# Pike Debonair vs Older Pike



## BigART (Aug 30, 2017)

I was riding the original Pike, 140mm, 1 extra toke(3 total), 5 clicks of rebound from full slow, 102psi for 25% sag. It was perfect, felt great and I was very happy.

I gave that to my wife to replace her Reba. She's thrilled.

I bought a new Pike with Debonair 140mm. At 25% sag with the factory 2 tokens I'm at 130psi. Rebound is full slow and I ping off off over everything. I'm out of rebound adjustment. I tried 30% sag which left me at 108psi and I managed to get 1 click of rebound from full slow. Small bump sensitivity doesn't feel nearly as good to me as the old Pike.

Both Pike's are solo air.

Bad news is my wife won't let me have the old Pike back. LOL


A buddy of mine just went from the older Pike 160mm travel to the new FOX 36 Grip 2 160mm and he says it's way more plush. I'm wondering if I should go that route, try upping my new Pike 140 to 160mm or look for an older Pike 140. I can't use my old Pike, other than to test, or my buddies 160mm Pike as they're 15x100. My new wheelset is Boost.


Any advice or knowledge about the new Pike?


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## BigART (Aug 30, 2017)

Swapped forks/wheels yesterday with my wife's bike. 2 different bikes and 2 different forks.

Sag set at 25% on both forks.

Wife's Highball 70.5 head angle. Old Pike, 89psi. New Pike 110psi.

My Vanquish 67.5 head angle. Old Pike, 90psi. New Pike 130psi.

This tells me a lot of why the new Pike feels not as plush. The wife rode the new Pike yesterday on her Highball and she said it was harsher than the old Pike and worse than her Reba she was on previously.


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## Cayenne_Pepa (Dec 18, 2007)

OP - good thing fleabay has lots of older Pike for sale. I agree, RS ruined the Pike adding Debon Air damping... the previous Pike is pure buttah.


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## BigART (Aug 30, 2017)

I'm not finding a boost 140 or 160 to well. Most of them seem to be all debonair now.

My other option is a Fox 36 Grip 2.


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## mikesee (Aug 25, 2003)

Cayenne_Pepa said:


> OP - good thing fleabay has lots of older Pike for sale. I agree, RS ruined the Pike adding Debon Air damping... the previous Pike is pure buttah.


DebonAir has nothing to do with the damping.


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## Nubster (May 15, 2009)

I have a 150mm Pike RCT3 I'm selling. It's 27.5 wheel size and boost. I replaced it with a Pike with DebonAir.

I get the same sag with the same psi as I did on my non-DebonAir Pike. I haven't ridden the new one yet so can't say how it compares otherwise....but just driveway testing the DebonAir definitely feels plusher and easier to start into the travel.


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## Nubster (May 15, 2009)

mikesee said:


> DebonAir has nothing to do with the damping.


Yeah...I thought it was more to reduce/eliminate stiction.


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## Red Rock (Sep 12, 2014)

If you don't like Debonair, finding an old style air spring shouldn't be too hard.


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## Cayenne_Pepa (Dec 18, 2007)

mikesee said:


> DebonAir has nothing to do with the damping.


I meant the canister volume....my bad


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## scottzg (Sep 27, 2006)

The pike's rebound gets super goofy when you're near the end of the range. I did the 'heavy tune' on mine and it was a big help. That involves rebuilding a charger damper, and that experience has seriously put me off rebuilding chargers. 

For whatever reason my lowered 140mm 1st generation lyrik rc2dh is a dramatically better fork than my pike. Chocolate and turds. I suspect it's because at my 225lb weight the chassis can't handle braking and bumps at the same time, but it could be because the compression side gets overwhelmed with really high speed hits. I speculate, and i've learned that with suspension you can't assume much.


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## BigART (Aug 30, 2017)

What's the 'heavy tune' you speak of?


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## scottzg (Sep 27, 2006)

BigART said:


> What's the 'heavy tune' you speak of?


You move the shims around on the rebound shim stack to move the tuning window to a heavier range. It's unnecessary if you're not 1-3 clicks from fully closed.

Page 28


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## BigART (Aug 30, 2017)

I'm at 1 click from full slow on the rebound and at 35% sag roughly to get this fork to ride even close to the old Pike.

That link keeps timing out on me.


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## scottzg (Sep 27, 2006)

BigART said:


> I'm at 1 click from full slow on the rebound and at 35% sag roughly to get this fork to ride even close to the old Pike.
> 
> That link keeps timing out on me.


Yeah me too. It was an old link in my bookmarks. I dunno why the information has been removed; the new pike service manual doesn't have the instructions. I don't know if it's no longer possible on the charger2 or if sram just decided not to publish it.

To my mind, no matter. I think the pike is a poor performing fork for clydesdales, and it sounds like the debonaire revision is even worse. 1 click from full slow sounds awful. I would be sorely tempted to get a 36 as you suggested, or something else. Sorry for your struggles.


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## Nubster (May 15, 2009)

I'm a super clyde and the Pike has been great for me. My RCT3 was anyways. Haven't ridden my new one with DebonAir.


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## BigART (Aug 30, 2017)

scottzg said:


> Yeah me too. It was an old link in my bookmarks. I dunno why the information has been removed; the new pike service manual doesn't have the instructions. I don't know if it's no longer possible on the charger2 or if sram just decided not to publish it.
> 
> To my mind, no matter. I think the pike is a poor performing fork for clydesdales, and it sounds like the debonaire revision is even worse. 1 click from full slow sounds awful. I would be sorely tempted to get a 36 as you suggested, or something else. Sorry for your struggles.


Thanks.

I'm going to get the Fox 36 Grip 2. I had a chance to try out my buddy's bike on Monday with his new 2019 Grip 2 and it is more plush than the old Pike. I was at 110psi for the recommended 20% sag. I didn't even have to open up the HSC or LSC all the way and it was already more plush. He came from the older Pike as well.


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## BigART (Aug 30, 2017)

Update:

I've been riding with the Fox 36 Grip 2 160mm Boost on my Transition Vanquish XL and I'm pretty well pleased.

It's a little stiffer than the Pike. The small bump is a little better than the Pike as well. I'm still full slow on the rebound adjustments, but it feels pretty good. I drop a couple pounds and I'll likely need to add a click or two.

I'm glad I got the Fox.


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