I'm probably not a 'proper' mountain biker, I just like riding my bike and exploring. Much of the riding I do is on country roads but being heavy and having a liking to go off-road too I wouldn't want to ride anything other than a mountain bike.
I've had rigid bikes in the past and enjoyed them but have upgraded to bouncing forks along the way, possibly because that's what I think that a mountain bike should have to be 'proper'. I've currently got 100mm Rebas, and they're very nice. More and lately I keep wondering whether I should go back to a rigid fork but I'm still undecided. Some of the off-road stuff I ride is pretty rocky (think fist sizes, sharp edged cobbles and you get the idea). Does riding rigid put extra stain on (shorten the life of) a frame compared to a similar height sus. fork? I guess it's swings and roundabouts but as I ride a lot on road it'd be possibly more swings.
I'm not worried about a rigid fork making me a 'better' rider either as I'm not skilled anyway, I'm just trying to work out what would be the best option for a one-bike on/off road, fun bike
A fair proportion of my riding sounds not dissimilar to yours. I reckon if you had a rigid bike and were asking "should I go bouncy" then the answer might well be no, no real need. But I'm not sure I'd bother changing a decent suspension fork for a rigid one. If it was me, I'd be looking out for a rigid fork to use when the Rebas evetually broke down. 🙂
Depends how much of a battering you like i guess. I prefer riding with rigids, for most of the stuff i ride i can do without suspension forks. However, anymore than a couple of hours on proper bumpy stuff it starts to hurt a bit, so for longer summer rides i use suspension forks.
You may be able to put a bigger volume tyre on the front if you go rigid. If you combine that with tubeless you could get a bit more cushioning. Only really one way to find out.
No don't bother - Rebas are good forks and not especially heavy anyway - if you were going to go rigid about 6 months from now would be a better time to protect your Rebas from the winter weather and give your hands softer ground with a rigid fork
If you do go rigid a 29er is far more comfy than 26" rigid
As BigDummy says, if you're on rigids and are fine, there's no point going to suspension forks (unless you want to), but going the other way would be hard, I think.
Mind you, it's a very cheap experiment, so there's not a lot to lose.
Kind of depends on whether you're going for carbon or steel. I've ridden off-road with both on singlespeeds, and the steel ones are, to put not too fine a point on it, bloody hard on your hands and wrists after a couple of hours. The carbons I use now, on the other hand are much more comfortable for all day rides, although rocky bits will still jar your arms. As has been said, a large volume tubeless tyre, around 2.3", at 35psi, will help a lot. I regularly do a seventeen mile rides over the Marlborough Downs on my rigid SS, which is rather rough and rutted in places, and also a 38 mile loop on road and canal towpath with no problems. I do have carbon bars as well, which helps absorb the vibrations that make your hands go numb. A 29er would possibly be even better, and you can run a 29er front wheel in standard front forks; I tried a Bonty wheel from a Gary Fisher 29er and rode it up the road and it felt fine, especially bumping up kerbs. Certainly worth considering, the wheel I tried is around £95, with tyre extra.
I was thinking steel, on grounds of cost and also, as I'm 15 stone+, in terms of strengh. I know that a lot of carbon rigids come without rider weight limits these days, but somehow I'm not sure I'd trust them.
I don't have the money for a 29er build I'm afraid. Maybe sticking with the Rebas makes sense, they're not to heavy (and I don't race or chase folk) and will be more comfy; they have a Poploc too if I need to lock them out.
Sounds like you need some On-One Carbons on a nice steel frame. Couple that with some carbon bars (std dia not O/S) & a carbon seatpost. Oh, & a Ti railed Charge Spoon would finish the thing off nicely.
Cant believe how much my recently acquired Soul soaks up the bumps.
16st here & On-One Carbons were spot on. Tried Pace but I'm over the weight limit & they flexed too much.
I rode rigid again for a couple of weeks last year after a 10 year gap and I really noticed the difference between the carbon forks and bars I used and the steel and ally of 10 years earlier. I then decided to try setting the bike up as a hardtail which is how I've kept it. However I'm tempted to try it rigid again if only to save some weight over the Magura Oders I'm currently using.
I reckon rigid especially if you are not concerned about max speed everywhere.
It just takes a different riding technique - after all you have at least 10" of suspension in your legs and arms.
Oh, and don't use a deathgrip on the bars or you'll get sore wrists.
My carbon forks are On-One's, and, oddly enough, they're attached to the front of an On-One 853 Inbred SS frame. My bars are Answer carbons, standard size risers, on a Bonty 70mm stem. I'd post up a pic, but it's not so easy to do from my iPhone at 1:22am. It is a delightful bike to ride, probably my favourite of the four I own, the others being a 6" travel steel hardtail, a 6" Remedy 66 and a Kona Sutra tourer with aero bars and is also a SS. With rigid steel forks, that one can really jar your wrists on rough surfaces.
My most ridden bike is my rigid SS Voodoo Wanga with Pace RC30s. I reckon most of my riding corresponds to yours. I'm 104kg so similar weight. Only notice flex in forks when braking. Big bumps are fine in most cases, it's the smaller high frequency that gets to you I think. Whether to change. As someone else suggested maybe think about rigid for winter and suss when trails are drier.
I love that bike.
I notice some suggest big tyres low pressure. If you're on road a lot I wouldn't go above a 2.1. I use Conti Explorer 2.1s and seem fine to me. May add a semi slick on rear or maybe both ends if we actually do get a good dry summer.
With rigid steel forks, that one can really jar your wrists on rough surfaces.
Both my bikes have rigid steel forks (On-One 29er fork and On-One 26er fork). Never really noticed my wrists being jarred.