Pike RCT3

[Kiwiana]

Why is this fork so harsh. Small stones etc thrash the hell out of me. My son has a debonair and it's so smooth. I've serviced it and it made no difference. I'm new to this scene but this bike is killing me downhill. 

[Jewbacca]

15 minutes ago, Kiwiana said:

Why is this fork so harsh. Small stones etc thrash the hell out of me. My son has a debonair and it's so smooth. I've serviced it and it made no difference. I'm new to this scene but this bike is killing me downhill. 

What air pressure are you running? How much do you weigh?

Sag set?

Rebound setting?

I have never ridden a harsh Pike. 

[Kiwiana]

47 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

What air pressure are you running? How much do you weigh?

Sag set?

Rebound setting?

I have never ridden a harsh Pike. 

My son set it up for me. He knows all about that stuff. I'm 95kg I think air was 100 psi but don't quote me. He also set up the sag and rebound settings. It's awesome on the jumps and I believe it may have been used as a downhill practice bike. Small stony trails its just horrible to the point where I want to sell it lol. I've read a few similar posts about them being harsh. As I say I'm a novice

[Sprockets]

I had the pike RC and it was butter smooth. I found the fox better on 'high speed' sections but still fork handled great

[_dave]

If the fork has been set up correctly and the issue is just "small stones" / chatter.
The problem could be that your tyres have too much pressure resulting in a harsh feeling.

[Kiwiana]

2 minutes ago, _dave said:

If the fork has been set up correctly and the issue is just "small stones" / chatter.
The problem could be that your tyres have too much pressure resulting in a harsh feeling.

What pressure do you recommend  ? Let me try it. Chatter is a good description of tge feeling. It's super harsh

[Jewbacca]

Your rebound might also be set super fast, OR there is too much air in the negative air bladder. 

If the rebound isn't set too fast and your sag is set at 25-30% ish, then you will need to balance the air chambers again.

It's easy. You deflate the fork and manually pull and push the fork lowers until you hear a little high pitched 'weeeeep' like a tummy sound before you fart. 

Then pump it back up and re check the sag etc as it will behave differently. 

Hard tires are also a thing, but usually distinguishable from the fork.

Good luck. Don't be afraid to play with the settings of your suspension. If it's as bad as you say it is, you won't make it worse.

 

 

[BaGearA]

10 hours ago, Kiwiana said:

What pressure do you recommend  ? Let me try it. Chatter is a good description of tge feeling. It's super harsh

Tyre pressure you need to figure out yourself 

 

Taking intenet advice is sketch af 

 

I weigh 76kg kitted up ( atleast since I last checked lol ) 

 

I run 26psi front and rear , probably +- 2psi error in the pump readings 

 

2.6 tyres and 30mm rims 

 

 

I could probably run lower but have had squirm in super high speed berms at this pressure so i'll stay here for now , its made the front noticeably more compliant since the ol days of atleast 30psi front and rear 

[droo]

Copy/paste from my reply to a thread a few days ago:

Could be a number of issues, from tight bushings to front axle spacing being slightly out to air spring seals to a pinched foam ring. The only way to find out is to have someone who knows what they're doing have a look at it for you.

I find many LBSs, even those with otherwise decent mechanics, don't have anything more than basic knowledge of suspension and will often skip over crucial steps because they don't understand the issue. (This is not a dig at your LBS, just an observation from more than 10 years in the game.)

[Kiwiana]

19 hours ago, Jewbacca said:

Your rebound might also be set super fast, OR there is too much air in the negative air bladder. 

If the rebound isn't set too fast and your sag is set at 25-30% ish, then you will need to balance the air chambers again.

It's easy. You deflate the fork and manually pull and push the fork lowers until you hear a little high pitched 'weeeeep' like a tummy sound before you fart. 

Then pump it back up and re check the sag etc as it will behave differently. 

Hard tires are also a thing, but usually distinguishable from the fork.

Good luck. Don't be afraid to play with the settings of your suspension. If it's as bad as you say it is, you won't make it worse.

 

 

Thanks for the advice let me give that a shot.