Rock Shox celebrates the revival of the Pike

The Pike fork helped to define the all-mountain and enduro boom back in the noughties. After several years of absence, Rock Shox is now bringing this fork back in 26-, 27.5- and 29-inch versions. The US suspension pioneer's firework of innovations also includes an update for the Monarch damper. New features are also available for the Reverb dropper post, one of which is extremely user-friendly.

From scratch: for the second time
The new Pike is said to be as stiff as the gravity-oriented Lyrik fork thanks to 35 millimetre immersion tubes and magnesium "lowers", but is still geared towards the trail bike focus and is therefore weight-optimized. The chassis is asymmetrically shaped, with "more meat on the bone" on the brake side to absorb the forces of the brakes, while the damping side is kept slimmer and lighter.

The fork comes in a 26-inch version (1835 grams) and a 27.5-inch version (1861 grams), with a choice of 150 or 160 millimetres of travel. With the 29-inch Pike (1876 grams), the customer can choose between 140 or 150 millimetres of travel.

Rock Shox relies on the 15 millimeter thru-axle. Different versions of the Dual Position Air and Solo Air systems are used for the suspension. The rebound and low speed compression of the damping can be adjusted - a 3-position system with the Open, Pedal and Lock stations is also used. A new feature of the new damping internals is a "bladder" called the "Charger Damper", which is said to be particularly low-maintenance and guarantees good fork response. Also available on the new Pike forks is the "Rapid Recovery" system, which is designed to ensure that the fork works actively after many successive impacts.

The head tube of the Pike is made of aluminum and is conical in shape. A white or black version is available. The Pike forks should be available for the first time in May 2013.

Update to the Monarch Plus damper
Rock Shox wants the upgraded Monarch Plus damper to be the perfect counterpart to the fork above. The engineers have not reinvented it, but have equipped it with the "Rapid Recovery" system, just like the fork. In addition - as with the Pike - there is a triple damping adjustment with the Open, Pedal and Lock stages.

The 216x63 version weighs a respectable 325 grams and the Monarch Plus is available in five lengths. The aristocratic shock will be available for the first time in June 2013.

Operator-friendly Reverb dropper post
The original equipment manufacturer and end customer alike will be delighted: the Reverb Stealth has been given a "Connectamajig" with which the remote control cable can be disconnected from the post and reconnected - without having to bleed the air.

A new addition is a 150 millimeter travel version for the Reverb Stealth and a 34.9 millimeter version for all models. The manufacturer states that the new versions will be available for the first time in June 2013.

www.rockshox.com