Rigid fork for a Cotic Solaris Max

I’m after a rigid fork, preferably steel, for a Cotic Solaris Max.

I guess(?) I’m looking for a fork with an AtoC of 500mmish.

Anyone have any suggestions and or experiences good or bad?

Cotic sell their Alpaca fork (483mm A-C and only £149) so that might be a good option? When I looked previously for something similar I couldn’t see much out there that was longer.

A friend runs one on a Ragley Hardtail frame and has had no issues with it. May also be worth seeing if there are any Kona Unit forks kicking about second hand? I’d assume they’re similar.

Thank you @jfab. I don’t think the Alpaca fork is long enough. For my version of the Solaris I think Cotic published a minimum (suspension) fork length of 120mm. The Alpaca is corrected to be used in place of a 100mm fork.

There’s the Pipedream Cromo fork which is also 483 A-C, but I believe it has a little more clearance for 29×3.0″ tyres. This might raise the front enough?

The Pace RC33 carbon fork should work.

https://pacecycles.com/collections/pace-forks/products/pace-rc33-carbon-fork

The Pace RC33 carbon fork should work.

https://pacecycles.com/collections/pace-forks/products/pace-rc33-carbon-fork

Reminds me of when Kona adjusted their P2 with that steerer/crown interface … bleugh.

I have the Bird Cycles rigid fork which I bought for my Chameleon as a cheap (ie not Whisky prices), 505mm axle to crown. Used mine a few times and then stuck the suspension fork back on. I don’t think you can buy it anymore but I would be willing to part with mine if its of interest.

There’s some more info here.

https://www.mtbr.com/threads/bird-rigid-fork.1200209/

eXotic do up to 490mm a-c which might still be a tad short for 120mm 29er suss-corrected. I’ve been using their full carbon monocoque fork (carbon legs, crown and steerer) for 5+ years.

https://www.carboncycles.cc/?s=0&c=103&p=1897&tb=001

Planet X Selcof Carbon fork. 500mm A-C. £180.

https://planetx.co.uk/products/selcof-carbon-27-5-or-29er-fork

Expensive for what it is, but Wolftooth (and possibly others) also produce a +10mm Lower Headset Cup and/or this crown race spacer does the same job by effectively increasing the A-C by spacing the lower bearing down/sitting between the crown race and fork respectively:

https://reverse-components.com/en/products/05%C2%B0-angle-spacer-tapered-forks

Sour Party fork? 490mm axle to crown. Works on my Crumble which has similar intentions as a Solaris

Sonder pathfinder if they are ever in stock

Sorry, that’s carbon. Perfect length though

Does this help

Complete List of Forks with Bottle Cage Mounts (Utility Forks)

Suriy Krampus fork is 498mm afaik.

*Edit – sorry, no it’s 483mm too.

Try looking for a genesis tarn carbon fork, 515mm axle to crown and fit a 29+ in

Bird blank fork is steel, and nice, if a little heavy (all steel forks are). I’d go for that above.

There is a Bird rigid fork for sale on Retrbike at the moment. £65

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/bird-29er-boost-rigid-fork.487514/

*Stealth Ad.

I’ve a PX Selcof fork I’m about to sell/list; if you’re interested, PM me.

I put a krampus fork on my solaris max to go toddler touring this summer and haven’t quite got round to taking it off. It is a bit steeper but if you keep a decent sized front tyre on it hasn’t suddenly made the bike an unrideable twitchy mess. Not saying you shouldn’t go longer if you can- I probably would all other things being equal.