120-130mm forks

I've been very happy with regular chassis Fox 34's with Grip X and Grip X2 dampers on my "down country" hardtail and short travel bikes. I never really feel the need for for a chassis upgrade to 36. If you go Fox, avoid the Fit4 damper as it is not usefully adjustable, under damped and "Unfit4 aggressive riding". Grip X seems to be the sweet spot of having lockout and good damping. Just need to keep an eye on where the HSC knob is at as a couple of clicks makes a big difference and it's easily displaced from an accidental brush up or bump. I drew a line where I like it set for quick reference after using the lockout.

Could not be happier with my 130mm Rockshox Pike Ultimate. (Charger 3.1 damper). I have had the past 2 generations of Pike and this one is a massive step up in performance and ride feel. The Charger 2 damper of the previous gen fork was good, but the chassis was really the draw back. The newest version is incredible! Extremely tunable but very simple both in service and in setup! I just wish they still had the silver lowers!!!

Huge recommendation for the manitou mattoc pro. I love mine. Haven’t tried the latest pike or 34SL but it is far superior to the previous generations of both those forks IMO. 

One of the Best forks I rode in recent times was the DT SWISS F535 One with the CoilPair super sensitive and do through the travel dependent damping it’s always high in the travel what is super comfortabel on Hardtails. Love that fork so much I sold my Öhlins RXF36. That F535 is available from 120-160mm. Not the lightest but perfomance over weight.

What travel length are you going for? There isn't really overlap between a SID 35 and a lyrik, is there?

I think it depends on how sensitive you are and where you are riding, what the terrain is like. 

Going from a sid 35, 34sl, to a pike is a noticeable benefit in stiffness, overall control, and smoothness/predictability.  That extra pound in the fork does beef it up quite a bit. But if you're riding like soft, loamy trails, it's not going to matter nearly as much versus riding bumpy AF hardpack. 

Regardless, its going to be way different than a 170mm fork, even if you downstroke a lyrik or 36.

The 34SL is a really great fork with GripX. 

The chassis is fairly stiff, and the weight is really impressive. It really suits xc-light trail, but it’s not the same as a stiffer trail fork.

If you wanted stiffer you have lots of options, the 36SL is going to be really amazing if you want to point and shoot. The Helm is a great fork for this too.

I was on the fence between 34SL and 36SL when sorting my singlespeed to be more racy (had a helm coil). I went 34SL, and it’s great. I occasionally wish I had the 36, but that’s normally when I’m making bad life decisions. 

Hey mate. I weigh about the same as you and have a Grip2 34 on my hardtail. It's fine from my experience, I don't notice much flex or anything negative. The bike itself limits how hard you can smash into stuff compared to a dual sus bike so going a bit lighter on the fork isn't a drama. On the other hand I have a Lyrik on my SJ Evo and I don't think the chassis is stiff enough for me. 

I think the main question is, are you being realistic about not riding the bike hard?

I realised when I tried to build some nice light efficient bikes that I can't switch off the thing in my brain telling me to find the limit. Which is why my hardtail has drop bars to slow me down and a pike because the drop bars didn't really help. And my 125mm trail bike has a DVO Diamond 36 which feels to me maybe a little burlier than a lyrik. No regrets with either, if you are used to riding bigger bikes and not caring, and think you might carry that through to the hardtail, you'll probably prefer something stout.

If you're able to chill, or you will be riding it in a different place with low-key trails and don't expect to cross over to the trails that you ride on your big bike, then lighter forks made for the purpose will feel great.

I enjoyed my Helm MKII but developed a CSU creak right outside of the warranty window. My experience with Cane Creek customer service has been great, but their suspension products do seem a bit finicky and require more frequent maintenance. 

If I downfork my bike, it's definitely getting a 36 SL. Very intrigued by the weight and performance balance of that fork. Big fellaz like trail riding tooo 

We did a 140mm fork test comparing 34 to 36 a while ago that seems relevant to this discussion: https://www.vitalmtb.com/videos/member/trail-bike-fork-selection-34-vs-36

TLDR: the Fox 36SL is certainly stiffer than the 34, but it also rides significantly harsher. I could never quite get it to the point where I was happy with the comfort/support tradeoff (I always ended up with a slightly less forgiving fork over small, square-edge trails). For me, the Öhlins RXF36 was the clear winner (as an older guy, I appreciate just how comfortable that fork is able to remain, even when running a fair bit more damping and higher spring pressure), while my son (the other tester in this review) prefers the 34 - he wants less comfort and more direct feedback for his trail bikes.

Really hard to beat the dollar per performance you get for a used Charger 3/3.1 Pike or Lyrik. Very easy to do a lowers service upon arrival and you might have to anyway if you want to change the travel. I managed to score a Charger 3.1 Lyrik Ultimate in green for $300 on PB recently.

Depending on how much you care about weight, I still reckon a 36 with a Smashpot is the single best right side up fork I’ve ever ridden. Just buttery, supportive, controlled, and the HBO is glorious on a hardtail. I remember hitting things super hard and the hbo would kick in like the hand of almighty god to hold me up.

Keep in mind that test is with the old 34, which was quite good. The new 34SL looks like a step cast. In the past the step cast 34 had crazy spring ramp because of the reduced volume of the lower legs. I'm sure they worked on that with the new one, they said as much, but it could still be a noticeable difference between the forks. Just something to look into/demo/whatever. 

I really like the 130mm 34SL with Grip X   Not flexy at all and excellent dampening.  Mine came with some air in lowers that caused it to ramp up at the end of the stroke.  Once I bled that out, I’ve had no complaints.

Manitou Mattock Pro. Easily maintained at home, easy to do damper changes, stiff enough for a trail bike and I bet lighter than all those other options.

I find the best way to limit myself from taking the smaller bike over its head is tires. Put on some fast rolling and slightly sketchy tires and you won’t be tempted to drop into the loose and gnarly stuff, even with burly suspension. Bonus is being shocked with how much faster it is when climbing compared with the big bike. Resist the urge to accidentally make a heavy, slow trail bike! 

^ yeah this re tyres. Couldn't agree more

If it matters, a 34SL is 200g lighter than a mattoc.

The new SL is not a step cast design.

Also having this debate. I don’t have first hand experience, but The Radavist review said the 36SL sounded like Macho Man Randy Savage inhaling repeatedly. I had an MRP Ribbon that sounded the same and while it rode fine I couldn’t stand the constant noise. 

Manitou Mattoc