…seriously thinking about going rigid, fancy a super light HT long distance XC bike, your experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

they’re light, they’re great on fireroads and smoother surfaces.

you need to adjust your speed and riding technique on anything proper bumpy if you’re used to using suspension forks.

Got carbon rigid forks on my Inbred currently. Tbh, if I was doign anythign more than fireorads with the kids on it I’d fit some 80mm Sids or soemthing – the weight penalty woudl be small but the increased comfort and skill compensation woudl be worth it.

for proper long distances (tour divide etc) then rigid makes sense.

Never felt limited by a carbon fork. But then I dont do big drops and jumps, for long XC it’s probably the perfect fork, they isolate the minor trail chatter well.

Ride with a lot of people who use carbon (and steel) rigids. They take a bit of getting used to, but they do work. Very light and stiff.

& watching how much they flex when braking gives you the ebejeebies at first 😉

longer rides = more fatigue = suspension has a benefit.

Depends on your riding and terrain. I was looking at on-one 29er carbons, but they’re only 200gm/17% lighter than the steel ones you get with singulars/fargos.

I woudl say Carbon has advantages over steel (ime) it does seem to transmit less ‘buzz’ to the bars although a bit more twangy under braking.

I swapped a set of 100mm fox for Pro carbon forks on my Ti bike. I thought I’d be a bit slower, but in fact I quickly adapted. To be honest, I didn’t notice much difference. Mind you, I grew up riding rigid, so I guess that helped.

As above I would look carefully at weights.

Once the steerer was cut on my Salsa Cromoto forks they were only just over 1kg (1008g IIRC) which is as light (nearly) as some carbon forks.

You grew up?

steel forks just feel dead when ever ive used them – even real propperly designed steel forks – lots of vibration and bouncing about

the carbon feels twangy and responsive – lot of the buzz is damped out …. feels like riding with a fat tire.

cynic-al – Member
You grew up?

Touche.

Mind you, I spent the first part of my childhood riding rigid forks,

tfifm

😛

I use em in the winter when the ground is softer… as soon as at all dries hard in the spring I stick the bouncers back on. Lovely and light though – used them for 3 Thetford Winter series races no worries.

I’ve got a carbon Pace fork on my XTC – it’s my fastest bike. Excellent for local woodland trails, definitely requires a bit more work but I like that anyway, I rode Rigid forks for ten years before I ever got suspension so it reminds of how things used to be 🙂

Kev

Carbon rigids on my 69er and they feel great for most stuff. It tends to be when I hit a root or rock unexpectedly that I remember they are rigid so I guess I must adjust my style when I ride with them.

Slight hack, sorry ?

What about carbon rigids for the kielder 100? Good or bad idea?

3 months of waiting and my niner carbon forks are at the shop, woo hoo! I love rigid me!
Pics will appear soon!
I never got on with rigid on a 26 inch bike but i can bare it on the 29er. Prob more down to the low tyre pressure i now use with tubeless than actual fork differences.
I find i can do a rough xc track for about 90mins then i start to slow down as my hands hurt like hell after that. To the point were its hard too hold on and brake for downhills.
Hopefully i will get used to it though.

Stay loose, work it like a diva, you’ll be amazed what you can skitter down.

I keep buying 80mm sus forks for my SS, but I always seem to end up going back to rigid, even in sumemr when things bake hard and get very bashy. Its more of a challenge and it just seems to handle so well, the whole bike feels lively.

Long distance on anything remotely techy is going to beat you up mind, especially at speed. A long summer’s day in the saddle is fine, a 24h race once that smooth line had bedded in is fine, a 6 day trawl across rocky smashy stuff is going to be tough I’d imagine.

Couple them with a decent vol front tyre, non O/S stem, carbon bars & thicker grips & they are spot on. Even more so on a 29er. For me they work, & work very well.
Ditto the steel fork feeling dead comment.

Thanks all, some very useful comments, I think sold.

I agree with the stuff said above about adapting to riding rigid, it doesn’t have to slow you down that much/if at all, but it is more work…which is a reason to ride rigid sometimes. I run a lightweight unicogger with salsa cromoto steeel forks which are quite springy, and combine them with carbon bars, USE atoms. That gives enough strength to keep my confidence as I depart the lip of a 3 foot drop off or roll into a rock garden, but gets ride of any ‘buzz’
BUT
the single biggest damper you can get when rigid is a BIG volume front tyre. luckily pretty much any rigids have loads of clearance, so long as you run discs (which rules out the triple butted P2s as too flexy/not spec’ed for discs). With a 2.5 or 3 inch DH tyre on the front at about 18 or 20 psi you don’t notice bumps smaller than about 2 inches.

oh and agree on the weight comments above, I won’t change my salsa forks for cheaper carbon forks like the ‘exotic’ ones as they are as heavy. I have a slight pimp drive which sees appeal in some pace forks, but they cost a bit more…salsa forks at 50 quid and a set of easton monkey lights at err..about 100ish, still cheaper than the pace forks.

neilnevill – Member
I agree with the stuff said above about adapting to riding rigid, it doesn’t have to slow you down that much/if at all

Depends entirely on the terrain!

so you achieve the carbon feel with a tyre that weighs as much as the forks ….

i do like my sandman forks(steel) with a 4 inch tire up front on my ragley at low psi

They are good, I have had Pace carbon forks on one of my bikes for a long time and I still love riding it but they are slower on bumpy stuff of course. More so if it is steep enough to need more than just the back brake because it is worse if you have to use the front brake. This really slows you up because using the front brake really pushes the front into bumps instead of letting you try and ride light and roll over them.
It is this braking downhill that for me is where the biggest diference lies. Would not have them on an only bike but great for XC loops and just giving some variety and winter simplicity.

he he, yeah when I fit the fat front tyre it weights the bike a bit..a fair bit. But still lighter than most buncy forks, more relaiable and cheaper. The big volume tyre gives a couple of inches of suspension almost – it’s not so much the ‘carbon feel’ feel is removing the buzz and harshness. Personally I’dl ike some pace forks but I’m currently contnet with good steel forks and some carbon bars. Having broken a wrist a couple of times and suffered for a while afte rwith aches on rides with any fork (including bouncy ones), swapping to carbon bars cured that for me by removing the buzz. I’m sure carbon forks would too.

in reply to al, yes of course, quicker on some, slower on some, but for most of us at middling skill levels the difference is not huge….probably has a larger effect at either end of the skill scale.