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A decent carbon fork and a fatter tyre are as good as cheap suspension in my opinion, and much lighter.
I ride rigid these days. I came to the conclusion that suspension is only an advantage on balls out downhills. Elsewhere you pay for the weight.
I did some experimenting for the 'Puffer - I tried the big descent as fast as I dared on suspension and then at a slightly more controlled pace on my rigid. There was only a one minute difference. (None of the other descents really needed suspension).
I reckoned I saved much more than that minute on all the long climbs because the rigid bike was lighter.
Mind you, I'm not all that fast anyway, but you might like to try your own experiment 😀
Just received my White Brothers Rock Solid fork. It looks ace! Yep, went the rigid route. Will let you know my thoughts when fitted...
Woo, keep us posted. And photos too!
My wife and father-in-law - neither of them cyclists - both commented on how light it was. It seems not that long ago that I was getting excited about suspension and now look at me!
hehe I had the same thing not so long back, I was runnign a 5" full sus and eventually I found I'd bought so many heavy components that it weighed a ton, I bought an NRS frame and transferred the components, quite a bit lighter and easier to pedal, then I dug out my old rigid and set it up as a singlespeed and thought "by god this is easy to swing about" - soon I'll be drilling the tubes and rims and buying ti bits again, roll on the 90s revival! 😀
well I did hear that purple is back in fashion. Please can I keep my disc brakes tho'?!
Quick update: I've had my first ride with the new forks. Absolutely fab! The front end is now so light and flickable. Compared to my old (cheap) 80mm suspension forks which hardly did anything you would want from a suspension fork, these are so much better. Cheaper than suspension forks and have - seriously - knocked nearly 4lbs of weight off my bike. Shame it's highlighted how heavy my frame is! Anyone recommend a lightweight XC frame that doesn't mind a little abuse?
I have a pair of Trek ZR9000 frames that are light at 1520g (Large size) and haven't complained about my abuse until now (and I'm 90kg).
First was bought as a complete bike, the other 2nd hand for 100. 🙂
#1 is equipped with a 80mm travel forks and #2 is running a Pace RC31.
Frames seem unpopular so 2nd hand prices are good. Cheap + light + strong.
Got really good deals on the merlin rock lobster tig team sl.. £180 3.25lb