Should I get a rockshox argyle 318 or pike 426?

Question

for dirt jumps, street, and park. im saving 200 on the pike as well. I wanna know what's lighter and stronger but I don't really care what my bike looks like

Answer 1

Sounds like you might like the Argyle better, but the Pike is an awesome fork.  After riding a couple of them, I just bought a Pike 454 air and love it.  If you can spring for a little more money, the 454 air is much better than the 426 or 454 coil.  From everything I've read about others' experiences with the Pike air, you won't blow the seals....so take advantage of the lighter weight.   If you really want coils, go with the 454 coil instead of the 426....alloy steerer for less weight (not a big deal on dj's, but it's nice for street).

There are some good deals on all of the Pikes right now....put it into Google checkout and several hits come up (along with a couple of U.K. sites....ignore those).  

I was considering the Argyle 409 (which I would have immediately painted to get rid of that stupid mint green color), but since I take some bigger drops to flat and also do some trail riding, I opted for the Pike instead.  Having 140mm will be nice at times.  I was a little worried that cranking down the travel to 110mm (95mm on the coil version) wouldn't be good for the fork on street rides, but apparently it's fine and several reviewers do the same thing with no problem.  

They're both bomber forks, so I'd let the travel be the deciding factor....and if you're going to run the Pike at full travel, just make sure your frame isn't already slack or it might feel too raked out (less nimble for street riding).  

I ended up buying it new through my local shop because I couldn't find any used Pikes on the market for a better price....but take a look around, maybe something has changed in the last couple weeks.   Pinkbike, ridemonkey, and mtbr are the best places to look.....and maybe craigslist if your area has a decent population of riders like you.

Hope this helps.....good luck!

Answer 2

argyle is VERY heavy and the pike is VERY light

i would suggest a pike.. more travel but not too much.. and its very light and strong.. where as the argyle is made of steel, very strong, but its not worth the weigh because its too front heavy