I use the Rock Shox app and the gauge printed on the side of the fork leg as a starting point for air pressure- my silly question is if the fork came with 2 tokens installed from the factory I assume the air pressure should be reduced accordingly. For every token I was assuming a 5 psi reduction. Regardless at the end of the day I will be playing with it until I get the sag correct but thought I would check in with the experts here at MTBNJ!
I’m very picky/anal about my bike’s setup, down to the exact air pressure in the tires, so I’ll give you my 0.2 cents. Forget about sag, it’s pretty arbitrary, and varies widely between bikes based on the length of your front center, how much weight you have on the front wheel sitting vs. standing, and head angle. The design of your rear suspension also plays a crucial role. For example, my DW-Link bike prefers to be slightly over-driven by the fork, so a slightly stiffer fork and more sag in the rear. I’d say start with the recommended air pressure and adjust until you find the best balance between small-bump compliance, support, and bottom-out resistance. The tokens should help you find the balance between small-bump compliance and support. Remember, that as you change preload and add/subtract tokens, you need to adjust compression/rebound accordingly. Its going to be trial and error for a while, bring your shock pump in the car when you ride to adjust after an hour or two of riding. Resist the urge to ride with it, as you need to go on a full ride with the settings you selected to really gauge, don’t be hasty.
As far as the Pike goes, I have an older one (2016), and I’ve made 2 relatively cheap modifications that have made a HUGE change to the fork’s performance, for the better. First, I installed a Vorsprung Luftkappe negative air chamber that resulted in a major increase in small bump compliance and support. May sound contradictory that support goes up with compliance, but it also replaces your tokens and requires around 7-8% more air pressure. It costs around $90, highly recommended. Secondly, I upgraded to the new lower friction seal-head from Rockshox for $40. If you have a newer fork, it should already have this. Between these 2 upgrades, my fork went from ok to amazing.