I went into Halfords yesterday, just for a laugh, and noticed that from the lower end bikes upward, rigid forks rather than cheap suspemsion, were starting to reappear. No doubt it was Halfords scrimping as usual, but as someone who rode bikes with rigid forks in those far-off misty days before suspension, there are advantages to riding a rigid fork rather than dragging around a non-performing shoddy suspended version. I wonder if the trend will grow?

A good rigid fork is definitely better than a cheap and nasty suspension fork. Lower weight, nowt to go wrong, tracks better.

And more trail feedback. In those far off days if you wanted a softer ride you let some more air out of the front tyre, or bought a tyre with a greater air volume, or did both.

Mackem has got it,a ridged fork is better than a cheap sus fork and it lighter. I’m setting myself up for one of these when Genesis launch them.

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/mountain/fortitude/fortitude-adventure

Nice but HOW MUCH!!!!

With the Alfine hub they are £1500 but they start at £850 for the singlespeed, sorry I missed you humour after reading the thread again….

Rigid forks ? Your kidding right ? I had heard of people actually using them off road but I assumed it was just an old skool legend from way back when 😯

Rigids never went away a fair few people still use them in anger.

don’t really see the novelty unless you believe that all MTB forks cost at least £400 and must have fox plastered all over them…

Return ?
I can’t remember what it’s like to ride with suspension forks. 😛

I can see the benefits on cheap bikes that will be used on roads and smooth trails but for a proper MTB they arn’t for me. I would much rather my 160mm of smooth travel thank you very much.

Believe it or not, people did manage to ride off road without motorcycle amounts of suspension…

Are you sure you weren’t just looking at the town bikes like carrera subway?

Suspension forks make the front of the bike feel funny.

I’ve tried

Rockshox Psylo
Pace Hollow Form
Fox Vanilla
Magura Durin Race

All flawed in one way or another.

Big front tyres sem to just work.

or motorcycle style disc brakes 8)

A good rigid fork is definitely better than a cheap and nasty suspension fork.

There are forks that cost more than my entire bike. I have a cheap set up that I’m sure some on here would sneer at. The fork is pants, and I tend to leave it locked rigid much of the time. I don’t notice much difference. It would make sense to replace it with a rigid.

When I lived in Belgium, my favourite bike had a carbon rigid fork. Had enough give to smooth out a lot of trail buzz.

Where does the Jones Spaceframe (and other similar) fit in then?

ohnohesback – Member
Believe it or not, people did manage to ride off road without motorcycle amounts of suspension…

Funnily enough I ‘managed’ to ride off road without suspension and out of my two bikes I much prefer my 160mm F+R to my 80mm F it is just so much more fun and capable. I cant imagine riding seriously bumpy trails with a rigid bike.

A good rigid suspension fork is definitely better than a cheap and nasty suspension rigid fork.

FIFY

carbon rigid?

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FOOOCAR/on_one_carbon_fork

I also have a bike with a rigid fork and love it. It does have clown wheels with bouncy tyres so does tend to ride over things better, but it does make you think about the route you take as oppose to bouncing over everything in sight. Nothing wrong with either!
If you can afford it, have a good set of suspension forks and s good set of rigid forks and swap then around or even better, have two bikes! 😀
Enjoy!

A good rigid suspension fork is definitely better than a cheap and nasty suspension rigid fork.

You’re very probably right. But at the bottom end (which is what’s being discussed), a rigid fork with a biggish tyre is going to piss all over a poorly damped pogo stick. Rigid forks also don’t need maintenance (is it 2011 Fox forks that are meant to have a damper oil change every 30h?) and if I was building a bike for winter riding, I’d definitely think about it – speed (and thus bump absorption) less of an issue in the slop.

Now if only someone would bring out a through axle rigid fork that didn’t weigh as much as the anchor off a Type 23…

Andy

It’s not for me, but I see plenty of folks enjoying riding technical/DH trails on rigid, weigh-next-to-nothing XC bikes, albeit slowly. Carbon forks are ~ half the weight of the lightest £££ suspension forks.

For downhill or bumpy stuff I get it but honestly how many of us ride that type of thing day-in day-out.?
How many of us have locked our fork-out and not noticed for the next 4 miles?

I ride full suss and full rigid. Both are great just very different. I find I can ride the same routes and have a different experiance with each bike. Keeps things interesting 😉

Mackem – Member
A good rigid fork is definitely better than a cheap and nasty suspension fork. Lower weight, nowt to go wrong, tracks better.

