seriously… just got back from a proper 40km XC ride and my wrists are aching.

as my Alpine is out of the game i stuck a set of knobblies (RQ 2.4 & Advantage 2.4) on my rigid Sanderson. till today it has been used as a stadtschlampe (city slut) ride. i took it to the local woods (which incidently was awesome!) which is criss-crossed by lots of undulating singletrack.

the climbs were good. was nicely surprised at how nimble the bike felt on the climbs, but i was shaken to bits on the downs and the flats. it was ok where there was solid hardpack or gravel, but as soon as i hit a carpet of roots i was hanging on and gritting my teeth.

it also made me realise how much i normally pump the fork.

think i’m going to have to get my Revs serviced as i’ve noe got a bit of a hankering for some more swoopy XC rather than alpine “freeride”.

lower tire pressure, relax the arms, pick smother and faster lines and MTFU. 😀

tYre pressure was pretty low on the front and there wasn’t always the option of a smoother line.

steez

MTFU up then. I run rigid in the peak district and north wales without owie hands. Oh and erm……wnk more, with both hands, it strengthens the wrist so it’s another form of sports massage 😀

hmm the GF will have to find another hobby, but i’ll give it a go.

Lots and lots of arm work and lots of little manuals and pops. Also a big front tyre!

I just went rigid on my 29er a couple of months ago. It was a meantime thing while my Rebas were getting repaired, that I have stuck with and now prefer.

ESI Chunky foam grips, Ragley Carnegie type bars and tyre pressure as low as you dare and I think you learn to unweight the front of the bike and relax your grip slightly for getting it over roots.

But even with all that it is harder on your arms than having forks. Not so much over roots but over rutted earth.

manuals and bunnyhops. Through winter when I run rigid I tend to jump everything.

4″ tyres at 6 psi should sort you out.

4″ tyres at 6 psi should sort you out.

That’s cheating!!

[video]http://vimeo.com/11782596[/video]

i usually manual and “pop” the Alpine over things, but today i realised how much i rely on the fork for that “pop” or lift, i.e. pre-loading the fork.

i’m tempted to do the same route tomorrow, but am thinking that i should put the Lyrik on the Sanderson and run it at 115mm.

the riding in that vid isn’t so bad as it is more slow-tech than flow-tech. and not many roots.

and his chain is a bit slack….

what length is your rigid fork ?

going to a longer fork made my front end sit nicer for that manual/pop front end feel 😀

and his chain is a bit slack…

and he’s mincing on a cheapo 29er and he’s got knee pads…. 🙂

or just

grow a beard and get gnarr

Learn to love your Dentist

Jesse Wigman raced the fort william endurance downhill on a rigid this year… 6 hours, 13 runs, and placed 40th overall (ie top third).

Tazzy – is that video supposed to show how good a rigid fork is? As you (if it is you) are going 2 mph on trails that could quite easily be ridden at speed.

Just showed it to my wife and she said ‘why is he not going fast as i would be on that!’

Peak on a fully rigid and not got sore hands – well at that speed no wonder!

I did Wentwood enduro this year on fully rigid.
Took a day or two before fingers & wrists stopped aching.

Rocky or rooty sections are best taken as fast as possible. Its a confidence thing for sure.
You miss the suspension more when your riding slow.

no, that isn’t tazzy unless he lives in austria… then it might be.

i’m running 26″ wheels (old skool, i know) but with a 29er Surly fork with five spacers under the stem. at first i didn’t want to cut the steerer down and i’m glad i didn’t.

i can still wheelie the bike and pop the front end up, but it’s a different technique.

mooman.. i’ve not got a problem with speed, but you can not run all sections at full-pelt.

there were a few sections that although they were “lumpy” things felt good, others were real teeth-gritters…

2.4″ on the front helps…..

Rik, it’s just a nice little vid of some bloke enjoying himself on a bike with a stiff frontage. Sorry it doesn’t meet with your gnarcore standards, I’ll get me coat 🙄

drop bars on rigids the way to go!

phone 035 by jamesanderson2010, on Flickr

Give yourself a bit of time to adjust. After a couple of years riding rigid, I’m finding it hard to pop over stuff with a suspension fork – just a different technique.

It also takes a while for your tendons to get used to riding rigid.

