News | RockShox Announce New Yari and Lyrik Long Travel Forks

It’s safe to say that the original RockShox Lyrik had an almost cult following and so it comes as no surprise to see RockShox’s announcement today of the brand new Lyrik, offering 180 mm of aggressive, lightweight travel. However the big surprise from RockShox was the Yari, an entirely new fork bringing long travel performance at a much more affordable price point.

In fact, our eagle eyed reporters had already seen the new Lyrik in action, being secretly tested in Austria by none other than Jerome Clementz as he charged his way to the European Champion title. We asked Jerome about his thoughts on the Lyrik and he commented “It’s nice to have options and improvement. For me the Lyrik gives me a bit more travel and more stiffness which is great when it’s rough and you need more control. On top of that it makes the head angle a little slacker on my Jekyll! Combined with the Pike I now have two options so I’m sure to have the perfect tool for any ride!” We can now let the cat out the bag and introduce the new RockShox Lyrik and Yari forks, set to herald the next generation of long travel enduro machines.

The Rock Shox Lyrik

The new Lyrik fork offers up some serious travel, up to 180mm, and will bridge the gap between the Pike and the BoXXer for those looking for a big hitting enduro fork, or a lighter fork for bike park and gravity action. By using the same 35 mm chassis as the excellent Pike, but with tapered legs and a taller brace for added stiffness, the forks only weigh 2005g (the 160 mm RockShox Pike weighs 1850g and the 170 mm Fox 36 weighs 1995g). The Lyrik uses the same Charger Damper as found in the Pike, but with a revised negative spring to provide a more sensitive response in the initial stroke. Sensitivity is further improved with new SKF wiper seals for lower friction and improved sealing.

Another important revision is that the fork volume will be able to be tuned with RockShox’s excellent Bottomless Tokens in BOTH the Solo and Dual Position Air configurations, allowing the rider to tailor the feel of the fork without requiring ninja mechanical skills. For those who really like to get nerdy with their suspension, the rebound circuit can be customised with shims the same as the BoXXer.

The Lyrik will be available in 27.5” and 29” wheel sizes and also 27.5+, available in both the conventional 15×100 standard and the new wider Boost 110 standard. RockShox are also releasing their new Torque Caps, which when used with compatible SRAM hubs (Rise XX, Rise 60, Roam 30, Roam 40, Rail 40 and X0 hubs) offer a larger interface between the dropout and the hub end cap, improving steering precision and stiffness. The Lyrik will still compatible with all conventional hubs too using the supplied standard end caps.

The new Lyrik will retail for $1030/€1075 in all versions of the Solo Air and $1110/€1158 for the Dual Position Air model. The Solo Air models will be available in 150 and 160 mm for the 29” and 160, 170 and 180 mm for the 27.5”. The Dual Position Air will be available in 160 mm for the 29” and 160 and 180 mm for the 27.5”. All Boost 29” versions will be compatible with 27.5+.

The Rock Shox Yari

We were all surprised to see the new Yari fork, offering a more affordable long travel offering, using the same chassis as the Lyrik but with a new Motion Control Damper. The Yari will become RockShox’s benchmark entry fork for trail and enduro duties for those looking for a cheaper alternative to the Pike and Lyrik and will be available in a wide range of travel options from 120 – 180 mm. The Yari features the same innovations as found in the Lyrik, Torque Cap compatibility, larger negative chamber for increased sensitivity and Bottomless Token tuning, it also features a revised tune on the Motion Control Damper’s high speed compression to make it perform like the Charger Damper.

The new Yari will be sure to find its way onto many 2016 bikes as an OEM fork and will be sure to be a popular fork for aggressive riders on a budget. The Yari RC will retail for $700/€730 and will be available in both 27.5” (130, 140, 150, 160 and 180 mm travel) and 29” (120, 130, 140, 150 and 160 mm travel) versions, and each configuration will also be available in the new Boost 110 standard.

In other news the current Pike fork will receive an overhaul too, it will now be compatible with the new Torque Caps and Bottomless Tokens will be able to be used in BOTH the Solo and Dual Position Air configurations. Not forgetting the 26” fans, the new Lyrik Charger RCT3 internals will be available as an upgrade so they can be retrofitted to existing 26” Lyrik models up to 170 mm (The damper assembly is priced at $330/€344).

Words: Trev Worsey

Photos: Trev Worsey and SRAM

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