RockShox Lyrik Ultimate Charger 2.1 RC2 Suspension Fork [Rider Review]

Our "Rider Review" article series features the honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for. 

Upgrading a suspension fork can be one of the most notable upgrades other than new wheels. An upgraded fork will add more traction to the front wheel and take away the hard blows. Our friend Arsalan has been riding the RockShox Lyrik Ultimate. See what they think! 

Overview

The Rockshox Lyrik Ultimate can’t be beaten for the price. The fork looks good and feels good. It feels very similar to my old Pike in terms of how it predictably progresses through its range of travel. The setup of the fork is also very similar. The Lyrik is different from my Pike in its level of customization and stiffness. With the Lyrik, I can adjust the low-speed compression, high-speed compression, and rebound. With the Pike, I can only adjust high-speed compression and rebound. The low-speed compression adjustment on the Lyrik is actuated via an Allen key, so it isn’t done on the fly. It is noticeable when you change it but the Rockshox recommended settings have been fine for me. The only real deviation I have from their recommended settings is rebound (I’m more open than what Rockshox recommends (in other words, faster rebound; more rabbit). The Lyrik feels a bit smoother than my Pike, even with the Pike being recently serviced. I’m not sure if that’s due to the Pike is a different iteration of Rockshox forks but I have no qualms with the Lyrik thus far. I have a friend that has tried the Lyrik and equivalent 36 Fox factory grip fork. He said he preferred the Fox fork ever so slightly but maintenance on the Lyrik is much easier. The slight preference was not enough to keep me from saving half a grand.

The Rockshox Lyrik Ultimate came packaged nicely and was easy enough to install. Mine came with a 42 mm offset. My bike is normally set up with a 44 mm offset fork and the 2 mm difference is not an issue nor do I notice a difference. The Lyrik also came with a fender, zip ties, and a corresponding through-axle. The through-axle is not quick release (QR) so I splurged and bought myself one of those. The quick-release axle works great and I have no regrets. It also came with a rubber cover on the quick-release lever to keep it from scratching the fork. My old axle did not have the rubber piece so I appreciated that feature.

The fender comes with cutouts in place for passing the zip ties through. They wrap nicely around the fork and have held the fender in place thus far. The face in the picture below shows how much space there is between the tires and the fender. The tire is Assegai and the wheels at We Are One union, which have a 30 mm width. The wheels also have Cushcore pro installed. As you can see, there is plenty of space there for a much wider tire. Might be limited to about 2.8 – 3.0 inches if that’s your thing. I should also note the rotor is 203 mm and feels great with the Lyrik. I think a 220 mm would also feel well. It is a surprisingly stiff fork!

Final Thoughts

Overall, I’ve enjoyed the Rockshox Lyrik ultimate. It’s much cheaper than the newer Rockshox forks and I’m sure it has nearly 100% of the ability (plenty of people rode very well on these forks). Save yourself some money and buy this fork. I am not disappointed with it and I think you will feel the same. I would buy it again if I was to redo this bike build.