RockShox Lyrik RC2 fork (2019)

£989

The 2018 Lyrik RCT3 is a top long-travel trail/enduro fork – as shown by the fact it won our grouptest in issue 353. But some of our testers prefer the feel of the Fox 36 FIT4 when things get really rough. RockShox knew there was still room for improvement, and have come out all guns blazing for 2019.

First up is an updated ‘DebonAir’ air spring with 42 per cent more negative spring volume. This is intended to ease the fork into its initial travel more smoothly and then build up support gradually through the mid stroke, just like a coil spring, rather than ramping up suddenly towards the end. There’s a new ‘RC2’ damper option, tested here, which offers external low- and high-speed compression damping adjustment, but no lockout. And two fork offset options are offered for each wheel size (37 or 46mm for 650b bikes, 42 or 51mm for 29ers), giving the choice of a slightly livelier (longer offset) or steadier (shorter offset) steering feel.

We needed 10psi more pressure in the spring to achieve similar sag and support to the 2018 Lyrik, and removed one volume spacer to ensure we could still access all of the travel available. The new RC2 damper has a good range of compression adjustment, to suit a broad range of riding styles – unlike the Fox equivalent (the ‘FIT RC2’, rather than ‘FIT4’, cartridge), which is on the firmer side even with the compression damping left fully open. Each click of high-speed damping makes a noticeable difference and neither end of the range is unusable, so it’s hard to go too far wrong.

Once we’d dialled in our settings, the performance was sublime. In back-toback tests, the Lyrik offered a smoother, calmer ride than the Fox 36 FIT4. It wasn’t a perfect test, because we were comparing forks with different offsets (42mm for the Lyrik, 51mm for the 36), but the Lyrik’s beginning-stroke felt slightly softer, which gave it more of a ‘sucked down to the ground’ feel. The overall ride was fractionally smoother and less busy, too. It’s a relatively subtle difference, but we’d say the new Lyrik has the edge on the trail. The contrast between the 2019 and 2018 Lyrik forks is more pronounced, with the latest version offering noticeably more traction and comfort, while staying higher in its travel and diving less readily. The best news? The 2019 air spring, probably the biggest improvement over the 2018 Lyrik, can be retrofitted to older Lyrik, Pike, Yari and Revelation forks, and costs just £42.

Is the new Lyrik the best enduro fork on the market? We’ve yet to test it backto-back with Fox’s new 36 FIT GRIP2, which costs £150 more, so we can’t say for sure just yet. But if you’re looking for the best enduro fork for under a grand (we know that’s still a lot of money), then this is it. Seb www.zyrofisher.co.uk

Supple yet supportive, tunable yet easy to set up – the latest Lyrik is a cut above the competition