# To Pike or to Argyle... THAT is the question.



## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

O.K, so here's the situation.

I want a pike to go on my nemesis project, thing is, there is no way for me to get it in black, the only rock shox supplier in the province only has silver ones, if it comes down to that, I can live with it.

An argyle would also be nice, but those are really tall, like, taller than my current dj3. And I've looked all over the supplier's catalogue, and I can't find it in the 80mm version(which would drop it down to 470mm a2c height, same as the pike @ 95mm).

Both of those forks have motion control damping and the same adjustements(save the u-turn) so I can't go wrong with either one, but there is a 15-20mm a2c height difference between the two, and I want my nemesis to handle the way it should.

Some people will suggest a gold label, to which I will answer: I don't trust manitou, at all. I have not seen a single fork of theirs last more than 3 months(4 of my riding buddies have them and hate them). I also hate the way every manitou fork I've come to try feels. So those are out.

Ordering online is not really an option, I'm in canada and most online shops don't even bother shipping up here... This is really aggravating.

Mind you, I get either fork at almost half price (60% of MSRP) just because I'm a loyal customer to my LBS. 

Given my situation, knowing that I can afford either fork(pike being a bit more expensive), what would you do? Go for the pike and f**k the colour since it'll get all scratched up anyway? Or go with the argyle but live with a slacker HA?

Please, help me!


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

you mentioned versatility with your SA before, the Pike would give you just that.... and you can always "customize" your pike lowers. easily. either spray paint, camo-slop stickers, or stencils... I'm a big fan of spraypaint though, some just hate it... 

but, if you could find an 80mm Argyle over winter (I'm assuming you are hurrying it, but is there really a need in the offseason?) What colors does the Argyle come in that attracts you? I'm not a fan of the mint...



or just paint the pike argyle, after you steel (sic) it, and you'll be all set to rock out with your plaid fish out.... just call it a muskie.


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

The Argyle would be white. Silver wouldn't look bad, but just not as good as black for the Pike.


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

BikeSATORI said:


> you mentioned versatility with your SA before, the Pike would give you just that.... and you can always "customize" your pike lowers. easily. either spray paint, camo-slop stickers, or stencils... I'm a big fan of spraypaint though, some just hate it...
> 
> but, if you could find an 80mm Argyle over winter (I'm assuming you are hurrying it, but is there really a need in the offseason?) What colors does the Argyle come in that attracts you? I'm not a fan of the mint...
> 
> or just paint the pike argyle, after you steel (sic) it, and you'll be all set to rock out with your plaid fish out.... just call it a muskie.


A plaid pike.... that could actually be a funny thing to do..


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## Evil4bc (Apr 13, 2004)

PIKE ...... 

Axle to crown is measured to 470mm on the SA's set at 70"
with a 455mm axle to crown fork and a big front tire it still basically measures to 70-71"


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## Ojai Bicyclist (Nov 4, 2005)

Lowered Nemesis Z1. Light, strong, and low. Plus you can specify 65mm, 80mm, or 100mm.


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## zaefod (Apr 8, 2005)

I love my Argyle but the Pike offers versatility.


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## Tracerboy (Oct 13, 2002)

i would get a pike...i can attest to how awesome they are and if the argyle is taller then your dj3, i wouldn't bother. dj3s are wayy too tall for my liking


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## pavement_hurts (May 13, 2006)

If Rick can paint his lowers on his bike with rattle cans, you can most definitely paint yours. I'd go for a flat black after you remove the stickers. On the Pike that is.


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

Evil4bc said:


> PIKE ......
> 
> Axle to crown is measured to 470mm on the SA's set at 70"
> with a 455mm axle to crown fork and a big front tire it still basically measures to 70-71"


Nice to see the maker of my frame actually chiming in to help. You don't see many companies do that anymore.

Well, unless I can fetch an 80mm argyle somewhere(I don't want the solo air one, for some reason I can't get myself to make the coil to air spring jump), it looks like it'll be a pike. Keep posting guys, I'm still open to suggestions.


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## skahtrisoxide (Mar 28, 2005)

80mm argyle, http://www.ride-this.com/product.php?item=20150155


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## .WestCoastHucker. (Jan 14, 2004)

i've only seen or ridden one Argyle, the fork was ridden about 4 times and is aready broken (it gets stuck down) and has a ton of fore-aft slop....
go for a Pike....


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

skahtrisoxide said:


> 80mm argyle, http://www.ride-this.com/product.php?item=20150155


They do ship to canada, but for nearly 90 bucks(CDN)! And I haven't picked it up at the post office to pay for them to cross the border yet!

As of today's currency exchange rate:

$465USD becomes $524,12 CAD. (My LBS is charging me 480 bucks CDN for the fork including install and swapping everything from my norco to my nemesis) And ride-this would charge me $88 for shipping( I can't tell if it's CDN or USD, I'll assume CDN)
We're now up to $612, and I haven't paid to have them cross the border yet. Which would be another $25 or so. And I need to pay for the install since I wouldn't be getting it at my LBS.