After nearly 2 years of taking the micky out of him over a stupid headset question he has said something sensible 😉 All I would add is that round here (South Lincolnshire) suspension of any kind is a needless extravagence. TBH knobbly tyres are generally not required either 🙁

Such a funny thread.. Oh how times have changed. I recall that the naysayers 15 odd years ago were very much, oo that new fangled suspension stuff will ever take off, too heavy and the darned forks don’t work anyhows… Now it’s reversed.

SS ?ooo it’ll not work
Full sus? Nooo it’ll never work!
29ers?, your joking, that won’t work?
Belt drive? Crazy idea!

We’re all just riding bikes don’t ya know! 😉

if you’re trying to make a £300 bike, rigids definately make sense… I’d far rather have a rigid fork than a Suntour XCM or similiar, and it frees up budget to spend elsewhere. But unfortunately, it seems like suspension sells, so they have to cater to that- people who’ll never ride off road think they need suspension for potholes.

Looking at Halfords, their Subway’s always been a great entry level mountain bike- it’s sold as a commuter but a swap of tyres made it better offroad than any of their equivalent-priced mtbs.

Back in the day we rode off road on racers with skinny tyres & cowhorns on them,or Raleigh Choppers & the like.We just rode what we had,off road bikes were just normal bikes that were rode off road….We fell off a fair bit as well tbh,you wanna try riding through mud on a chopper bike with a stupidly small front wheel & a tyre that has no tread on it from new !
Would I do it now when things have moved on so much, would I ****.When I see someone riding with a rigid fork over bumpy terrain or whatever, I’m not in awe of them regardless of how skillful they think they are,I just think what an idiot…….

When I see someone riding with a rigid fork over bumpy terrain or whatever, I’m not in awe of them regardless of how skillful they think they are,I just think what an idiot…….

nice…

When I see someone riding a bike, I think, “Cool, another rider….”

not everyone wants/needs/can afford/can be bothered with a lot of the tech that gets pushed down our throats day in day out.

Oh get over yourself ……….

I’m surprised this is even being debated.

The trouble is, at the lower end of the spectrum (say sub-£200 bikes) suspension is useless. But the customer that those bikes are being marketed to don’t understand this.

It’s like if you buy a car, or a computer, or whatever…you want all the bells and whistles. You don;t necesarilly understand them, you just know you want them! And at the end of the day, rigid bikes are obviously not a good seller. Which is a shame, because at that price, you could get a perfectly good bike, with good components, when you subtract the price of a cheap suspension fork.

Might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but not everyone can afford, or necesarally wants to pay for that choice of opinion.

I am able to ride both rigid and forked with equal amounts of skill but I do prefer the rigid flapping bingo wing sensation that only carbon forks can bring on. Come on each to their own and lets play nice.

I also ride with rigid forks, at times 🙄
Just always makes me smile on these type of threads when you get all the rigid die hards start spouting off…….. 8)

I like both – makes a ride on the same route completely different. Can ride most stuff rigid, just slower when it gets bumpy – although still traumatised from the final downhill at mayhem on rigids this year.
If you where there you would know.

I have a pair of SID World cup and Pace rigid carbons to swap depending on where I ride, except the SID’s have been in a box for 2 years, each to there own. I don’t throw myself down cliffs, but if I did wouldn’t dream of doing it on rigid forks…….

I have few regrets in life

But one of them is all the brilliant descents i rode on miserable rigid forks. I can remember stopping as the pain was unbearable on more than one occasion

Many cheao bikes have a heavy fork that has no real movement, so they might as well be rigid….

specialknees – Member
For downhill or bumpy stuff I get it but honestly how many of us ride that type of thing day-in day-out.?
How many of us have locked our fork-out and not noticed for the next 4 miles?

If I cant get a good DH run in, no matter how short, then I don’t count the ride as fun. For me riding is throwing the bike around bouncing and popping off everything I am capable of as fast as I can. In all honesty I could ride nearly everything I do on a rigid but it would be slow and sketchy and I wouldn’t enjoy it. I’m sure some people enjoy riding smooth bridleways and the like at 20mph on rigid bikes, which is probably the best tool for the job, but that isn’t for me.

As for the argument that sub £300 bikes are better equipped with rigid forks from new then I couldn’t agree more. As I have said above some terrain is better on a rigid and typically this is the sort of terrain that beginners start on. When they move onto more challenging stuff then suspension becomes more sensible.

like above, I tend to alternate depending on where I’m going, what I’m going to be doing and/or whether I feel like a change. Carbon rigids and a fat front tyre are ok for most general XC mincing. Like Ampthill, there have been occasions when a good descent has been ruined due to lack of some front suspension.

When I see someone riding with a rigid fork over bumpy terrain or whatever, I just think what an idiot…….

I’m the same when I see people dancing or freerunning.. haven’t they heard of TV and buses..?

Idiots

rigid forks rule. they’re for proper hard riders only.