Rigid forks.

What are peoples opinions on rigid forks ? My (very old) suspension forks have finally died, & I’m tinkering with the idea of some nice low-maintainance carbon rigids. Bike is a steel ss, used throughout the winter. No trail centre sillyness, just an mix of off-piste & fire-roads on Cannock Chase. Odd bit of the FtD sometimes. Bike is also used for the odd commute.
Just looking for a few opinions either way, before I take the plunge. Been a while since I rode off-road on rigids. Do modern carbon forks take out any trail buzz?

I ride rigid on local stuff through the winter to avoid trashing my sus forks. Works for me and means that my SS only needs the chain oiling after rides through the winter clag.

I’ve tried various but currently have the Exotic ones which are as good as any and nice and cheap (ebay usually)

http://www.carboncycles.cc/?s=0&t=2

I recently switched to Exotic carbons on my steel SS and am pretty pleased with them.
I mostly ride Suffolk’s bridleways and woodland single-track and they’re mostly fine for the job. There’s one or two rocky sections that aren’t particularly comfortable, but not to the point where I’m planning on switching back any time soon.

Also, if I go rigid, is there any advantage in swapping my O/S Thomson stem & EA70’s for their non O/S counterparts, possibly carbon bars ? (Thinking this might be a bit more flexible?)

I agree with the above. I have Pace RC31s on my steel SS, so it is light and low maintenance. It takes no time at all to clean the bike down, and I don’t need to worry about grit damaging my fancy forks.

I ride mine round semi rural paths around the Edinburgh area, and round trail centres (normally Glentress, although I’ve been round Lee Quarry on them too). On long bumpy descents at trail centres my hands hurt a bit, but I don’t think I notice that as much as I used to (probably helped by now running tubeless too).

I’d say go for it. It’s hard to tell how much trail buzz they remove, but even leaving that issue aside, the weight saving (over similarly priced suspension forks) and simplicity is worth having if they are for your second bike.

+1 for Pace RC31 – but don’t know I’d want to ride Glentress too often on them!

don’t the RC31s have a weight limit on them?
I’ve had RC31s, Bontragers and on-ones. The pace were the most twangy.

I recently rode up and down Llanberis with carbon on one rigids

not something I’d do a lot of but certainly doable

Everything else I’m happy to use them on

Also, if I go rigid, is there any advantage in swapping my O/S Thomson stem & EA70’s for their non O/S counterparts, possibly carbon bars ? (Thinking this might be a bit more flexible?)

No, not really IMO.

Also, if I go rigid, is there any advantage in swapping my O/S Thomson stem & EA70’s for their non O/S counterparts, possibly carbon bars ? (Thinking this might be a bit more flexible?)

Would definitely be better off trying different – bigger, more compliant – tyres.

I’ve run a carbon On One rigid on my Soul for quite a while now and although I don’t have much other recent experience of rigid forks to compare it with, it definitely seems to be a little easier on the arms with regards ‘trail buzz’ than the rigid forks of yore. I remember in the early 90s having a hell of a time holding the bars on long descents on rigid bikes – not so now. I might just have learnt to ride a bit better mind. And bikes are better balanced now too.

I love riding rigid for the directness and the responsiveness. But I likes suspension too, so it’s horses courses. But IMO there’s a real joy to a modern rigid steel bike, and it’s something worth trying.

I run a set of Salsa Cromotos in 420mm flavour.

IIRC they weigh about 1100g so 200g+ heavier than a lot of carbon forks but cheaper and definately fit and forget stuff.

Have a fair bit of trail dampening properties too.

Biggest comfort addition I have found going fully rigid is a decent volume front tyre.

🙂

Currently 2.35 Nev & Blue Groove combo, & 2.1 SB8’s when the trails dry out. Might try tubeless & 2.35 SB8’s for summer.

im 68kg and my rc31s died at the weekend 🙁

bent steerer – although what ever i hit was hard enough to blow out the front tire and make the bars( carnegies which were tight pre crash) slip in the stem and just about throw me over the bars !

a testiment to their strength i think that they only bent !

I’m going to have to erarse your post from my memory now trail rat or I’ll be crawling around everywhere nervous about my forks.

Rustler – I’d definitely recommend tubeless for cushioning. I run a 2.1″ Nobby Nic up front between 30 and 40 psi (I increase it to 40 if I know I’m going for a blast with lots of tarmac) and it definitely soaks up a lot of the bumps.

Another vote for Exotic Carbons.

Mine are perfect for my canal towpath commute and local Pentland’s rides.

They’ve been round the red at Glentress a couple of times which was fine, and the Black @ GT once which was pretty hard going!

My rc31s snapped, I am not a heavy man and not a clumsy rider. I have a false tooth and about 40 stitches in my mouth and about 25 in different bits of my face. I can’t recommend them. Pace were not helpful. I a’m being as polite as I can be.

