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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.

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-… 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...

Would they drop a new one a mere year after the v3?

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.

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...

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...

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.

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...

It's usually because there is some merit to the idea to begin with, and the development happens outside the publics view. Take headset routing, the real merit to it is that it allows for stronger lighter frames with internal routing, and less complicated carbon moulds, the downside is only on the consumer end having to work on it. Superboost wheels are objectively stronger and make a lot of sense, but it's competing with a standard that was more widely adopted and made it hard to swap wheels between frames. Wireless only is for the same reason as headset routing while...

Commencal quietly dropped the Tempo "V2" with the only revision being they got rid of the headset cable routing. (praise be!)

I have been running a 32" front wheel on my epic all year. Started out with my normal 35mm stem and riser bars and I had a hard time keeping the front end under control. Tried out a drop stem and it brought my weight back forward and the front end was much better. Bike is very fun still and very fast. I personally think it still handles very well even in the tight stuff. Despite the wild looking stem it's comfortable and feels normal. The bigger wheel just raised the front end so much that the bars are in...

To make that XL Trek 32" fit me, I'd need about an 80mm positive stem and 50mm riser bars. I know there aren't that many people who are 6'6"+, but surely there are more of them than there are 5'2" people who would actually buy that bike, right?

As the first glimmer of the 32” era dawns, the Industry’s evil plan for 27.5 comes to light: the leftover 27.5 rims are to be stamped and converted into 120t rear sprockets for the new dominant Big Wheelers.

Looks about right for Lebron, so it must be AMAZING on the Small and Medium frames.🤣

Bike industry: 32" might make sense for tall people! Also the bike industry: Lots of small and medium 32" frames, no XXL frames.