Pikes for a Trance. 150mm or 160?

T

Trumpy

Squid
Hey Burners,

Looking for some opinions on a Pike upgrade for my 2014 Trance 27.5. I'll be replacing the 32mm talas 120-140mm, and to be honest I have never touched the talas dial. I'm not sure whether to get the 150mm or 160mm, and how much of a difference I would notice either way.

I was going to get the 150mm solo air, as it's the closest in travel to what I have, but then the Trance Sx has a 160mm fork standard. Those who have put a pike on a trance, what did you go for and why?

Cheers,
 
bell.cameron

bell.cameron

Likes Dirt
Do you ride uphill or downhill more? Longer = slacker for downhill, or short = steeper for up. But in all reality, noticible difference will be 9/10ths of fuckall because either way its will be 9000x more awesome than you've got.

That is my maths done for the day.
 
T-Rex

T-Rex

Template denier
The big difference that you notice is the extra front end stiffness going from 32mm to 34mm. The Trance SX with the 34 mm tubes tracks like a DH bike. 150 or 160 travel... Not sure it would make much difference.
 
teK--

teK--

Eats Squid
If it's any help my SX with the stock 160 Talas 34s sit at 153mm travel since the pressures I run doesn't extend the fork out to 160.

It climbs and descends really well I don't really ever miss that 7mm of travel.

I run it all the time at full travel (talas off)
 
T

Trumpy

Squid
Just looking at chainos and the 150's are $100 cheaper than the 160's, so if they ride much the same then the 150mm might be the go. That's $100 towards the DbInline....
 
S

simon21

Likes Bikes
teK-- said:
If it's any help my SX with the stock 160 Talas 34s sit at 153mm travel since the pressures I run doesn't extend the fork out to 160.

It climbs and descends really well I don't really ever miss that 7mm of travel.

I run it all the time at full travel (talas off)
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How do you rate yours on the uphills Tek? Does it go alright at places like the Youies? (I've seen your bike there)
 
teK--

teK--

Eats Squid
simon21 said:
How do you rate yours on the uphills Tek? Does it go alright at places like the Youies? (I've seen your bike there)
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It takes some aggression to keep the front planted on really steep/switchbacks particularly with the wide bars and short stem, but you know that steep vomit climb from the Stockyards carpark up to Boulder? Climbing up that is not a problem which would probably cover most climbs you would encounter.
 
Ivan

Ivan

Eats Squid
Make sure you consider the impact of longer forks on your seat angle. This will effect climbing the most.
 
omac

omac

Likes Dirt
I run duel position pikes on my Zesty (150 out back, 160 up front) but I only drop the forks for extreme climbs. For general trail riding & descending I don't even notice the extra 10mm up front because the bike feels balanced.
 
Alo661

Alo661

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Ezkaton said:
There's always the option of 140mm Pike DJ?
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The DJ is 26" only. Also the compression tune is extra high and the bottom out of the DJ is equivalent of 5 tokens installed in a regular Pike.

Just a note; Pikes have a higher axle to crown height than Fox 32's, Fox 34's. Just replaced a Fox 34 at 160mm with a Pike at 150mm and they sit at nearly the same axle to crown height, give or take 2-3mm.

My advice, buy a Pike at 160mm, ride it. If it feels too high, cut the air shaft down by 10mm. Repeat until happy or go Dual Position. There is no reason why you can't run the fork at 120-130mm of travel as well, just need to cut the air shaft.
 
mojomodo

mojomodo

Likes Bikes
If you're not going dual position, I'd personally go the 150mm.

I've put about 1500k's into my 2014 Advance SX and use around 140mm (30%) & 160mm (70%) depending on terrain. 150mm for me would be a good balance of climbing + still maintaining the bit of extra slackness in descending. Once again, really depends on your riding style and the main areas you ride in.

I hate to admit it because I love descending, but I still like a few technical climbs to keep me honest!
 
moorey

moorey

call me Mia
Trumpy said:
Just looking at chainos and the 150's are $100 cheaper than the 160's, so if they ride much the same then the 150mm might be the go. That's $100 towards the DbInline....
Click to expand...
Have you checked bike24 and bikediscount.de? Maybe have your cake and eat it too...
 
moorey

moorey

call me Mia
Trumpy said:
Ahh, just realised that if you set your country ( to remove their VAT) the price dramatically drops, good tip!

Cheers!
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Yes, sorry. Forgot to mention that. $750 delivered was around the price when I looked recently for rtc3's. my dual pos cost the same a few months back. Could be an option so you can drop the 160 down to 130 for the climbs....but I never have...
 
F

fabioeldiablo

Squid
I got for my trance Advance 2014 a Pike 150mm solo air, pretty impressed of them. Big difference from the Rockshox Sektor 140 to Pike 150, much stiffer fork, i love it, struggle tiny but up the hills but it ok for me. I believe the 160mm it's foo much for trails, it's more for Dh sections...
 
XYGTHO

XYGTHO

Likes Dirt
Yep also put 150mm Pikes on my 27.5 trance. Perfect. Still climbs great but awesome on the knarley downhill stuff. Once set they soak up the trail like majic! ha ha. I think 150 is the go otherwise you would have been better of buying the Reign instead.
 
H

hoppy2

Likes Bikes
I've also made the switch from Fox TALAS evo 32's to 150mm Pike's on my Trance 27.5.

Riding the Pike's reinforced how bad the O/C dampers in the Fox Evo's are. The HSC is so choked up, they spike on any kind of fast hit. The lack of shimmed rebound makes them pack down through multiple bumps. You may as well have been on rigid forks through choppy stuff, yet they had a wallowy mid stroke. In a word, terrible.
In contrast, the Pike's are awesome. I'm actually thinking of replacing the air sleeve to drop them to 140mm. Even though slack front ends are fashionable these days, most of my riding is more trail style, and the half degree steeper by going to 140mm should sharpen up the steering, and make weighting the front wheel easier.
 
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