Captain Fastbastard Mayhem

Oh. Let Ray ride my bike down conters a while back. His reaction at the bottom? How much for the fork. I want it. Now. So ja I think he's happy.

Ask Raydek Rides with me. In his words, it's a new fork. It "rides like the marzo" and RS have done EXACTLY the same thing in their revision of the pike.

https://www.cogentindustries.co.za/product/vorsprung-luftkappe/

BEAUTIFUL

Glad to hear it!

yeah, I had the RC dual pos. So maybe it's a function of that. But I know from chatting to people who have inserted the Luftkappe piston head that it turns the pike into a totally different fork...

Which Pike you got, Tim? RCT3?

bro... you should try it from my perspective... wow. Every single time our consultant asks what they can do. 2 things - lower fees on investments, and a more simple website. I have ZERO idea where they get their design ideas from, but each iteration has been shittier than the one it replaced.

Capricorn is, as are a couple of people I ride with on occasion. Apparently they do well on mid-wide rims, but not so well on super wide rims (31mm plus) And yeah. Grip like stink is the word on the street, though with that 40a durometer rubber (almost the same as Schwalbe VertStar and the same as Maxxis Super Tacky) I'm not surprised. Not so sure on longevity though.

Was a great race from Rossi. And Pedrosa's pace surprised everyone! Until his front started giving up on him, he was going so well. Zarco had another excellent run, as did Crutchlow. Rossi's race was brilliant, though. That penalty was a bit strange, given it wasn't his fault, but still. He kept with the Hondas when nobody else could. Vinales - honestly gutted for him. Went down so softly. And he was looking really good for a position on the podium, so early on. Lorenzo seems to have gotten a bit better now that he's had enough consistent weather on the bike at the same venue. Still - being overtaken by Iannone was a pleasure to see! BRAAAAP! What a kick in the teeth for Duc & Lorenzo.

What a *** bike. Where do you live, so I can take that monstrosity off your hands. Jk. She's a beauty.

Ja cool. Just seems that you can't accept that the marzo is better than the pike for my purposes. Superior damping, stiffer chassis and a more sensitive beginning stroke. It's also more adjustable, if you have the right weight spring. To get it to the same performance as the 66 whilst also upgrading my wheels and getting the towbar would have cost at the minimum 14k which I didn't have. Luftkappe New air spring (RC dual position can't take the luftkappe) New wheels The towbar Instead, I just sold the pike and stock wheels. Plus. As I said before. I couldn't be happier. It pedals well. It descends bloody brilliantly. The only limiting factor is the Muppet piloting the thing.

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It's pretty much the same as how a luftkappe assembly makes the pike so much better and "lyrik like" due to the larger negative air chamber. And no, it was fine. The 66 is just that much better. It's a coil. It just works. Maybe it's because I had the RC dual position version, and I just couldn't get it set up to my liking without it either being choppy on the small bumps or just blowing through the travel. I'm a heavy bastard so I needed quite a bit of pressure for it, but it just never felt as good as the 66. My mates normal RC was the same, until he put the luftkappe piston assembly in. Now his opinion is that his fork "feels like the marzo" and it's a different fork entirely. Would I have felt the same if it were an RCT3 I was replacing? I don't know. But I didn't have the extra 16k floating around to check that, or to buy a lyrik. I did have the marzo. And bloody hell, if I'm not glad I did it!! I suppose I could have bought the RCT3 assembly and put it in, but then I wouldn't have the towbar or new wheels.

Comes standard with snakeskin casing tyres, a bar with 5 deg back sweep, a fork that is vastly outperformed by an "out of date" "archaic" "piece of crap" fork from 2008, soft and heavy OEM wheels and so on. There's quite a bit I could do to make it lighter, but that would come at the expense of performance and at quite a high Rand cost. So yes. Compromises FOR ME. You're kidding yourself if you think my RA1 is the same as Yoann Barelli's was when he was still riding it. And how Josh Carlsons was. Oh. And I don't have 16k to drop on a new fork to replace the old pike. But I did have a marzo that I KNEW performed brilliantly and the sale of the pike and stock wheels paid for a towbar and a new set of wide rims, which have a discernable improvement on the ride. If the marzo was a failure, that would have been acceptable. I was prepared for the disappointment. It blew the pike out the water. Completely. The weight penalty was and remains immaterial. I'm also not prepared to spend oodles of cash on a part that has no functional benefit over an existing one, other than a weight saving. As an aside... You're still upset that some people's priorities and decision making criteria aren't the same as yours?

Joh Joh Joh

Nope. May be a bit slower, but it's just extra super secret training. And far better for the downs.

so pure linear on a 500lb/in spring 1 inch = 500lb 2inch = 1,000lb 3 inch = 1,500lb Regressive may be 1 inch = 500lb 2 inch = 950lb 3 inch = 1,300lb Or higher / lower depending on curve Progressive may be 1 inch = 500lb 2 inch = 1,050lb 3 inch = 1,700lb or higher / lower depending on curve

IMO the curved top tube and down tube (near the crank) and the smaller lower linkage go a long way to offsetting the Quasimodo-ness, especially when compared to the Marin. IMO

Indeed, but from reading suspension tuning and setup guides, linear curves are still good for coils. A linear arrangement still means it'll require a lot more force to bottom out than move 10mm, as the 500lb/in measurement is cumulative ie it needs 500lb to move an inch, 1,000lb to move 2 inches etc. And you can still dial in some compression damping to make it a bit stiffer & supportive. It's if the curve is on the regressive side that you have to start worrying, as there the curve relies on Air's inherent progression to support it in the end stroke, and if you had a coil on there the additional force required to move the travel that last inch would be offset by the regressive nature of the linkage... so the last inch may just require an additional 200lb vs the additional 500lb the previous inch required.

Yeah, IMO the polygin just looks cleaner. FAR cleaner.

Because the additions are functional, and we don't really care about weight? If my bike works how I want it to, and it weighs 16kg, surely that's better than if my bike is 13kg but there are compromises everywhere.

FML. Another reason to wait for the CCDB Coil.

Oh, absolutely. It's very intriguing indeed!

The polygon just looks more polished. Smaller lower link, better tune design and it just looks more like a bike I'd like to ride.