REBA’s on my kinesis maxlight XCPro3 have given up the ghost (old battered and rattling) so think its time to turn the bike into a rigid.

Looking for advice on what forks to go for for a low budget, the exotic carbons for £100 is a bit on the high side for me while the on-one cro-mo ones seem spot on for cost. Is there anything else out there for this low budget?

I use Exotic Alu forks.
No probs from me with them .. I paid about £40 for them.

Salsa CroMoto steel forks, about £70 from Wiggle. Lovely stainless dropouts, paint and build quality. I’ve got OO steel and carbon rigids as well but the CroMoto’s are my favourite.

What is your budget?
Can get some good condition Exotics/On-one’s 2nd hand for £60-65 or so.

£70 would be my max, as the bike will become a winter hack. Doing now to keep me in the XC business until a new bike in a month or two.

Steel 29er rigids from Singular for about £70. Lovely forks & the extra length worked really well on my Inbred.
The On-One steel rigids are truly awful. Heavy, stiff & bone jarringly harsh.

I picked up some steel Kona forks recently – £70….. Pretty weighty but I imagine pretty tough as well…

orange do a rigid fork for about 60 quid, i have one, its pretty decent actually, better than expected.

I’ve got those too Marty, picked them up from my lbs 2nd hand for £30, absolutely love them, really light and just a bit of flex. I’d happily have paid £60 for anew set – orange p7 is the name and I’m pretty sure you can get them on the orange website.

Salsa cromoto… Email if you want some.
C

The Orange forks are F8s. Recently fitted a pair to an old hardtail frame for a charity road ride I did recently, and have kept them on as they ride so well. They’re great…light, stiff but with enough suppleness not to rattle your fillings out. Really recommend them.

http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/125995.html

I’ve got a set of On Ones which I bought off ebay before getting the F8s but had too short a steerer for the frame. Was going to stick them in the classifieds shortly.

That’s them! F8s – absolute bargain

I’ve just discovered the F8s will take a 29er wheel with a fat tyre. I can feel a bodged 69er coming on…

dont say that, i have a set of F8s on my P7.
bodged 69er sounds tempting.
EDIT: just realised that i posted on this earlier.

Heck. I’m going to do it. just to see how wrong I can make the bike look. I’ve got a set of really alt Bonty Crivitz bars I can stick on it for added nicheness!

Got some second hand exotics and they suit the bike well, first proper ride this weekend to see what they are like

Those F8’s look exactly what I am looking for. Thanks.

The On-One steel rigids are truly awful. Heavy, stiff & bone jarringly harsh.

I bought some for my old commuter, used them off road a couple of times and didn’t think were that bad. Although I don’t have anything to compare them too.

I loaned them to a mate who is a far more talented rider than most, he said they were very compliant and went and bought a set. Can’t be all bad then…

The On-One steel rigids are truly awful. Heavy, stiff & bone jarringly harsh

I agree with this

Having used a fair few pairs of rigids, this is what I’ve found.
– Pace RC31. Beautifully light and comfortable. Seeing them flexing as you’re riding is a bit odd but I suppose thats what makes them a bit more comfortable. Unless you’re very lucky, you won’t get any even 2nd hand for your budget though as it seems everyone wants a pair of these now. Regularly go for £100+ used.
– On-One ‘Superlight’ or whatever they’re called. As has been said above, the most bone jarring, un-compliant forks I’ve ever owned. I know they’re rigids but theres rigid and theres rigid. These may as well be made out of solid steel tubes. Awful things – ugly and heavy but cheap.
– Salsa Cromotos. Had a couple of rides on these now after reading the favourable reviews. And they’re lovely. Not quite as comfy as the Pace’s or as light but they’re things of beauty, well priced, a bit of give in them and most importantly for me was that they’re 455mm long (I think) which nicely slackens and raises the front without a load of spacers etc.

The Exotics were an interesting option, especially as the same fork seems to be available badged up as other things (Bontrager, White Bros, Nukeproof, Boardman etc) for twice the price but I’d read some indifferent reviews on them and I really wanted a unicrown style fork.

think ill start a rigid photo thread – not seen one before. post your pics then we can have a look at your rigids!

Like this one, you mean 🙂

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/rigid-evangelists-indulge-me

Slight thread resurection.

Orange have decided to stop selling the F8 forks once this batch are gone. Well that’s what I was told by the nice lady in Sales.

All Terrain’s batch aren’t as in the photo. They have the cable guides running down the back of the fork – as do the ones Orange have in stock.

I have some of the on one rigids and find them alright to be honest, though I do usually run a 2.4 ardent up front which helps. I seem to remember from the mists of time the original on one rigids were thicker walled tubes than the later 440mm ones due to some mistake or something (I may be completely wrong). Mine weigh 1200g on my kitchen scales.

Wouldn’t mind trying some carbons for comparison but have never got round to it