Cove Stiffee - Z1 or Pike ?

Gral · May 2007

Hi,

The subject says it all really.

I'm a reasonably lightweight rider - 155 pounds. Mostly I do aggressive trail riding and small drops (absolute maximum 6 feet and only if there's a very nice landing). I like to do long distance rides from time to time so the ability to lower the travel on the Pikes is attractive. I think the Z1s will give me confidence to ride just a bit harder, but I'm also worried about the head angle and the height?

So Z1 or Pike?

jAckAsS o__0 · May 2007

I'd say the Pikes because I don't know much about the Z1's...

Emoism Is Against The Law!

anto164 · May 2007

i would say pikes, they are immense forks, and RS have really come on leaps and bounds recently. Then again, the Z1s LOOK more strong, even though they probably are as strong.

really, think about it this way, you can get pikes, with rebound, compression, lockout, floodgate and the rest, for small moneys, compared to the Z1s, which you need to spend more cash to get the equivalent forks.

 MON BICI!!
myspaz

P66 · May 2007

The Pikes are about as strong and also a better fork, go for the Pikes

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Norco_Hucker · May 2007

Personally I'd go with the Z1's, but as you say you do long distance rides (I'm guessing xc?) the Pike 426 U-Turn & Poploc does 95 - 140mm, so you'll be using 140mm for the aggressive stuff and about 100mm for your long distance!

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secondtimeuser · May 2007

Pikes, coming from someone who has owned both.

Though admittedly, I haven't had much chance to ride the Z1s and haven't even bothered setting them up properly, hah.

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haroexone · May 2007

id go with marzocchi,but maybe just because of brand loyalty

roryf · May 2007

I have both, and prefer the Pikes. They are much plusher straight out of the box, and more adjustable. They'll easily stand up to what you do. I'd choose them without a doubt. My Z1s are strong, but quite heavy, and don't have such good small bump sensitivity.

Amos · May 2007

I have heard nothing but good comments about the Pikes, although I haven't had a chance to run any yet.

On my Stiffee I have had a '04 Z1 Drop Off (130mm) with ETA, and now im running a '06 Z1 Sport (130mm) with 20mm axle. Both of them are tough enough to take the drops you want but you pay for it in weight.

In my opinion it depends what you most want from your bike, if you don't mind the weight and are building up a bike with tough components then go for the marzocchi's. If you fancy something a bit easier going go for the Pikes.

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Pkomor · May 2007

The steerer on the pikes is weak, and costs about œ250 to replace.

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euan_333 · May 2007

If I were in your position, I would get the Z1's.

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dave_s · May 2007

I've got Pike 409s on my 03 Cove Stiffee and they feel right but I think later frames might be adjusted for longer travel forks. Mine seems spot on with my Pikes set at 130mm travel

Amos · May 2007

130mm is the ideal geometry for the '06 stiffee frame.

Instigation, Information, Inspiration

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1327402/

dave_s · May 2007

Yep Amos, I wasn't sure if the later Stiffee frames had been adjusted to allow a longer fork. I tried my 03 Cove with the Pikes set at full 140mm travel for a week or so but felt it really handled better if I reduced the travel down to 130mm.

randomize · May 2007

id go for pikes, i've done 6 foot drops on rockshox reba forks and they've taken it fine so pikes would be plenty strong enough and also lighter

Gral · May 2007

thanks for the feedback people.

I'm erring towards the Pikes now for adjustability of travel and it sounds like they should be strong enough.

I've done some reading about the Pikes and I'm finding it difficult to figure out the difference between the models. As far as I can tell I don't want the 409 because the adjustability is not external.

But what is the difference between the 426 and the 454?

I assume the hollow crown and aluminium steerer on the 454 makes it lighter....but does that make it weaker? And are there any other differences between the two models?

And what is the pop-loc...is that an option on all the different models? Or is something that only comes with certain models?

Sorry for all the questions but the Rock Shox website is rubbish.

dave_s · May 2007

Gral, what do you mean when you say Pike 409s don't have external adjustment ?
I can adjust travel, compression, rebound and floodgate externally on my Pike 409s so I'm not sure what else you want to adjust.

Gral · May 2007

Dave S...I'm just going by the Rock Shox website which says that the 426's upgrade over the 409 is that it has external floodgate.

So I assume that means the 409 doesn't have external floodgate - not that I know what the floodgate does anyway, but if I want to adjust something I don't want to have to open the fork.

So basically, the Rock Shox website is crap and lists 3 different Pikes and doesn't explain what the difference is.

So any enlightenment you can provide would be much appreciated.

Cheers
Gral

PS. other things I'm still confused about is the difference between U-Turn and Air U-Turn and whether this is an option for each model. And then is each model available in Coil or Air or what? oh the list goes on, sorry for moaning.

gibby12100 · May 2007

pop-loc is a handlebar mounted lockout switch...
(I think) External Floodgate is a the point where you want your lockout to stop, e.g. you hit a big thing, so your forks become active again...
Air U-Turn is a Air Version of Pikes, which is more tuneable to your exact weight, i think air is only in 454 and maybe upwards. TBH, with the Pikes, i would go with air u-turn.
Having said that though, I would go with Z1's, The reason being, is they look nice. Pikes are rated some of the best forks around, but, they are sooo ugly.
Also, I would look at Fox 32 Vanilla' R (œ320) and RLC (œ399)

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Gral · May 2007

Thanks Gibby.

Yeah you're right I just checked the manual, the floodgate is the force on the lockout blowoff.

I checked out the Fox website. Within 15 seconds I can understand the different models of Fox Vanilla fork and what each function does. They have all the adjustability listed and they use plain English instead of marketing waffle. I'll think about the Fox forks as well.

Amos · May 2007

One of my friends runs the Fox 32 Vanilla R and its a very good fork.

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Mythic · May 2007

429 forks are coil and 454 are air

centralmtb.myfastforum.org

Cove Stiffee - Z1 or Pike ?

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