Since its release in 2013, the modern RockShox Pike has been asked to do many things. For some, it became an overpowered XC fork. Others used it as an everyman’s trail fork or tasked it with enduro race duty. Its plush feel and adjustability meant it wasn’t pigeonholed to any one task. Now, the MY2018 RockShox Pike gets a significant update with a Charger 2 damper and DebonAir spring delivering a renewed focus on the trail and enduro segments. And an all-new everything else, too…
While the current version of the Lyrik grew out of the Pike in 2015 – with the forks sharing tech and design, and differing mostly by travel – these two forks become more refined and purpose-built, each for their own intended use. The Pike is now dedicated to the trail, all mountain & enduro side of things, while the new Lyrik (more on that at bottom) starts at 160mm and up for bigger days and hardcore enduro riding.
The Charger 2 damper builds on the acclaimed sealed bladder cartridge of the original, but provides a wider range of low speed compression adjustments in the Open mode. It also updates the Pedal mode for more support on rolling, flowing trail, and the Firm setting gets a slight retune that makes it firmer with a more controlled blowoff on big hits. And it can now work with the OneLoc for pairing remote lockout with a RockShox Deluxe rear shock.
The inclusion of a DebonAir air spring means higher volume, particularly for the negative air chamber. This translates to a more plush feeling at the beginning of the stroke since less effort is required to start the fork moving. On the flip side is their Rapid Recovery rebound system, which helps keep the fork sitting higher in its travel and bounce back from successive hits more quickly. Bottomless Tokens let you adjust air volume for further tuning. And if you opt for the Dual Air model, you’ll give up the DebonAir, but gain 30mm of on-the-fly travel adjustment.
