Review: NSMB - Fox 34 vs RockShox Pike Fork

NSMB has put the Fox 34 against the RockShox Pike Fork. Here is what they had to say:

Walking around with my chest sticking out, pretending I know a whole lot about suspension design and setup, is pretty bold. While I probably know more than the average golden retriever, having less knowledge than I would like regarding the internal workings of a damper doesn't help with imposter syndrome. I have however tested a few different brands and models of forks over the years. I've worked with forks as basic as the coil-sprung Marzocchi Z1 with a twist, and as internally complex as the EXT Era V2. To be honest, I am constantly surprised when I can detect subtle changes in the suspension feel not only between different forks but in the settings of a fork on my test bikes. My battered wrists and spindly arms can detect imperfections in the damping circuits with little effort. As you can imagine, some brands' damping circuits feel better than others.

I don't have enough trail time on the RockShox ZEB but I've never found it tough to dissect. Both Lyrik and Pike have been on a few bikes I've tested in the last couple of years. They carried clues to the how the thick-boned ZEB would behave on the Shore. I personally wish the 170mm Lyrik still existed.

The other big brand suspension people had me playing with the Fox 36 Grip 2 and the Marzocchi Z1 with both Grip and Grip 2 dampers.

I stepped into Pike territory on the SCOR 2030 I tested. The 140mm travel fork with the Charger 3 damper performed well and was easy to dial in. It was set to about 75psi and 0 clicks in both high speed and low speed compression circuits. Life was good. The bike felt balanced with a 140/120 setup and the teeny tiny Deluxe Ultimate model kept up with the chaos of the North Shore.

When I encouraged Karin to try the SCOR, she told me it felt way too fast for the suspension performance it provided. The bike would shoot off from underneath her on compressions and would force her to hang off the back as it took her on a ride. I disagreed, but also understand the wild nature of a short travel dual link platform.

The Grip X damper was a good step forward for Fox. On paper, it delivers the performance of the well-loved Grip 2 damper with a simpler rebound circuit. Bigger pistons and more oil flow was also on the menu. The little Scor welcomed the Fox 34 Grip X. The 34's lively nature suited the 2030's demeanour. I also find this to be true with both the 36 and the 38 in Grip 2 form. Manuals became easier, jumps grew longer and the bike became more fun. While I don't always see the intersection of 'fun and safety' in the Venn diagram, the delta pointed towards livelier yet better managed travel with the Grip X damper.

The innovation train kept rolling and the Red team was working on a new damper at the same time as the Kashima team. The Charger 3.1 damper hit the market as buttercups continued to melt the trail away. It seems like SRAM wanted to create a more usable compression and rebound adjustment range for lighter and heavier people with the new Charger 3.1 damper. They claim 68% more oil flow through the low speed compression (LSC) circuit to create a smoother feeling fork and allowing people to actually use the compression damping dials instead of setting them to wide open from the first day.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but after a drastic change, I secretly wanted to be able to say, "Man, this fork is unridable in those compression settings." I figured I could make the fork feel worse if I followed the brand's recommendations and proved that I was better at setting up a suspension than a tiny decal chart on the fork leg.

Neither of these forks are bad or even worse than the other. The most obvious quantifiable difference is their weight. With identical length steerer tubes and crown races, I put these two forks on the scale and the Fox 34 came in at 1,743g and the Pike at 1,915g. A 172g (6oz) difference, while not significant, is enough to help the gram counter decide. I really couldn't tell if one was lighter than the other on the bike.

There were other, more obvious things happening with every lap. When I did the first lap on the Pike with my settings, everything felt fine and good. On the second lap, I lowered the fork pressure to the suggested 70psi from the 75 that I had settled on and I could immediately tell it was too low. I used all the travel in a hurry and started bottoming the tire out on the rocks too. If the speeds were slower and I wanted more comfort than what was already there, it could have been a viable pressure to run. Or perhaps with higher bars I could shift my weight back to use the fork less. For the 3rd lap on the Pike, I left the suggested air pressure and closed the compression fully to see if the compression would compensate for the lower pressure fork dive.