[Closed] anybody tried rigid steel forks and rigid carbon ones?

For mine there's as much variation between forks of the same material as between them, it's hard to generalise. I've ridden some very forgiving steel forks and very rigid carbon ones. The On Ones I think are a nice riding fork (I've got the 29" version), striking a balance of stiffness with enough flex to take the edge off.

Ridden both steel and carbon on an inbred. Steel, much sharper handling and very direct steering, no flex, arms burn out on long rough descents as the trail transmits straight through the bars. Switched to Pace RC31s, incredibly light, absorb the trail really well. Down side is they flex like mad, particularly under heavy braking, steering doesnt feel anywhere near as direct. However they are a lot more comfy over long rides. No experience of the on-one carbons but they are significantly heavier than the Pace. If they keep the absorbancy and drop the flex could be a great ride.

Tried steel, On One carbon, Bonty carbon and Exotic carbon. I'd say carbon does make a worthwhile difference over steel.

The On One carbons do feel more rigid than the Exotics/ Bonty but the exotics might just win in the comfort stakes due to the extra flex. I haven't found the flex to be any problem whilst riding, even on technical stuff (where all the full sus riders stood, looking over the edge with no one giving the section a go) 😉

Stuart

What Sam said - design is the key factor. I've tried quite a few of both (and aluminium) and I'd say that rigid forks are rigid forks - some give a little more than others (assuming a reasonable level of stiffness/steering accuracy) but none are really the micro suspension that some would like you to believe, unless you mean it literally, in which case, about 1000th the benefit of suspension is about right 🙂

I'm currently using Exotics and they seem perfectly nice.

I had some RC31s on my old Inbred and they were lovely. You could see them flexing slightly as you rode. I swapped them for some Fox sus forks and immediately regretted it and thinking I could get the same feel for less £££, got some Orange F7s and they felt so erm, rigid, compared to the carbon Paces...

My P2s shake your teeth out. My RC31s are smooth as you'll get without going for suspension.

Get [url= http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PACE-RC-31-CARBON-FORKS-TITANIUM-VERY-RARE_W0QQitemZ120513862730QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR?hash=item1c0f2f9c4a ]these[/url] - bargain for about £100 more than they originally cost!

shameless bump

🙄

mate, running on one carbon's on my ss/work bike......so you know they will be strong enough.
the are ok, i was expecting better after reading about people saying they smoothed the ride...........boolax they do.
i also run a pair of salsa rigid steel forks.
they are a lot better imho, and they are deffo not gonna snap.

I found the Pace RC31s to be tremendously flexy under braking.
Steel forks inherently stiffer and more direct than any carbon forks I've used - these include (carbon switchblades, On-ones).

However, I couldn't tell much if any difference between any of the steel forks I have used against the aluminium ones I've used (kinesis and switchblades). I guess stiff is stiff - end of.

Damping qualities of carbon I assume are only when the trail is not too punishing in the first place. And a fat tyre with a couple of psi out of it helps.

In my experience, yes. Carbon forks can be ragged down a rocky descent, almost as quickly as you can on suspension forks but as people have mentioned above, design probably has as much to do with that as material.

Tony did you mean the carbon ones are better or the Salsa's?

and your right if they will stand you on em then they aint going to break under me, even with some extra Christmas pud in me 😆

exotic carbon not too flexy and does absorb vibration etc however my pipedream steel forks are prety good too.
my steel genisis forks are very stiff, heavier and rather brutal in comparison.

My pipedream steel forks are surprisingly light.
I'm guessing triple butted?

The surly instigator steel ones are brutes.

salsa's are best mate..

Cheers Tony

salsa's are best mate..

425mm?? axle-to-crown and not exactly subtle at 1130g.

The rigid forks I've used are noticeably different in how much they beat you up...

DMR Trail Blades are like having someone pound hammers at your wrists as you go along (but quite good if you want rigids that won't break on jumps).

Surly Karate Monkey is more flexy but quite dead feeling and still punishing.

And Pace RC31s were pretty nice. They do absorb some buzz and they make the front so light that you can float over just about anything.

At the risk of sounding like I have some deal with Pace, I noticed on their website that they have a limited stock of RC31s that they found at the back of the warehouse.

1130g doesn't seem bad, I've got a very rigid set of steel forks (not unlike the Genesis ones) which weigh in at about 1600g! Which makes a bit of a mockery of going rigid as my rebas are barely any heavier...

I've run both the steel On-One forks and carbon RC31's on my Inbred. The steel forks were ok, however the RC31's were much lighter and noticeably less harsh.

fella's my turds weigh 6lbs on average.
ffs 🙄

fella's my turds weigh 6lbs on average.

oh, was this one of your more interesting school science projects?

fella's my turds weigh 6lbs on average.

I've lost about a stone and a half in the last few months, while at the same time lightening up my Epic but perhaps couple of pounds. Despite my own weight loss being much greater than the bike's, it's the latter that's more noticeable.

I've just had cumberland sausage for tea an all 🙄