Rigid 700c/29er fork for full-length mudguard and big front tyre? (or new bike?)

I’m looking for options to increase comfort on my Roadrat. My commute’s taking in rougher trails than previous and – with young family commitments – it’s frequently my main/only source of biking. Anything I can squeeze in on my commute is a bonus and keeps me sane.

Requirements are:
– Disc-compatibility
– Full-length mudguard capability
– Work with ‘wide’ CX tyre (47mm+) or narrow 29er MTB tyre (1.8-2.1”).
– A-C length as close to original fork as possible (I’ve yet to determine the A-C length of the Roadhog fork).

Current set up:
– 700×42 Schwalbe Smart Sam CX up front (Schwalbe CX Comp 700×40 on the rear)
– SKS Chromplastic P50 full-length guards
– Standard Cotic Roadhog steel fork, 2012
– Clearance is tight below the fork crown with the 42mm tyre a few bawhairs from buzzing the mudguard.

ESI extra chunky silicone grips and a lighter, supposedly-more-forgiving handlebar have helped. I’ve played around with bar height and stem length but I don’t know of other options than changing the fork (or the whole bike…). MTFingU isn’t an option.

I’ve considered trying the wider 700×47 Smart Sam but highly unlikely it’ll fit under the crown/mudguard. And an extra 5mm isn’t going to help massively I suspect.

I’m keen to stick with the Roadrat as it works well for me in general: my commute’s a mix of road/path/offroad and a flat-bar CX-style bike is well suited, particularly as I consider full-length mudguards as essential equipment. But if I’m flogging a dead horse then please say so and I’ll relook at my I-want-a-Sonder-Broken-Road-Ti mythical fund again. I’m unaware if anything else out there would suit my needs (and non-existent replacement budget) better.

Suggestions and help much welcomed.

The A-C length is the tricky bit there. Surely most steel forks might work there? e.g a fork from Singular, Surly or Salsa

(actually, those might be MTB forks)

I’ve a unused set of Lynskey Endurance forks I could sell you if they are any good. Not sure if they tick all your criteria tbh, out just now but can check later if they have guard mounts, I honestly can’t even remember…

Surly straggler disk fork is what I’ll be putting on mine when i rebuild it. A-C was 400mm on the Roadhog fork IIRC

http://surlybikes.com/parts/forks/straggler_fork

I had the Cotic Roadhog fork on my old >X< and the Cotic RB2 on my Escapade (the RB2 is the one with the “normal” disc mount position).

I find the latter a little more comfortable, which may be worth considering. It would also be worth looking at the Exotic and Kinesis CX (if you can find them) carbon forks.

I’ve put a Surly Ogre fork on the front of my tandem, got a 1.9″ tyre in there with plenty of room width wise (running 26″ front wheel so can’t comment on vertical room)

Thanks greatly folks, some options there but I need a bit of time to find out more details about each: it doesn’t help when a manufacturer claims “huge mud clearance”. Numerical values please manufacturers.

Benp1 – thanks for suggestions, I trawled the forum search before posting and read reports about the Singular forks being flexy in a good/comfy way, so might be in touch with Sam.

Federalski – would be good to know more about those forks. I found them online but only had time to look briefly so couldn’t confirm mounts/clearance, etc.

Woody2000 – not sure that Surly fork would give any extra clearance over mu current Cotic fork, similar clearance values (IIRC Cotic quote the Roadhog as having 50mm clearance without mudguards too.

Ben_H – I’d heard my Roadhog fork is the least comfortable of the Cotic forks so that might be an option. Don’t think they have any more clearance for a bigger tyre but more comfort might be enough.

nbt – Orge isn’t light, but ticks all my criteria. 468mm A-C might be too long, but Surly list clearance for a 29 x 3.0” tyre 🙂

I tried my 700×42 Smart Sam on again this morning (been running 700×40 Winter Spikes) and clearance on the shoulder of the tyre at the crown is very tight. However, if I cannibalised the mudguard where it passes through the fork I should gain enough clearance for a 700×47. Might be an option work trying for the cost of a tyre.

Look at 26″ forks as with suspension. Correction it will minimise the increase in AC meassument but still give clearance. Making a steel form mudguard compatible is easy.

Thorn or SJSC have a good variety of forks and may be well worth a look I can attest to the quality they make good stuff and more braze ons than you can shake a stick at

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/forks-dept67_pg1/

TheBrick – 26″, didn’t think of that…

wicki – cheers but couldn’t see much suitable.

Further digging found this old thread: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/cotic-roadrat-conversion-to-29er-mtb. Based on that I should be looking for a 400-420mm A-C length. Cy saying 440mm would knacker the handling.

I’m going to order a 700×47 Smart Sam, try in my current fork, and go from there I think.

What tyre pressures are you running?

50psi – the minimum suggested for my tyre.