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Some great bikes advice and general input all the way through, great to see the guy riding proper downhill courses.
Paging Ace to the thread... Possibly honourable, possibly demented rigid Macavalanche mission
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Good fun in the snowpocalypse 🙂
I've a 29er swift, not as quick as having suspension or gears, but fun in a different way. You have to pick your battles, taking smooth lines and looking for easy places to gain time and surviving the tougher bits. It gets down most stuff my FS bike does, just slower and with less margin for error.
Definatley going to have a crack going to post a wtd ad for frame forks and brakes so let me know if any of you guys have any bits.
Anything I may need to know about rigid forks before I buy ?
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northwind I thought the guy doing the mac had got a snowboard attached to his back untill I looked a little closer.that would have been something.
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Anything I may need to know about rigid forks before I buy ?
A 29 wheel is a good match.
Swift steel forks are moderately heavy but have some lateral give.
I had some 26er carbons in the '2 poles fixed into a crown' format - the word for them was twangy.
Niner carbons have a surprising damping effect and are clear winners of what I've ridden.
So - some kind of monocoque 29er carbon, if you can.
I have much love for it. '98 Kula on Project 2's. Sure it's not comfortable but it feels very direct so to speak
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waves at Northwind 🙂
Monkey has also done a normal DH race now down at Tavistock woods close to Gawton.
Hopefully Monkey and me will have another stab at this years MacAvalanche, must say those on-one track clincher wheels are proving to be quite tough and easy to change bearings on 🙂
As someone who started on a ridged bike I must say it feels kind of right, but as an owner of a pair of RC31's I would say ridged is rather disconcerting! 😉
matjg
A 29 wheel is a good match.
do you mean 29ers work well as rigid bikes or going down the 69er route?
My second bike for winter / mud / snow duties... been riding it a lot recently 😉
Great fun and improves your skills no end. Not sure I'd choose it as my only bike, although there's nothing locally it won't do. Some rides it just feels right like it's an extension of you if you know what I mean 😐
Changed to 1x9 since this photo, fantastic mud clearance front and back now. Also put some wide flat carbon bars and a shorter stem on there. All good so far.
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69er you say, fully rigid you say.....
oh go on then
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Weight, doesn't matter as completely negated when I put my bulk on it
Riding, Yes it does, and it makes me grin like a loon a lot
Simple pleasures
lol ron your bulk cant be that bulky that is a singlespeed is it not
paulo6624 - Member
lol ron your bulk cant be that bulky that is a singlespeed is it not
Yep, and probably the best £15 I have spent on a frame and seatpost, has made riding Afan (on my doorstep) a lot more enjoyable...
good for you mate, cant wait till im fit enough for ss
I never thought I was fit enough, just took the plunge one day built the bike and rode it, and fitness came with it along with crashing lots then learning how to pick lines a little better
Have to agree, despite owning 140mm of kashima buttery smooth custom tuned Talas there is something about riding a rigid bike that makes me smile and enjoy the ride.
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Recently converted back to rigid. Love the fast and direct steering it gives over sus forks. Yes you would be faster with suspension forks and your wrists less beaten up after a few hours in the saddle but it feels so right! 😀
Bike above is singlespeed (chain tension devise has been now removed) and on my scales comes in at 21.5lbs Just need to change the brake levers and its finished.
That is lovely- first bike I've seen with those forks that didn't make me feel a bit ill!
my only bike till a week ago.....rigid tourer to go with it now.
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/91703444@N06/8586617114/ ]24.03.13 mini tour 010[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/91703444@N06/ ]20ston[/url], on Flickr
One of mine is a fully rigid Surly 1x1. Not my only bike, but one of the ones I ride the most, lovely simple machine that just works right. Makes me a better rider too.
That is lovely- first bike I've seen with those forks that didn't make me feel a bit ill!
Thanks! Perhaps it helped painting them the same colour as the frame?!
Cheap as chips and as fun as you like...
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it has been known 🙂
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/62031621@N06/8479294724/ ]IMAG0094[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/62031621@N06/ ]the_lecht_rocks[/url], on Flickr
Another 69er
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About 28 pounds. Surly krampus
Ride differently... Hell yes, it goes sh1t fast and has mental cornering traction.
