Just generally exploring options here 😆

I was advised that the Fortitude Race 29er was designed as a rigid and in general it is actually quite comfy and does it’s job deceptively well. I dropped out of the MTB scene last year and I’m kind of thinking of doing some more techier rides than the canal/soft forrest rides i’ve been doing lately and doing rides with a few more stones, roots and steps in.

Being a 17.5st bloke I don;t want to smash my forks up so pondering about shoving some forks on the bike.

IIRC The bike shop said that putting forks on would lift the front of the bike up 5mm and change the geometry?

It’s fairly low slung at the front anyway so would it make too much difference to an average rider like myself?

Just buy the sort of bike you want – why start off with the wrong frame?

Some 80mm Rebas should be fine.
I swap my Niner SIR9 from rigids to 80mm suspension forks now & again.
I do prefer rigid though.

Fortitude is designed as a rigid only. It has a short fork and a slackish head angle and a short fork. Putting a suspension fork on it will raise the front about 50mm or more (not 5mm) and slacken the head angle by 2 degrees or more.

Don’t do it basically, it’ll ruin the handling!

Buy the right frame to run a sus fork on, the Fortitude is a brilliant bike if you only ever want to run it rigid, but will be terrible with a sus fork on.

What he ^ says.

Some 80mm Rebas should be fine.
I swap my Niner SIR9 from rigids to 80mm suspension forks now & again.
I do prefer rigid though.

Niner SIR9 has a 72 degree head angle and is designed around a 480mm fork

The fortitude has a 69 degree head angle with a 445mm fork!

Don’t waste your time basically, either buy a new frame or just stick a big front tyre on it to soften the blow a bit.

Thanks for some honest and useful advice, maybe I’m understimating how much It could take and should just throw it at some rougher stuff

it’ll take a hell of a lot of punishment. If you see some of the stuff rigid bigwheelers smash over you’ll be fine.

Get a wheel built with a Velocity P35 and then stick a Hans Dampf 2.35/Ardent 2.4 on it at about 20psi…oooossshhh.

Have you tried it rigid on more severe terrain? I’ve got a Fortitude SS and it’s amazing what you can ride on it with a bit of care. I wouldn’t have thought the strength of the forks would be much of a problem.

Have you tried it rigid on more severe terrain? I’ve got a Fortitude SS and it’s amazing what you can ride on it with a bit of care. I wouldn’t have thought the strength of the forks would be much of a problem.

no not yet, I took it around delamere forrest and was surprised how well it coped with roots and other obstacles so it’s given me a flavour for what it can cope with. I’m a bit sensitive to my bulk 😀

The more you ride it and use your upper body more, the less bulk you will end up having.

I don’t ride a bike with suspension anymore, just got used to it.