That sets me back at $637, $157 more than what my LBS would charge me, the fork isn't installed yet, all for 20mm of travel.

I'd love it if there were more canadian online bike shops.


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## cummings (May 21, 2005)

why doesnt ride-this.com ship to canada? They have the option to. Have you actually asked them?


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

cummings said:


> why doesnt ride-this.com ship to canada? They have the option to. Have you actually asked them?


Yeah I noticed afterwards and edited my post.


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## dirtyharry (Jun 27, 2006)

see if you can't get Rockshox to stick a black Argyle 302 lower on a 409, as a sort of custom job, and then lower it to 80 mm.


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

I'll go the simple route unless someone else has pointers for something I missed.


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## dirtyharry (Jun 27, 2006)

simple is always best . . .

although I must admit it sounds like total b.s that your shop can't get a black pike. Is rockshox out or something? Not to cut down your shop, they must be pretty cool to give you 40 frickin percent off, but that just sounds retarded . . . 

Black pikes are sick. Honestly, if I could get an argyle 409 in green or the lowest model pike in black, I'd get the pike, because I'm just a color weenie like that. And travel adjustability is cool! Well, I'd think over it for a long while first. 

And with something like a Pike, with each lower model, you keep the features but lose the internal quality. With the argyle, you lose both as you go to the lower model. 

I'd try and keep your color scheme, no matter what. 

If you regard only one sentence, regard the previous one.


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

dirtyharry said:


> simple is always best . . .
> 
> although I must admit it sounds like total b.s that your shop can't get a black pike. Is rockshox out or something? Not to cut down your shop, they must be pretty cool to give you 40 frickin percent off, but that just sounds retarded . . .
> 
> ...


It's really not the shop's fault actually. It's their supplier, which are the only ones that carry rock shox for my area(so if I go at any other LBS, same catalogue) that seems to only have them in silver for some reason. I noticed that ride-this have them in silver in their pic, and they don't seem to show an option to have it black, even though the description tells me that they should.


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## zerossix (Jul 25, 2004)

what're yougoing to be using the bike for is what it comes down to. if the bike is going to be exclusively a Dj and urban bike. buy the argyle hands down. the argyle is designed for street and big hits. i have owned both a pike and a argyle on my secret agent and for street and jumping the argyle feels sooooo much better. 

if you intend on getting out and riding more trails you will definitely wanna go with the pike. as mentioned multiple tiems in this thread it is a much more versatile fork. but its not designed to be droped and thrown and all that other stuff that is involved in being up your bike. on trails though the pike whoops the argyle.

i love my argyle. i loved my pike. both are awesome, it just comes down to intend use.

oh and my secret agent HA is 70 with the argyle. did the math up last night....theres my college education going to good use.


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

a 20mm difference should make it to about 69.5 or even 69, no? I plan on doing dirt jumping, urban, I plan on going at the north shore next year, general riding around town, 4x.


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## MT Road (Sep 26, 2004)

I hope the Argyle, I have one comming in the mail now


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

What I thought would be a no-brainer is now become a really big decision. I just hope I don't make the wrong choice. Will seems to ride his pike pretty hard and he's had it for 10 months now... I'm not hard on forks, heck, I never broke one myself, not even cheapy wal-mart ones.


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## Evil4bc (Apr 13, 2004)

snaky69 said:


> What I thought would be a no-brainer is now become a really big decision. I just hope I don't make the wrong choice. Will seems to ride his pike pretty hard and he's had it for 10 months now... I'm not hard on forks, heck, I never broke one myself, not even cheapy wal-mart ones.


PIKE PIKE PIKE !!!

This is going to be abetter bet for your SA

I jsut remembered that JJ ran pretty much every fork amaginable on his streetfighter and ended up riding a PIKE , he sent me an email this summer saying he road up kingbury grade in Tahoe and them did some crazy DH trail that I would never do on my park bike ... so do as JJ did and ride the pike .


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

I think you've convinced me Brad. Now I gotta scrape up some money to buy myself a fork in the off-season.


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## faustus (Apr 11, 2006)

skahtrisoxide said:


> 80mm argyle, http://www.ride-this.com/product.php?item=20150155


So the URL quoted here is for the 409, so I understand how it's offered in an 80mm version since the 409 has the travel adjustment spacers. The same site has an 80mm version of the 318 as well though. The 318 isn't listed on sram.com as coming in an 80mm version, and the exploded diagram doesn't show any travel adjustment capability either. What am I missing?



.WestCoastHucker. said:


> i've only seen or ridden one Argyle, the fork was ridden about 4 times and is aready broken (it gets stuck down) and has a ton of fore-aft slop....
> go for a Pike....


Which Argyle model was this?


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## xKREDx (Aug 8, 2006)

Go with the PIKE.


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