But I did pinch flat a couple minutes after this picture was taken
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And what has got to be a the best rigid set up, crashy on his Jones. Ride differently: The geometry here is completely different recipe, and it gives you so much high speed control, wonderful thing. Hang off the back and don't let go.
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Both pictures at the end of skyline, Afan. Both bikes ideal rigid alternatives for rocky tough trails. Elsewhere I ride a ti Fargo, a Niner sir9 and even my road bike sees a lot of dirt. All rigid and all lovely.
Almost forgot the clunker classic. Someone used the entire front end of a 70s motocross bike, otherwise all rigid. He did get a nose bleed pushing uphill for 4 miles.
Ride differently... Yes indeed:
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Vince not doing so well on a ladies trad roadster..
Bark exploding off a tree
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Vince's foot where his shoulder should be
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Rocks and forearms.
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Wooaahhh!!! 😯
Haven't got the faintest idea how much it weighs, but I love the the the simplicity of a rigid bike.
*Excuse the very short front brake hose. Pics were taken when first built up.
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/84209070@N03/8204537464/ ]window 070[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/84209070@N03/ ]Ample Brew[/url], on Flickr
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i take it he was ok charlie? i cant for the lif of me see where his front wheel is on first picture
nice bike ample
that is the front wheel - the rear is behind his body
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Kinda looks like a long-exposure shot of a fast moving unicyclist... Hope he was ok!
This has got me wanting a rigid fork now.
So what's best
Exxotic. hylix, trigon these climax things on ebay?
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I notice the hylix states
Axle to Crown: 45cm, can be used for 26", 700c and 29er wheels also
What axle to crown should i be looking at for 26" 100mm fork?
I have a couple:
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26" wheels
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29er, now hub gears and whole lot of other stuff which makes it weighs a ton and a half!
Rigid bike are awesome for honing your skills or for realising how crap a rider you are 😉 SS - mainly for lack of maintenance and a bit of a pain so you know you're still alive and crankin'
trickydisco - MemberExxotic. hylix, trigon these climax things on ebay?
My Exotic was ace, haven't got a bad word to say about it. Not exactly stiff, but that worked just fine for me.
Had to get a shorter one for the new bike so replaced it with a Hylix, which is probably fine, but scares me a bit- weighs nothing at all. Good tyre clearance, 2.5 goes in no bother with a 26 inch wheel. Not yet tested it hard, but it does nothing untoward while rolling about.
Axle to crown- a 100mm suspension fork is usually about 475mm so deduct 25mm for the sag and you get 450-ish. But, there's no real perfect answer, some folks say it should be shorter, more in line with the fork when it's working. Also, there's a bit of a tendancy to use big tyres which adds a bit more front height! I reckon the Hylix feels good. The 29er Exotic is 465mm so I used it as a "long travel" rigid in the Soul and 456, that worked well too. Don't obsess on it, I would say.
Dumped a Gary fisher Rumblefish 2 29er, an on one inbred HT and a lappierre 514 and got this. The simplicity and enjoyment of riding real are fantastic.
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My Kona Unit 29er with Niner fork
Ruddy bloody good.
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This thing:
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It's a Setavento ti copy of a Marin Rocky Ridge frame run singlespeed with a Forward Components, I think, eccentric outboard bottom bracket and an On One 26" carbon fork, flat bars, reversed stem etc to keep the front end down and a 29" front wheel.
It weighs around 21lb and works pretty well, brilliant muddy 24-hour race bike, makes you think hard about lines up and down in the Peak and the front end rolls over a surprising amount of stuff plus lack of fork compression makes it mosty predictable. It could undoubtedly weigh a bit less, but I don't really care.
I wouldn't want it as an only bike round here, there are too many rocks, but given that I spent most of the 90s riding the same trails on a rigid Marin Bear Valley.
Limits? It goes less fast through rocky stuff and you have you think a little harder about lines generally, but on smoother trails it's ace and it makes sort of medium stuff that's a breeze on a hardtail or susser challenging again.
BWD, liking that except for the seatclamp maybe the gusset. (obviously lots of love for that dekerf as well)
My rigid singlespeed 🙂
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My new ish fully rigid steel 29er rides betterer and plusherer than my old front sus 26er hands down. I love it and 19.5 lbs too