Fitted some On-One CrMo forks to my Sanderson, on the one hand it feels great not having any bob making it accelerate instantly, and hugely precise handling.

On the other hand, it’s terifying, how do you get arround the fact that the front wheel appears to have absolutley no grip? Even cheep sus forks, inspite of the fact bar direction has only a vague effect on wheel direction, corner better!

And which big, cheep, light, grippy tyres for allround use and a modicum of comfort, specialized enduro’s are/were crap!

Give it time and you’ll get used to it … it might even improve your riding 😉 I would just say the IME the On One rigids are very rigid!

Larger volume tyre, at a slightly lower pressure can ‘compensate’ for the lack of squish up front.

I agree it feels weird riding a rigid fixie road bike, compared to a squishy DH bike. But the variety is part of the fun 🙂

I run carbon forks on my Sanderson Soloist, it’s great for the winter mud, no clearance issues. You will get used to it, need to concentrate on your lines a bit more and keep the elbows out! . I run a Maxxis Advantage with mine, works ok for me.

Don’t hold the bars with a vice like grip, and try and correct every twitch. There is a temptation to hold on for your life but if relax your grip and let the bars move a little and ‘float’ under your hands I find that helps.

As Muffin Man says, don’t grip for dear life, relax your arms and stand up more and try and guide the bike thru smoother line / path of least resistance.

I run WTB VeloCiraptor 2.3in. tyre firmish.

You’ve probably picked the worst fork for an introduction to rigid because, it is just that, rigid. Nothing wrong with that once you’ve worked out the techniques because it helps to get you precise lines.

It is all about technique. Fairly well covered as above, but essentially it’s about riding light with the bike moving about under you. Try riding without your saddle/seatpost and you’ll get the idea.

What can you do about it now? Fatter tyre and as low a pressure as is safe for your rims makes a difference.

Personally I swear by the On-One carbon fork or the steel Singular 29er fork.

You may have picked the worst time of year to try it too! )

Fat UST tyre, wide rims, 20psi max. Rubber Queen UST 2.2 or even 2.4 Black Chilli are awesome rigid rider front tyres. Lots of sweep on the bars seem to help too, seems easier / more natural correcting slides.

Learn / practice your bunnyhops and manuals / rolling dips + roots on the back wheel. Proper sustained manuals are beyond me but over obstacles is doable and useful. Aim to miss stuff out with the front rather than cope with the bumps, as much as possible, until it becomes natural.

…start on some easier-than-usual stuff. When I ride my fully rigid the tamest of tame trails are ace fun, but after a few years of it (and of course the fact everything was rigid once upon a time) I don’t pretend I can ride the same stuff at the same speed I can on my other bikes.

When you get to rocky or rooty sections, learn to unweight. A half bunnyhop at the beginning will let you sail over it for a fair way.

Also look for things down the trail that you can bounce off. And get used to lower speeds. We used to rattle along rocky trails, the limiting factor was how much of a beating you could take, not how fast you could take a corner.

Yea, it wasn’t so much a lack of controll over the rougher bits, it just felt like the front end was on ice whereas the back was its usual grippy self.

TBH When I switched to rigid forks I didn’t find it a massive problem…..at the start of a ride, towards the end when my arms were frigged and every bump felt like a jack hammer going up through my wrists arms and shoulders and I was going offline all the time then I started having my doubts. Just practice and getting used to it innit. Your muscles get wellied around in a most unaccustomed manner, give it time and it’ll sort itself out, in the meantime just don’t go leaving the biggest baddest rocky downhill till the end of the ride.

edit oh yeah one thing did catch me out quite a few times, those little bumps at an angle, roots kerbs etc those your front sus will soak up and keep the tyre gripping, yeah that doesn’t happen with rigid. you need a proper lift front wheel over not unweight and bump up.

I found my pace rigid forks were very stiff and harsh changed to a set of singular steel forks and the bike is transformed,
Running mountain king 2.4 at about 25 psi
After 10 years of only riding fs riding rigid bikes has been a relivation

A decent size tyre really helps- proper 2.3s or bigger. Technique wise- you need to keep the front weighted for grip but also able to react, which means soft arms. I tend to assume an MBUK-cover elbows-out pose that looks fairly silly but works.

I didn’t change tyres (MK 2.1) and rode a rigid 456 for a year or so..

it was ace..

just use common sense.. you will have to slow down for certain types of fidgety relentless jagged terrain unless you have sado-masochistic tendencies.. other than that.. just ride it like you stole it..

you’ll find yourself sliding both wheels around corners speedway style.. sometimes right on the edge of control.. more often right past the edge sideways and just hanging on leg out giggling (wet pebbly trails are best for this where you will also get this effect on the straights too)

none of it will matter as your eyeballs will shake so much that you can’t see.. I gave it up eventually though after too much back pain..

