thinking of buying some carbon forks off ebay and putting them on my steel hardtail for the winter . whats it like or is it too harsh ? I ride in the chilterns and swinley area .

cheers

Richie

I have niners on mine, they flex where you want them to (along the bike) but not where else (very stiff in torsion). I like them so much and find that they are perfectly capable of handling everything I an throw at them that I am using them all year around instead of just the winter. If you could get some chunkier grips that would help, you get used to the harshness anyway.

Do it.

Rigid carbon forks (Exotic) transformed my El Mariachi. I pretty much hated it until I tried them.

On the other hand, I recently fitted the same forks to my Burls and they felt rubbish. 😐

Cheers just the response I was after 🙂 there are some nice forks on eBay quite cheap but unsure to go full carbon or alloy steerer ?

I’ve got niner RDO forks, and ride at Swinley, the Surrey Hills and elsewhere…
They’re fine, a bit like riding a very capable cx bike, with brakes that work.
I shall be riding the upcoming Gorrick 4 hour enduro with them 😯

Max how are you enjoying the worlds stiffest steel frame (TM)?

Have you singlespeeded it yet?

Nath,

If I had time to ride at the moment, you would be one of the first people to know about it. Ill be coming on the hip flask ride on my very ‘responsive’ frame, it delivers power instantly. It appears to be the holy grail – may be a placebo because its my baby.

No SS yet, probably won’t get SS’d, only need one SS and its the fatty at the moment, then the 6squared.

Sorry for the thread hijack.

no probs but can someone tell me if I should go for carbon steerer or alloy steerer please ?

i have a rigid fork, its fine for really tame (boring) stuff but it (I) cant cope with anything rowdy on it.
as soon as funds allow i’ll be looking for a squishy fork for it…

Nothing rowdy is possible with rigid forks…

that is a fantastic pic !

I’ve recently just taken the plunge on some carbon rigid 29er forks on ebay….with carbon steerer. I cant comment on them yet but when i get the bike built up i will. ( i was going to go with salsa cromoto grande with bolt through but the carbon ebay forks are lighter/cheaper etc.
This is all assuming i dont break them putting in a carbon steerer expanding bolt and my wheels arrive..

IMO the secret to rigid riding is a big fat front tyre, it just makes everything work better. For my 26er, that meant a singleply 2.5 Nevegal- light and sensibly fast rolling. I could do it with less tyre obviously but things were more fun with a bit of bounce.

I had 2 sets of carbon forks, some exotics with alu steerer, and some very light Hylix full carbons. The exotics were a bit heavier, cheaper and unexpectedly a lot flexier, they were quite funny to watch- hard braking was like drawing back on a bow. But that worked really well in use, it was like having a set of early Sids with more sideways travel than vertical. The Hylixes were way stiffer, which some folks would prefer I’m sure, they were also nicer looking.

no probs but can someone tell me if I should go for carbon steerer or alloy steerer please ?

Only difference should be weight and budget?

Only issue with carbon steerer is takes a little more care to cut nicely and will not be happy with sharp edges and an overtightened stem. And needs an expander bung, obviously.

Cheers guys 🙂 was looking at carbon steerer but the exotic look good value for money 🙂

Cheers guys was looking at carbon steerer but the exotic look good value for money

I dont want to put you off but the axel to crown on the 29er exotics may be a little too short at 465mm depending what you put them on. I got them on 26er and they are good but a little flexy as already mentioned so may be even more flexi on 29er.

Flex is good. I’ve had many amusing moments watching my Pace RC31s “fluttering” 🙂

Ok cheers for advise . Might go for a set of Hylix forks , what’s the best way of cutting carbon , junior hacksaw ? And whats best for a star but 🙂

Cheers

I used a hacksaw- I can’t remember which blade, not a proper carbon one but I’d googled for tpi advice and chose whatever one I had was closest…

The carbon walls are quite thick on the steerer, I used a Hope Hed Doctor but it didn’t fit as standard, I had to machine it down so unless you’ve got a lathe I’d say try something else. Don’t know what!

I’m watching thread closely for recommendations on a carbon steerer expander bung..

Kinesis IX on my carbon Cube. Lovely big fat things.

Any carbon specific bung should fit, Deda, FSA, Kinesis, I think On One do one too.

Fine tooth blade for cutting and some wet and dry to tidy up.

Flex is good. I’ve had many amusing moments watching my Pace RC31s “fluttering”

It can be but I sold my Pace forks, hated the flex levels. Much happier on a fork that can handle bumps and hard braking without getting all twangy. Tyres for cush, fork for control imo/ime. A friend of mine used to hit downhill runs at a scary pace on his 26″ Pace forks though.

