Have you dabbled with these in the same frame ? Do you swap out depending on conditions, or have you ended up sticking with one for most or all of your of your riding? What swayed you?

I’m about to start lacing some wheels, and I’m pausing over those 26+ Dirt Wizards wchich would need a wider rim. Tehre’s enough space for one in the current rigid fork. A 35mm rim and fatter tyre would give me about 15-20% more volume, a bigger footprint with the ability to run lower pressure, and add half a kilo to a Crest and current tyre (2.4″ X-King).

Half a kilo is more than the difference between the Cromoto and a newish SID, and grip advantage from suspension is going to be ??? compared to grip advantage from 2.75″ front, but keeps the advantage of a lighter wheel and a faster tyre.

Seems the choice comes down to Light v. Fun Grip v. Fast Grip? Is that about right?

Hints, tips and facts gratefully received!

When I fist got a fat fork for my Jones I built up a standard 29er wheel and a fat 26×4 wheel.
The standard 29er wheel only got used once.

Mrs stu had a reba and a fat front combo that used to get swapped over ever now and again.
She’s now sold the Reba.

Right, so fat fronts for boys and suss forks for girls?

Edit: I read that wrong: “sold” not “sold on”!

Thanks, Stu. No votes for suss forks…

…swap out…

Unacceptable terminology!

Wotevs, grandad.

How do you like that apple?

Ha ha! Following on from a previous thread http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/80mm-forks-help-and-advice-please, my decision whether to go rigid or sus was greatly helped by the generous nature of Mr 2unfit of this place, his Team SID’s are immaculate and I have a service kit and travel reducer kit waiting for the Xmas hols :-).

I do also feel that whilst the ‘purist’ in me rather fancies the idea of having rigid forks, I did that 20+ years ago 🙂 and the increased control, comfort and tracking that my now slightly lazier self desires, kinda won :-).

I hadn’t considered going fat, mainly because it didn’t occur to me, but given that my very first ‘proper’ bike, given to me one Xmas when I was about 5, was a fat tyred small wheeled bike that I loved to pile through the woods on, I can see the benefits of a fat front, just maybe not for me on the Ala Carte :-). But, never say never!

EDIT: are you sure the difference between a CoMoto and a pair of recent SID’s is less than half a kilo? I would have guessed it being circa 700g?

425mm cromotos with fancy paint, without canti bosses, with clown face and nut splangler is 1052g, current SID RCT 80/100mm travel is 1355g. The cromoto’s aren’t light!

Glad you’re happy with yours!

Wow! They are not a light set of forks…

Back to your OP, and with fresh knowledge, I suggest your 3-way options are: light/ish v fun grip v fast grip, which really takes it to a 2-way fun v fast for me. Process of elimination and all that.

IMO all 3 are pretty different, depends on what riding you do.

Ask yourself this question……..which one makes you produce monster truck noises as you thunder down stuff?

I can’t speak for fat, but I change my Soda from rigid to suspended from time to time. Comparisons are pretty meaningless, it’s like 2 totally different bikes, both excellent but in different ways. I prefer it rigid (fnarr, obviously) but not because it’s better, but because it’s worse.

I prefer it rigid (fnarr, obviously) but not because it’s better, but because it’s worse.

I agree with this.
But with a fat wheels it’s better because it’s worse but a bit better again because of the tyre. 🙂

Having recently acquired a rigid forked Cannondale Trail 29er SS, I found myself after the first few rides looking at what width rim and fat tyre would fit in the ‘dale ‘Fatty’ fork. Any trail with roots or rocks is going to be very hard work without a degree of suspension, whether that’s supplied by the tyre or the fork.

For some, this is the fun of riding rigid. For me, it just hurt my hands and wrists (call me a wimp) and I fell off more often on the wet roots around the Surrey Hills as the front wheel just pinged off them. The 3″ Surly Knard on the 50mm Rabbit Hole rim provides just enough ‘give’ to take the edge off the hits and give me more control.

More importantly, I have a great winter bike with no gears, cables or fork seals to wear away in the slop and grime. I should add that this set up works for me because I have a full-sus 29er for XC/AM duties. The ‘dale just gets used for making short, sharp rides a little different. Longer rides with drops & jumps will see me bring out the full-sus.

I’ve not been riding long enough in dry conditions to form an impression of the grip levels between these two bikes, but there’s not a huge amount in it.