So even though carbon soaks up some of the trail buzz I now have Ti rigid forks on my SS.

im told i rode into a step in the trail , i was focused on lap time not the course it would seem …. given i continued riding to the end of the course on the flat tire without batting an eyelid 😀 (about 200 metres)

xlite/ragley carbon forks cant be far away !

they have been jiggled to death seemingly 😉

Bought this carbon ‘Winwood Purist’ fork for my ratty-road bike last year, thinking, wrongly, it wasn’t suspension corrected…

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But kept it with the intention of sticking it on my HT in the winter. Finally did a couple of weeks ago, & found it well worthwhile. Amazing ironing out of the smaller bumps, & forces you to assess ‘the line’ more seriously – bigger drops & bumps are still fun in a negotiation sort-of-way.

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Switching out your O/S bar & stem will make a lot of difference. I did the same on my genesis io ss and it improved things no end. I used an old wide EA70 bar and the flex that had become a bit annoying on my full sus made things far more comfortable on the ss and seemed to give better feedback/grip.

Carbon kit may remove a bit of trail buzz but I reckon that the lightish and wide alloy bar made it better when things got lumpy.

Are we assuming disc brakes here? I kinda like the idea of some carbon rigids to replace a set of Project 2’s on my aged Kona, but would need something that would happily run with cantis/v-brakes.

I’ve had quite bad brake judder/fork twang under front braking on my carbon forked cyclocross bike which has cantis. From what I gather, the Specialized “solution” of using v brakes rather than cantis doesn’t address the problem, which I believe to be due to the brake pivots being a distance down each fork leg and each leg deflecting by subtley different amounts under braking. You don’t often hear of brake judder/fork twang issues from owners of carbon forked road bikes, which I assume is because a caliper brake has a single mounting/pivot in the fork crown.

I fitted Exotic carbons to my Scandal 29er before I got Suss Forks. I got rid of them because I assumed I needed Suss Forks.

The truth was the Bike felt much faster and more fun on the rigids and the Suss forks brought nothing to the party for the riding I did.

As usual I had sold the forks before they had a chance to gather dust so I didnt go back.

I put my old Pace forks on for the winter, rode the same trails (north lakes natural and whinlatter) as normal, enjoyed how direct and light the front seemed.
Wrists do ache a bit on rocky stuff and the 180 rotor is a bit twangy….
tempted to keep them on for a bit, hoping it’ll improve my skill level 😉

I’ve ridden rigid on-and-off for a few years now, but this winter was the first time I tried it with a short, fat EA70 0/s bar and an o/s stem. It was also the first time my hands got genuinely uncomfortable on the bars!

This might possible have been due to the hardpacked lumpy snow I was riding over at the time, but either way, I switched back to some old 25.4 kit..

I have great memorys of p2s in the mid 90s. just got a 2nd hand old fire mountain with some ahead (and disc/V) fitting P2s to run SS and see if my memories are just rose tinted by lost youth…

If I do get on with it I too could be tempted by some exotic rigids for my geared “summer” bike.

The weight saved Vs money spent, low maintainence and zero bounce when climbing arguements are quite compelling…

on one – 16 st of me thumping around and no breaks so far!

Very impressed with my Exotics, they’ve taken an occasional stupidly hard hit due to operator being semicompetent, and just got on with it… Light, strong and cheap. I do run it with a 2.5 tyre to smooth things out though. Originally it was for local XC, to liven up the trails a bit but I’ve had it down at Glentress recently and it was a blast. Very different. For anyone complaining that the local trails are too easy or too boring, it’s a good shout though I wouldn’t have one as my only forks. If nothing else, it’d look silly in the Hemlock.

I’m disappointed nobody’s recommended the White Brothers or Nukeproof carbon forks, I always enjoy tearing them apart for being exactly the same as Exotics but twice as expensive

Nukeproof forks has vomit graphics

Another vote for the Exotics. I love how light they make my SS and the whole direct/responsive thing. I ride mainly the Surrey hills and once things turn gloopy I hardly miss suspension. Wouldn’t want them as my only fork but having a rigid bike certainly adds variety to riding local trails.

Thanks all. Had one last go on the old forks tonight, they were practically locked solid, but ride was actually ok. Have arranged for Fork English to take a look, he reckons they can get them back to good order. 🙂

But you lot have gone & wet my appetite, so I have a set of On-One carbons on the way. Like the look of the Exotics but bit close to the weight spec. Will also be swapping my bars & stem for std dia kit, maybe some carbon bars. Do Kenda do a dtc Blue Groove in 2.5 width ?
Looking forward to summer, should be great with the SmallBlock8’s on.

🙂

I don’t think they do… I’ve got a Nevegal DTC in 2.5 with a single ply carcass, but it seems to be a mismould, it’s half labelled 2.35 and half labelled 2.5. Weird, but it’s a good tyre. If you want something along the same lines maybe a Rubber Queen- they’re not too heavy or draggy but have massive volume. Disappointing grip but that’s probably less important on a rigid for most folks.