RockShox Pike Ultimate [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. 

It's very obvious that tires are a key component to keeping traction to the ground. But, suspension is also just as big of a key factor to keeping the rubber on the ground. So upgrading the fork can really help keeping the tires planted in the corners. Our friend, Blake has been running the Pike. See what they think!

Overview

I have always had Rockshox forks on my mountain bikes. So when it came to building up my new GT Sensor Pro, I didn't feel like being very creative. Now coming off a Rockshox Revelation, with 120mm of travel, I did want to shave some pounds and gain some travel. Let the search begin. Boxxer, meh, Zeb, nah, Lyrik, talk to me, Pike, noice!

I went with the 140mm Pike Ultimate. GT seems to spec their factory Sensors with both a 44mm and a 42mm offset fork in 140mm of travel. Man what a rabbit hole that is, so I went with the 44mm as my trails can get tight and technical. Went with gloss black, didn’t want to be too flashy. The graphics were a little more subtle than I expected. This turned out just fine. If you are looking for something super chrome you may want to consider an aftermarket sticker set.

Straight out of the box I was very impressed. This thing is light! So light I wondered about it being flexy, as I weigh about 200lbs. No worries though it feels solid on both the flow trails and chunky stuff I ride. More on that later. As an added touch, Rockshox adds a fender in the box. I will probably never use it as one need not dare go near the local trails when there is moisture for fear of being ostracized. But, it's a nice touch. Oh, and they also throw in a couple of tokens.

Okay back to the trail. This thing is plush. It soaks up the chatter and the chunk. So far I have only played with the high-speed compression, low speed is a bit of a mystery. That's most likely due to my total lack of knowledge when it comes to so many adjustments. The initial setup was a breeze. I simply went to Rockshox’s super easy setup guide on their website. Typed in my weight and the fork’s serial number and I was off. Only had to add a couple more psi than recommended. Compared to the setup of my Fox shock, I know it's a crime but it came with the frame, it was a snap.

It seems to be no secret in the mountain bike world that the Pike is a go-to fork for most trail applications. If I’m being honest, I went with it because it seemed to be the easy choice. This will probably not come as much of a shock, but there are no regrets here. This is a plush no hassle light heavyweight of a fork. Admittedly I only have about a month on the fork, but barring some sort of catastrophic explosion I cannot see changing my mind. My feeling is this thing will only get better once I come to grips with all of the adjustments.

Final Thoughts

Not to be a fanboy, but Rockshox once again delivered for me. No offense to all the other brands but why take the chance when they just keep delivering over and over again?