The RockShox Pike is back. Again. This time it has been re-envisioned as the dirt jump fork many wished the original could have been – a flyweight fork durable enough for the punishment dirt jump bikes are known to endure. Thanks to the incredible new chassis, the reincarnated Pike was already a great starting point for a dirt jump version. Now complete with a few dirt jump specific tweaks, you can have the fork of your dreams for DJ, 4X, or slopestyle.
Dig in to the Pike DJ, next…
As this is designed as a dirt jump fork, the Pike DJ will only be offered in 26″ wheel models and in 100 or 140mm of travel. Wondering just how burly the new Pike 35mm chassis is? To make the fork into a dirt jump model, they had to change precisely, well, nothing as far as the structure is concerned. The forks still use a hollow forged crown, tapered 35mm aluminum upper tubes with fast black coating, and what is now called the 15mm Maxxle Ultimate. We’re told that the Maxxle Ultimate is the exact same as the Pike’s “Maxxle Lite” but now will be rebranded as the Maxxle Ultimate to avoid confusion with the other Maxxle Lite which is still in the XC product line. So from here on out it’s the Ultimate, which if you’ve used the new axle – is a pretty accurate description.
On the inside though, there are a few dirt jump specific changes. The Charger damper has been custom tuned for soaking up massive hits with an extra firm compression tune, while the Solo Air spring has been given a DJ touch as well. The specially designed Solo Air top cap for the 100mm fork has the equivalent bottom out progression of the standard Pike with 5 bottom out tokens installed. On top of that, you can still add another 3 bottomless tokens for even more progression. This arrangement allows the fork to still remain supple for small bumps without blowing through the travel when you come up a little short on that next double. Other features like the low speed compression adjust, and Rapid Recovery rebound tune carry through.
Perhaps the only barrier to entry is the fact that the fork will be sold with a tapered steerer, only. However, that helps cut down the weight to a very impressive 4.06lb (1845g) for the 100mm travel fork with a 265mm tapered steerer with the axle.
Set to be available this July, look for Pike DJ forks to retail for $884.
