only if your mind thinks you need bigger ….

ive had monster Ts (arguably the stiffest forks ever made….triple clamps with the same size stantions as your totems ….)

and i now run 80mm rebas and sids … i cant think of a time where ive thought i need stiffer forks …..longer yes stiffer no …. my front wheel always goes where i want it through good route planning ….

anyone can plough a big travel bike through anything and claim its skill …ive been there and done that. the real good guys are the ones who ride nothing down stuff people struggle with on big bikes like kern a guy who almost got scoffed at for wanting to ride the black route at laggan on his azonic steelhead with kinesis maxlight rigid forks and about 10cms of spacers under his stem….ugly inapropriate bike ….still showed us a thing or too down the black route and embarased a few of the 6 inch travel boys …or raggedonair on here who took his turner down kilbopath faster than most of the dh guys i used to ride with could !

of course the above doesnt apply if you ride a rigid steel singlespeed just to be alternative !

ade ward – Member

i suspect that it’s more down to wheel/tyre stiffness rather than fork stiffness

I disagree. I ran an 04 Talas with a QR and Pro2 up front, then swapped to an 08 Pike with the Pro2 20mm conversion kit, and the difference was astounding. The front didn’t feel jittery and the tyre felt really planted and unlikely to roll off the surfaces I was riding along.

I went from a 2000 SID XC to some 08 454 pikes (20 mm) boy did i notice the difference one was made of cooked pasta and would flex while trackstanding the other tracks perfectly over head size boulders

anyone can plough a big travel bike through anything and claim its skill

Yeah Steve Peat is rubbish really isn’t he, why doesn’t he ride a rigid singlespeed?

peat doesnt plough …. i can assure you peats lines are calculated unless he misses one of them …

I agree that there is a difference in stiffness what i disagree is that other than psychologically it makes little difference in a non race situation where you are unlikely to take really risky lines….