Hey everyone welcome or welcome back!
I am pretty sure you guys remember my Tallboy 4.
I built this bike last year and it's been a joy to ride.
Bike came with a 2020 PIKE Ultimate but I also happen to have a PIKE Select+, also 140 millimeters from the same generation
and with the introduction of the 2023 forks you might be able to find these at a great discount as take offs
let's check them out!
And the first thing that you have to remember is that PIKE Ultimate it's a fork that you can buy in the store
whereas Select+, you're only going to get with a new bike.
And if the PIKE Select+ is only available in this diffusion black color
as you move to the Ultimate you're gonna see this shiny glossy black
and the the lowers can be either this silver or a glossy black just like the CSU.
Aside from the looks though both the CSU and the lowers of these forks are identical.
You have the same rebound adjuster and 180 millimeter post caliper mount
you're going to get printed here the recommended pressure according to your weight
and here at the back of the right leg you're going to get the details of your fork, both 42 and 51 millimeter offset
and wider travel range compared to the 2023 models limited to 120 to 140 mm.
Same black anodized stanchions with gradients for 130 and 140 millimeters
and they use the same DebonAir air spring.
And unless you have a 2022 fork chances are rockshox is going to recommend you to upgrade to this 2021 C1 seal head
which is this one here and it comes with a little red foot nut.
These are 2020 forks and I got them on purpose because they have a bigger negative chamber in the air spring
and that means that they work better off the top more sensitive to small bumps.
In my experience this C1 air shaft and seal head it's just going to make the forks harsher.
2023 models upgrade this to DebonAir+ and also the ButterCups available on the Ultimate forks.
None of which are compatible with these older models.
Rockshox calls the debonair highly tunable they are talking about the availability of the volume spacers
I always like to play with the volume spacers when I get a new fork.
The right leg of the fork, where the damper is, might actually be the only difference between these two forks.
Even though they're both using what's called Charger 2.1 these are two different Charger dampers that are installed.
RC2 on the Ultimate ,and you see here one, the high speed compression HSC which is the outer ring
and the LSC or the low speed compression.
The Select+ gives you only low speed compression
so the biggest difference between the two forks so far it's nothing else but the adjustability of your charger 2.1 damper.
In 2023 RockShox completely upgraded the damper to the Charger 3.0
very different design similar to the Grip damper from FOX.
However that damper is not compatible with this older chassis so you cannot upgrade these forks to it.
On the scale the Pike Select+ is 1862 grams with that slightly cut steerer
and the Ultimate is 1900 grams but this has an uncut steer so two inches longer than the other fork.
I've had the Select+ installed on my Yeti ARC and let me tell you guys this bike and fork combination really, really rips!
This fork is awesome man!
It's super plush off the top,
it just absorbs everything!
riding the forks back to back hard to tell the difference.
The only difference being really the High Speed Compression that doesn't exist on the Select+
and with RockShox announcing the 2023 forks who knows maybe you can find some of these as take offs,
incredible value, very good fork, especially with that 2020 DebonAir air spring.
So what do you guys run? Do you like the RockShox PIKE or you go the FOX route?
Let me know in the comments below.
Hope you found this useful and if you did don't forget to like, subscribe, and comment,
and until next time hope to see you guys on the trails.
Cheers guys, cheers!