ive currently got some shit marzocchi 44 lo which dont even have rebound.I got them on my Felt compulsion 4.

I have taken an intrest to some 2010 Rockshox Sector RL Solo Air 150mm but not sure how they would perform in relation to the pikes??

I havent felt a good air fork before, so I put my trust in your hands to give me the best advice. Should I hold out until I find a good pair of pikes??

Many Thanks

macky1

I can't really comment on individual forks, but I bought coil and regretted it.

Air forks can easily be adjusted to suit the rider weight with a pump.

Coil forks need a new spring, unless your weight is within the range of the standard spring installed. The spring can be costly, plus fitting of course.

If I was going to buy again, I would go for air.

.blitz

A lot of people - me included - prefer the simple seamless feel of a coil fork but air forks have a lot of advantages namely lightweight, tech features to control the way the fork behaves in certain situations and a lot of adjustability. By the same token it is quite easy to set them up totally wrong and then you will have a fork that behaves like a pogo stick.

A good air fork is more versatile than a good coil fork but beware mid-range air forks that use low weight as their trump card - there are nearly always flexy noodly things.

If there's a coil fork that you like - and Pikes are as you say, awesome - then there's no reason to go for an air fork unless you are watching the grams and want a higher level of adjustability.

cooldad

Why post in two sections? You expect different answers?

Ransaka

I've had both and tbh I prefer the feel of air forks but I found them a tad more flexy. This more likely due to the fact I'm a fat biffa. Currently I have coil sprung Pikes and they're fine.

cat_with_no_tail

Ransaka - what spring do you have in the Pikes?
I went for x-firm in the end for my 16st of lard + kit and was glad I did. When I replaced them with some very expensive Fox Floats I was MASSIVELY disappointed because to me, they just didn't feel as nice no matter how much I messed about with the various settings.

That said, I'm currently using air forks (Bionicon double agent forks) and they are superb.

Mawby1710

Well Im currently only 75kg, so what would your best guess be?
The air forks Im after have a 20mm maxel so surely that would limit flex??

Im just concerned about stiction and that they wont be plush but they seem to be averagely priced forks with good qualitys like motion control ect.

Ransaka

I've fitted an x-firm one but as it was an OE jobby it had a fixed length recon spring originally. Thinking of adding a moco as well as it was also without one but not sure if it will make any difference to the plushness of the stroke other than lockout.

EDIT - the flexy air fork was a Reba so not really built for fat blokes to tear around on but it felt smoother to me than the Pike currently does.

cloudynights

cooldad wrote:

Why post in two sections? You expect different answers?

thats what i luv about this site people real quick at picking fault

cooldad

cloudynights wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Why post in two sections? You expect different answers?

thats what i luv about this site people real quick at picking fault

Blame the boredom of being back at work.

leaflite

In my experience, in the lower end of the market coil forks tend to be much smoother and nicer to ride. In the higher end of the market, there isnt much between coil and air forks in terms of plushness and smoothness. My mums bike has a set of tora 318 airs, which I find very notchy. My bike has a set of air revelations which arent. IMO they are as smooth as my mates coil fox vanillas.

As sektors are based on the revelation chassis, but with a solo air instead of dual air spring, I would expect them to perform similarly to my revelations.