34 CTD upgrade or Pike

I have a 2013 34 TALAS CTD. I am thinking of either upgrading to the 2014 damper or just going with a new DPA Pike. Can anyone with time on both give me some feedback.

Pike.

Stiffness =
Damping [HTML_REMOVED]
Looks =
Serviceability (not sure)

I have both. Fox serviced and upgraded by Suspensionwerx. Pike still feels better. Stock.

I have a 2013 34 TALAS CTD. I am thinking of either upgrading to the 2014 damper or just going with a new DPA Pike. Can anyone with time on both give me some feedback.

Pike. I had Arthur tune my 34 with the new damper and although he did do a great job of getting that fork to ride how I wanted it just doesn't have the quality of damping that the pike does in the mid stroke. Added to that the fact that the fork feels stiffer and I am a very happy man with my decision.

Having ridden both back to back in the same conditions, definitely the Pike. There's less fiddling around with it, the fork doesn't pack up as much under braking, and it just plain feels stiffer.

I'd imagine the low cost solution is do the damper first. At least if you don't like it, you will sell at a higher price. But if you have 800-900 bones burning a hole in your pocket, go for it.

I had a 2012 Fox 34 (pre-CTD damper), sold it and went to a Pike.

If superior small bump compliance sounds like a good thing, go Pike. Absolutely.

Another option that would give superior performance and serviceability at a decent price would be to install an Avalanche cartridge.

If you can afford it get the Pike.

The Avy upgrade is nice, but with shipping you are paying quite a lot for it.

still cheaper than a new fork and you'll never have to upgrade it.
Definitely more maintenance with Pikes, harder to get parts and someone who can properly service them if something goes wrong. I'm a big time RS fan but having a local service center as good as James around is awesome. There has been some issues with Pikes and good thing there is a warranty with them. I'd be skeptical of long term reliability with the Pikes to be honest.

Go with the Fox 34 CTD and know that you are riding the same fork as Buster Bluth. And be happy because it's still a pretty sweet ride.

I'd imagine the low cost solution is do the damper first. At least if you don't like it, you will sell at a higher price. But if you have 800-900 bones burning a hole in your pocket, go for it.

I faced this choice last year. If you replace the damper for big $ you won't recoup it if you decide to sell. Better to put that money towards a Pike now. Better fork, better damping, better stiffness and it rides great right out of the box. I never thought I'd end up on Rock Shox but here I am.

I had a 2013 CTD DRCV fork on my Remedy 8 and it was absolutely dreadful. It would bottom all the time. I'm talking nearly bottoming off the bigger Bobsled drop, and I'm not a big guy and that is one of the smoothest landings on the shore. On any steepish downhills as soon as you touch the front brake the fork would dive through nearly 50% of its travel which was bullshit. You're half way through your travel and you're not even doing anything? Fuck that. I tried setting the rebound a touch faster to help with some more support while braking but that didn't get me any better results. The diving also made the bike feel much steeper on any steep sections or steep roll ins which is when you don't want your bike to feel steep. Whistler? Forget about it.

The only way I could stop that was to either run it in trail mode (which felt like shit) or overspring it by up to 20-25 psi. Obviously this led to zero Small bump compliance and the bike felt super imbalanced. I was really really unhappy with the fork as it was.

I spoke to the guys at Fox and had them put the new 2014 damper and Fit cartridge in to it and it felt incredibly different the moment I installed it and rode it out of our shop. From the first real ride I was blown away, not necessarily at how amazingly good the new cartridge felt (it felt pretty nice I will admit) but how it highlighted how BAD the old one felt. I could run proper air pressure, rebound and set up the sag to my preference and had none of the problems I previously had. In the end it ended up feeling quite good. It was a 32 so it wasn't very stiff but it definitely felt much better.

You could always get the new cartridge, invest some quality time OFF THE TRAIL (to keep it in great shape) setting it up as close as possible as you (feasibly) can to make it ride like you want it to, ride it gently a couple times to get a feel for it and then make a decision whether to keep it or sell it as nearly new and get the Pike. You will potentially lose a little bit of money, maybe $100-$150 if you don't like it after upgrading and decide to sell it and get the Pike but at least you tried the low cost option first.

All of the above is all good if you are already a Fox fan and want to stick to Fox products, don't write off the fork without trying the new cartridge as once upgraded it does actually feel quite good. A huge improvement.

If you have absolutely no attachment/preference to Fox products then I would recommend just getting the Pike. They feel and ride awesome.

My 2 cents.

If you replace the damper for big $ you won't recoup it if you decide to sell.

The damper upgrade/update from Fox is cheap though - about $60.

there's also the option of upgrading to an avalanche cartridge, splits the difference price wise. drewm's running one on his 34

I'd be skeptical of long term reliability with the Pikes to be honest.

as sick as the pike feels this is my concern. for all of fox's goofs in the last few years, their stuff is incredibly durable and locally + quickly serviceable