Waaaay back in 2002, RockShox revolutionized the suspension world with the release of its Psylo range of forks. The forks came with 30mm stanchions, a lockout/compression adjustment, the travel was adjustable from 80-120mm, and......wait for it, they came with a quick release 20mm through axle.
The Psylo revolutionized the mountain bike world by heralding the beginning of the all-mountain bike and all-mountain-specific forks.
Fast forward three years and things got beefier. The original Pike was the ultimate lightweight all-mountain Fork, featuring Easton EA-70 32mm stanchions, a Maxle 20mm QR axle, the Motion Control dampening system, in either a remote, or non-remote option, and 95-140mm of adjustable travel on the coil or air versions of their U-turn adjustable models. It was light, it was stiff, and it was bullet proof. The Pike had it all, and then some.
But time marches on Technology comes in leaps and bounds and only a few years later the Revelation became everything the Pike once was, only lighter! And so the Pike disappeared off the radar, but in doing so, it left behind an important legacy. That is, until the RockShox research and development department invited the Pike back into the range.
Out of the box
So what's new? Well, a lot has changed since 2002. To start with, the new standard for forks is a tapered steerer and almost every decent bike now has one. This is one of the best new innovations in front end stiffness. Secondly, the standard in axles across the board is now 15mm on everything short of full blown DH. An asymmetrical lower leg casting is surely also worthy of mention, with more material on the brake side to account for the greater forces, and less material where it is not needed. The lowers feature the new Maxle Lite, a bolt-thru QR that requires no tools to lock, open or adjust the positron of the cam lever. To adjust, simply push in the end and twist. The air system comes in either a Solo air in either 160mm or 150mm configurations, or Dual stage air with a 30mm adjustment for alteration of head angles for climbing. The chasis is also worth a mention here, which is beautifully sculpted and light, yet incredibly stiff.
This brings us now to the Charger damper. The new dampening system is a fully self-contained unit, that uses an expansion bladder to provide a sealed environment for the oil displacement throughout the full range of travel. This also means that there is no air in the system and allows the shim stack to do its thing, un-affected by aeration of the oil, thus giving a much more consistent overall damping performance. It features three lever settings, performance, pedal, and lock. The Charger's shock absorption performance is the priority and the lock-out is a bit of an after-thought. To be honest, the performance is so good, that the third setting is mostly just along for the ride. Rebound dampening is also forging new ground with RockShox new Rapid Recovery, keeping the fork riding high in its travel, allowing the fork to utilize the plusher initial travel to its maximum advantage.
The Pike tops all this off with an impressive 200 hour service interval. It would seem that this is the new benchmark for fork dampers to match up to, and no doubt we will see it make its way into more forks in the RockShox stable soon enough.
The ride
This is the plushest RockShox of all time. I swapped my Lyrik for the new Pike, so to ride one then the other was an invaluable comparison. Once I cut the steerer and fitted the star nut, the Pike weighed in an impressive 1.76kg, a whopping 340g lighter that the Lyrik. First impressions were pretty positive, as the Pike feels super responsive straight out of the box.
The three settings on the charger damper all do their job perfectly. The open setting feels plush under either high or low speed compression and laps up hard-edged hits like nothing I have experienced this side of a Honda CR 250 over the stutters! Once you pump the air chamber to your desired pressure, the fork responds with the perfect amount of compliance for the task at hand, no matter what the terrain; rocks, drops, roots, or all of the above, the Pike just takes it all in its stride. Switching to the trail setting the Pike is most well behaved in either seated or standing pedalling positions and is ready for action when the need arises. The climbing setting ain't going anywhere without a monstrous hit in the front wheel. Even pushing down on the front whilst climbing has the Charger damper laughing in your face.
Overall, with the Pike's sleek looks, super light weight, and fantastic performance, many will be thankful for the Pike's return to the RockShox range.