For 50 years I have only ridden rigid forks. It does make the likes of the South Downs more exciting, and this summer took the bike to Morzine!I rode 100mm forks this year…..so easy peasy! Jameso somes it all up

Getting used to a set of P2s after a decade of squishy forks myself ATM. All the above rings true especially over off camber roots and hidden lumps under wet leaves. Icould do with a bigger better front tire but its still very good fun.

Relaxing the death grip helps massively hands in contact, guiding the bars rather than really really gripping reduces the wasted energy and improves comfort…

Rode rigid MTBs for years in the 90s, seemed to ride the same stuff I ride now…maybe I was braver then? I was certainly younger! Rode a rigid old Saracen recently and actually liked the very direct feel again.

Stick on a big front tyre.. 2.4 ish
Get the pressure right so the tyre has some give.
Pick your line
Mtfu
Bend your arms.
Not all rigid forks are the same. For example salsa have more back n forth flutter, which makes for a smoother ride.

Rigid bikes are by far my favourite format. Just you, some metal and wheels and a trail.

Riding rigid is the best thing I’ve done to spice up my riding. Makes the ‘nice’ bike feel amazing when I do go out on it.

I actually dont like suspension forks anymore.Maybe I’ve been spoilt with the singular 9r fork but it rocks ! I’ve tried exotic carbons but didnt get on with those – yes they are lighter but no feedback at all.
The singular forks provide all that and more (running Mich XC AT 2.0 tyres – tubed)
When I switch to suspension forks, I can now longer ‘feel’ the trail, ‘feel’ the front tyre grip…or not. No feedback really, all because of the suspension action. I also find that going from a rigid ride most of the time to a suspended ride, I always feel the fork ‘dives’ too much and makes for uncertainty. Tried adjusting settings on the forks but still get that nervy ‘ dive, over bars feeling on drops,rocks etc. I know its only just because I am rigid most of the time…The wife’ just not interested… 😆

So….rigid 9r is my way forward, highly recommend it,give it time, will make you a better,more confident rider and you will learn to ‘feel’ the feedback and trail.
🙄

I’ve tried a few rigid forks…
Pace carbon…very flexy. Very light. Well made but pricey. Found I was over the weight limit. 😳
On-One carbon…slightly heavier but nice feel. Finished down to a price & it shows. Cant run floating rotors (if thats your thing).
Exotic carbon…lighter than On-One, bit more flexy. Very well finished, liked this one best.
Exotic alloy…quite flexy & very light. Worried about fatigue life though, given amount of flex. 😐

About to fit some Singular Swift rigids. Really looking forward to these. 🙂

I moved from full suspension back to a fully rigid Orange Clockwork I bought in 1994, a couple of years ago & I can completely understand what you’re experiencing. Most of my riding has been in either the lakes, peaks or dales, so I’ve never gone smaller than a 2.1 tyre mainly for protection from snakebite punctures. Panaracer Rampage 2.3 works well for me at the moment. Riding full rigid really exposes skills weaknesses IMO but for me the most important things are to relax your body (especially in the rough stuff as fighting the bike often just makes things worse) & picking lines best suited for the limitations of full rigid. Ruts & babyhead sized rocks can have completely different implications without suspension! When it all comes together its so satisfying though & is actually not always that much slower than our suspended brothers & sisters either, if you’up for taking a few risks. But isn’t that where all the funs at??

I loved my rigid Genesis IO! Had a 2.5 conti diesel up front and it went like a train! I got it for a winter bike to keep the full-sus nice and soon found i could go far faster than i ever used to on hardtails… Steep sections ae amazing as you don’t need to second-guess how much the front will dive, and keeping arms a little loose meant fast sections were no problem. I miss it actually…

The swift or hummingbird forks are lovely to ride

Perfect timing for this thread! I’ve just put some carbon rigids on my 29er which usually just commutes and aim to get out to my local woods for some night rides. I’m usually on a coil shocked alpine 160, so rigid will be a wake up call!

I find it easier to switch between full suss and rigid than I do hardtail and rigid. I think its because on a hardtail you ride the fork a bit – and if you do it on a rigid you will need an arm transplant.

Weight a little further back to soak it up in your legs not arms helps – just remember to weight the front wheel for corners.

And pick your line – the lack of weight makes quick flicks of direction very easy.

Never used suspension forks so don’t know what I’m missing but given the amount of time my friends spend fretting about amount of travel and scratches on shiny bits I’m happy in my ignorance.
Only time I wish for more damping is over hard packed ridged terrain. Swapped the singular fork to exotic carbon which feels better to me through twisty stuff but not as much contact.

I changed back to rigids on my 29er as I just prefer the more direct feel.
Muddy, slippery roots can be an issue as with no suspension the tyres just smears across the root so I may try a larger front tyre (currently 2.1) with less pressure.