Hi all
I’m umming and ahhing about replacing the fork on my hardtail. It is a cheap and cheerful Manitou with 80mm “travel”. To be honest the suspension is pretty rubbish. I have a good full susser for proper bumpy riding so wonder:

(a) do I get some Rebas or similar?
(b) do I just go rigid?

Losing weight (bike and me) is important hence a Reba style fork, but of course no suspension at all would be even lighter. Obviously I need convincing one way or another myself before convincing the wife it is “needed”

well I didn’t like it… but a cheaper steel rigid fork won’t cost the earth, try it and see if you like it… you can always buy the reba’s later.

especially if you buy a V-brake version… if you talking less weight that helps too…

Again I wouldn’t do this myself, even if you paid me
;D

I would not go back to v brakes having tried disks. I’m not that obsessed with weight! I’d rather ride naked to save the weight than use v’s in the middle of winter

Good lad, but it means getting a rigid fork with a disc adapter will cost more, and so not be as easy to ‘test’ cheaply

Good basic steel disk forks seem to be about 70 quid at the minute (eg Surly 1×1, Salsa Cro-moto, Kona Project 2 – all good).

I ride rigid quite a bit (and with sus) – it’s just different (in good and bad ways). As long as you just accept that it’s different then you can enjoy the different-in-good-ways bits and ignore the bad bits 😉

Well worth doing for variety’s sake if anything – it certainly sharpens up your line choice skills. Oh and put a nice fat tyre on too 😉

I must admit I had been looking at £150 rigid forks such as this one below, so a cheap test is not really a go-er. Maybe I just get the Reba…
Nuke Proof forks

i just ditched my SID’s for a carbon Ritchey fork .
its the best things ive done in ages ,really enjoying the bike now.

ive jsut finished building a rigid commute/winter/mess about bike from spares and its lots of fun. had a practice run over houndkirk moor t’other day. definately different but not bad, took some getting used to after my hardtail with 140mm forks on!

its also v-braked up (old school DX!) and 1.95 tyres! it felt bloody fast now i think about it!

roll on dusty trails!

I must admit I had been looking at £150 rigid forks such as this one below, so a cheap test is not really a go-er.
Maybe I just get the Reba…

No

Nuke Proof forks

Oh yes… do it 🙂

well they are cheaper, which means I can afford that custom paint job I’ve been drooling over…

Consider also Trigon carbon
http://www.greatgocycles.com/MC01A.htm
like the Ritchey but cheaper
easiest to buy on ebay

Depending on what I’m up to / where I’m going, I fit rigids or suspension to my Ti bike (it’s only a 10 minute job). The rigids (RC31s) are surprisingly good fun – you should give it a go.

I should probably try suspension at some point, but I can’t bring myself to spend money on something heavier, that needs more maintenance, that becomes “outdated” and that I’ve never ‘needed’ before.

I had rigid steel forks on my first SS, they were not suspension corrected length and were more rigid than a girder, that wasnt nice, put some RC31’s on it and it was transformed… Lots of cheapish carbon forks about now, give it a go, they always seem to get good money 2nd hand if you dont like it.

I had a blast in the Peaks on an old Hard Rock not long ago. Canti brakes, fully rigid, big squishy saddle and bent axles. Rocky downhills were S L O W (and dangerous!) compared to my 6″ fully, but it climded really well and was fun in a different kind of way. You’re swaying me to rigid…

…and my current “suspension” forks are as good as rigid anyway!

why not go rigid with a 29er front wheel?
feels like an inch of suspension with very little weight.

you might as well have a pop at it, especially since youve got a full floater if you need it!

tonto – Member

why not go rigid with a 29er front wheel?

As if I’ve not got enough choices – and expense – to baffle myself with 😮

It’s OK, rigid, wouldn’t want to have it all the time though.

Just rememember loads of the options above will change the geometry. Even 80mm Rebas are about 15/20 mm longer than manitou sx.