And my rigid Surly 1×1 and Karate Monkey were just awful for me. Restricted my riding to the point that I didn’t enjoy it as much. Rigid Singular Swift has been excellent and only really held back on very rocky trails where it gets so rough that I can’t actually see the trail for all the shaking.

Not all rigid bikes/forks are equal. If you wanted to start riding rigid, it would pay to try a few. If you’re just waiting to get your forks fixed, it’s just going to suck for a while.

the thing is i’ve had problems with the tendons (tendonitis) in my forearms (work related, not been doing tzzy’s suggested exercise) and could feel the same tingling in my arms after the ride.

i don’t think it is something i’m going to pursue. but i will be building the Sanderson up into a sprightly XC ride….

Yeah. Living this recently. Gone for 2.4 on the front plus forcing me not to have a death grip on the bars (Jones loop bars on a Fargo) and trading all the pro’s, exact line choice, satisfaction on completion on sections that cannot be ridden ridgid etc. versus I can not just ride over stuff. I feel this is more satisfying riding for me (note quite possible not the fastest way from A to B)
Have ride pals who do not agree!!!!

Lizard Skins North Shore grips & non O/S carbon bars put a bit of give back in for me.
Have a 2.4 tyre to go on when I can be bothered.

Will find out tomorrow… Maiden (proper) ride of my 29er single speed with carbon forks and tubeless tyres. Few of the other guys ride these and have found them fine, granted it’s XC and not leaping down mountains, but on the test rides I’ve been on they feel good.

riding rigid does require a different technique,
1:you may need to adjust your front tyre pressure.
2:you may need to adjust your speed to suit the terrain.
3:you may need to adjust your line.
having the front tyre even slightly too hard makes a pretty big difference ime.

First time I saw my mate on a rigid bike i thought wtf? Now i’m on one

P.S.
Don’t a rigid fork just look proper!!!

4″ tyres at 6 psi should sort you out.

until you want to turn 😉

i normally run bounce on my bikes but my gryphon is always rigid, did a nice 120k ride yesterday on it i frickin love that bike

Using my Fargo for everything,best smiles I have had.

Here’s mine, with White Brothers carbons on the front. Ended up being a very light bike for not silly money, maiden ride tomorrow!.

Foam grips

They take out the worst of the buzz, good forks and ~2.2″ tyres take care of the small trail imperfections, the only thing my Swift feels harder work on is square edged impacts, although once you’re used to it even those seem easier to deal with, especially going back to the big bike. I put a lot more force through my pedals than I used to, which simultaneously unweigts your hands reducing arm fatigue, puts your bodyweight behind the front axle so the bike rolls over stuff and forces you to manual/hop ‘properly’ as you can’t preload the fork with your arms like that even if you have suspension, so the same techniques work on the FS bike too 🙂

Rigid works for me, but my position tends to be somewhat forward and my bars are relatively low. The result is that my arms are relatively vertical when I’m out of the saddle, meaning that they work very effectively at absorbing bumps. I keep my elbows wide rather than behind, and that helps too. Helps that I’m a lanky git as well, but I find getting your shoulders over the bars so you can pump the front end helps a lot. I personally think much of the talk about “buzz” etc is hooey, but YMMV.

Oh, and on a rigid bike, the tyre carcass is important because the damping it provides is key to keeping good grip. A heavier tyre than you’d normally use, at a lower pressure, is the way forward IME. Fit a light tyre and either you’ll end up having to run it harder than is ideal or it’ll be bouncy and lose some grip, just like an undamped suspension fork.

I am loving riding rigid forks at the moment. On some trails it is so fast and nimble, and a lot lighter too. After a couple of months only riding rigid singlespeed on our local trails I went out last week on my geared hardtail, and felt sluggish and no faster really.

I was trying to explain this to a friend yesterday who rides a big full sus everywhere. He seemed to think it was a niche-whore and couldn’t possibly be better than a proper bike. I was tempted to ask him why he had a 35mm camera round his neck…

That said for some trails I’ll admit it is a lot less fun. I rode an enduro rigid once and vowed never again – hats off to those who do though. Horse for courses. If I was heading for a bigger ride in Wales or somewhere I would rather be on a hardtail or (if I had one) a full sus

my Gensis Fortitude is taking some getting used to but i’m 17.5st and have a lot of upper body weight bearing down on the bars….

I just grin it and bear it as the simplicity of the bike and the enjoyment of the ride outweigh the drawbacks