OP, carbon steerer / full carbon forks can feel a bit softer I think, it depends on the forks and I only notice it on road bikes with high pressure tyres where the carbon seems to filter road buzz. Not sure if I would on the MTB.

@Ap 8″ of air over a bump is not rowdy!!

I put exotic carbon forks on my old 26 rockhopper for riding the Chilterns when wet. Also ridden Swinley on them when bone dry. Makes some trails more fun and lairy than when on my main bike. Key to comfort for me is decent volume front tyre, eg minion dhf 2.35 run c20 psi. Then no harsh at all, even on the swinley pebbles.

Ridgid can be awsome and if you manage flow and body position feel just as fast. However they are unforgiving if you hit a rock etc and not ready for it.

I’m a covert to rigid on my Ramin this winter, but harsh but so much fun

Think I will run tubeless too 🙂

RC31s on my 26″ Kilaeua here. Looking ahead too much to watch the flex. Often eyeballs on too much travel, too. But I like them for ‘most’ stuff – proper all day rides in the hills, not so much. Some fatter tyres might help though.. currently only 2.1s or similar 🙂

I’ve got the Exotics on my ss 29er paired with a chunky monkey (2.4) front tyre at around 30psi and i find it quite capable. After SSUK this year i did a loop of Follow the dog at Cannock and was pleasantly surprised at how capable they were on some of the trails as my usual trails are more natural and muddy with less rocky bits.

I currently ride with Surly steel forks, however i have a some problems as the dropouts are 10mm and my front hub is 3/8″ – it comes Loose all the time..

I can buy some cheep On-one Carbon fork – the old model – any of you have any experince with them?

I built up a salsa el marachi with exotic forks (ali steerer) and specialized purgatory 2.3″ tyres (low pressure). Its totally transformed Swinley forest, it feels like you can carry more speed into the corners as there is no suspension bob, you can feel (and correct) when you have over cooked it into a corner and the tyres loose grip. Its great!

Some of the trails there are really boring on hard ground, and being rigid means your body soaks up the bumps, but there are some natural trails in crowthorne that are really fun, even in the mud.

I’ve come from a 26er with 100mm forks.

I ride a steel 29er fully rigid in the Chilterns and swinley. I built it up in April this year and it’s been my go to bike since then. I’ve never once felt under biked, in just feels right!

As above really, fat tyre up front is key and correct pressure. Go for it 🙂

Before you cut a carbon steerer, wrap sticky tape round the area to be cut. Helps prevent delamination and splintering at the cut.

Full carbon on-one forks on my lurcher. Light, fast, and maintenence minimised.

Hope head doctor bung didn’t fit as carbon steerer internally too small (thick walls), so got an M-Components bung off ebay, does the job and never slipped yet.

Flex is good. I’ve had many amusing moments watching my Pace RC31s “fluttering”

My RC29s do the same. They’re pretty old now, and due to my size, I’m starting to think about retiring them. Very capable though and surprisingly good on rooty trails.

It can be but I sold my Pace forks

To me! 😆 Out of curiuosity, when did you purchase them? – I’m wondering how old they are exactly.

Can’t remember tbh, 2008, 2009? I did very few miles on them though, under 100 I’d say, they collected dust for a long time. I wouldn’t worry about them if they look ok and aren’t creaking etc. Knowing the beating my friend gave his 26″ forks – he’s light but was always a ‘howthefudoyoudothatonrigids?!’ sort of descender and they had no crashes or silly-sized drop sort of impacts on my bike.

I ride a lot of Chilterns slop on mine- based on the Thames near Pangbourne, so all local riding tends to go through the winter murk of the woods around Woodcote…

Scandal 29er SS for me, alu steerer Exotics for me- again with a bigger front tyre. I’m running a 2.4 Ardent up front and a 2.0 beaver at the back right now, which seems to cut through most stuff fine.

I find that one of the biggest things about moving to rigid is the major differences of handling on wet roots- you really a need to be careful with line choice, but also a lower front tyre pressure is really useful to combat this, especvially with a higher volume front tyre.

Cheers, that’s good to know. No creaking TBH, and it’s not my only bike, so probably hasn’t seen too much use overall.

They’re on my Scandal, which I think they suit perfectly.

The flex doesn’t bother me (despite having a Jones too), but it tends to be ridden on less demanding trails, on the odd occasion I’ve have pushed it hard it always responds really well!