I had that in mind but didn’t expect such a big difference. I shall get my tape measure out…

Where do you ride? Southern dirt trails and woods could be fun on a fully rigid bike. South Wales valleys would probably not be.

I rode rigid until 2001. Now, I wouldn’t go back. Miketually might ask himself why I’d do that. Is it cos I’m stupid? Easily swayed by marketing? A fool with money? A fashion victim perhaps?

I rode rigid until 2001. Now, I wouldn’t go back. Miketually might ask himself why I’d do that. Is it cos I’m stupid? Easily swayed by marketing? A fool with money? A fashion victim perhaps?

I’ve no idea. I can only give my reasons for not getting a suspension fork, not speak for anyone else. For me, riding where I do, at the speed I do, for the time I do and for how much time, effort and money I want to spend on a bike, rigid makes sense for me. Maybe you’re just smarter and richer than me?

I live in the Staffordshire moorlands (Leek) but mostly ride in the Peak District. Generally the full susser comes out for the rocky Peaks or longer trips to Wales/Lakes/Scotland/Spain…

The bike is used mostly for doorstep (night) riding or when I need to lend a bike to a mate who is a newbie. It’s generally fast (rooty) woodland, canal paths, muddy bridleways etc. I don’t really believe in having too many different bikes for different setups, since you can always come across all manner of terrain on any ride. However I “need” new forks and I want to save some weight. My existing forks aren’t good suspension forks and I don’t feel under-biked so I guess I’m talking myself into rigid here!

Rigid forks will still allow you to get to lots of places – remember, there was a time when all MTBs were rigid…

If you are looking at the Nukeproof’s these are from the same factory:

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=38&products_id=101

but much cheaper. Not sure if they would be a bit short tho.

I remember those days. They were slower and more uncomfortable, but oh so rose tinted. I must relive them

I’ve got a rigid currently, (Fork, people, keep it clean), and I’d not so much say its better or worse, but its very different. I find it really hard to pick a line down roots slopes because every slip and step is felt through the bars and its hard not to over-react, whereas decent sus just absorbs it all and you keep on going without a care. But that said I quite like the challenge, in a very masochistic way, riding a fully rigid SS really does beat you and every climb becomes torture and every down becomes scary. Quite fun. Feels so much more “connected” with the bike, but it feels so much harder to “flow” which is annoying, and down to my skill level I think.

anyway if you want Rebas merlin are doing them v/cheap at the moment

I have a rigid 29er which I really like (in addition to my FS). The main thing that annoys me though is having to pull over on rooty, bumpy downhills to set the “bigger boys” past on their full-sussers 😉

I bought some carbon forks for the HT theoreticaly for the winter but I never seem to put the suspension forks backon. I am always surprised how capable they are in the rough stuff. OK you might not get down things as fast but you still get there.

Merlin was where I was looking. It’s down to a 2009 Reba SL or a White Brothers Rock Solid. Still £110 cheaper to get the rigid tho’. Might all depend on the axle to crown height of the Rebas, but I’m 95% convinced to go rigid (31 posts on this topic later!)

Cheers all

It just depends how much of a beating you’re willing to take, and why you ride. If you choose to ride to go as fast as possible then rigid isnt as fun, but you feel like you’re going fast when you’re bouncing all about the place so its complex 😀

I have a bike that lets me go as fast as I dare. I now want a (light) bike that will gallop along, up and across but makes me hone my skills on the downs. My local loops aren’t too long anyway, so there’s no point going too fast 😉

Sounds like a reasonable candidate for rigid. Cheap enough to try anyway.

Can never understand why some people are either so for riding rigid & then others are really so against it tbh.It’s no big deal which ever one you choose,you will still be able to ride down anything you can with suspension,just slower(& sometimes only slightly slower)that’s all…..

People tend to like what they own and feel they made the right choice based on their criteria, so they’ll defend it to the hilt. Thats fair enough. I have both, out of lack of funds, and foudn I actually quite like both for different reasons!

i love my rigid bike…