On One Superlight Carbon 29″er Fork: First Impressions
October 12th, 2006 by Guitar TedOkay guys and gals! Here’s the promised first ride impressions on the On One Superlight Carbon 29″er fork. I have it mounted to the On One Inbred 29″er that the previously tested fork was on. This is done in an effort to reduce variables, but it does raise some concerns, which I want to point out at the end of this post.
First of all, the fork is a really good looking piece and a bit different in the design of the crown, which is forged by the way, and is actually quite interesting to look at. I’m not sure if artistic qualities count for anything, but if they did, the geometric, chunkiness that is the crown would score highly. However; this is a fork test, so we won’t weight the good looks too heavily here! The fashion of the day in cycling is carbon fiber and the Superlight has it’s weave on show underneath a matte finish clearcoat. There will be no mistaking this fork for anything else at the trail heads. Finally, the chunkiness continues in the CNC machined drop outs, which are rather beefy looking. All in all a sturdy looking fork.
What’s in a name? Well, the fork in question is named superlight, so it had better live up to it, right? In that department I was delighted to see that with an eight inch steer tube and star nut installed it weighed 900 grams right on the nose. (Note: the website claims their sample fork weighed in at 860 grams) I noted that this was 50 grams lighter than the previously mounted carbon fork that I had on. Nice! The fork was simple to install, with no quirks. The disc brake caliper mounted up nicely. However; and I have to keep saying this, there were no hose guides on the left leg or crown. This is something I’m finding is common amongst disc brake forks, as silly as that may seem. It’s something I’d like to see changed.
All that light weight doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t feel confident in the structure and the way it handles. One of the more unusual things regarding the Superlight Carbon 29″er fork and it’s 26″er sibling is the transparency of it’s developement process. You can check out the webpage on the fork at On One’s site and see a test sample fork that had a CNC machined crown that failed after 159,965 test cycles. An impressive show of honesty in product developement that I think is rare in the cycling industry. Knowing that the Superlight fork was tested rigorously and has a forged crown makes me more confident when I launch into the single track. Well, that and the fact that the legs never showed signs of failure!
The ride? Well, the On One Superlight steel fork and the Carbon fork share the same offset of 47mm for 29 inch wheels. This is done in an effort to “quicken up” the handling of a 29″er to make it more like a 26 inch wheeled mountain bike. Does it work? Well, that’s a loaded question, and a debate that still rages on to this minute. I will say that it handles in a very controlled, easy to steer fashion that didn’t require me to over muscle the bike or have to correct the bike mid corner. In other words, I didn’t have to think about the way the bike steered, and that’s a good thing.
What I did notice were a couple of things. First, the fork seemed to have a backwards bending motion when slamming on the brakes, much like I expected. What I didn’t expect was to see the fork legs bending forwards while going over bumps. I actually stopped and pushed directly towards the ground on the handle bars and could see the forward movement of the axle. Just a bit, mind you. I inquired about this observation and company head, Brant Richards was able to explain to me that this was a good thing, making the ride seem smoother and the bumps less sharp edged. He was right, it did feel good out on the trail.
The second thing I noticed was that my front Avid BB-7 disc brake was working better! It had more power and “bite” than it did with the first carbon fork tested. Brant noted that when I asked him about it by saying that braking and drop out structure was a high priority when the fork was designed. It definitely shows!
So, is the Superlight Carbon 29″er fork better or worse than the competition? That’s something I’m still looking into, and Twenty Nine Inches will be working on getting you our considered opinions after more testing. Right now, I will say this: it depends on which 29″er you mount it to. Today’s 29″ers are all over the place with head angles, axle to crown heights, and fork offsets. Mix the right combination of these together and you might just get a quick handling, single track demon. Get one of those three wrong and you’ll be sorry….maybe! It all depends on what your looking for and Twenty Nine Inches is going to continue testing this and other forks to get some answers. If you mount one of these Superlight Carbon forks on your 72 degree head angle 29″er though, you just might have yourself a winner! Stay Tuned!
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Cheers Mark. Just signing on so I get email updates
Mark … Have you run a Pace fork yet?
I would be interested to see a side by side comparo on them, preferably on a different frame than the Inbred…just to get your thoughts and feelings between the two brands.
A direct comparison on the On One and the Pace 29′er could give us all some ideas about how the different fork rake and angles affect the handling and ‘feel’ of a frame.
Wanna try it?
R.
Rainman: Yes I would love to try it. I have the same idea as you, I think, just with a different fork in mind at the moment. I really feel that to get the best performance from a fork with the 38mm offset I would have to track down a bike with a steeper head tube angle. Of course, the Pace’s offset is more than 38mm, so the head tube angle can be 72 degrees or so and suffer no ill effects. ( That is: if you are looking for that “holy grail” of 26″er like bike handling.)
Perhaps I should reword that and say something like “if I want to get a fair comparison between forks, I’ll have to get the proper head tube angle”. The big thing is going to be the trail figure that whatever fork you choose gives you versus another. If they are grossly unequal, than the handling is going to play a bigger part of the equation than the ride quality of a particular fork. It depends upon what you are testing for, as well.
In my case, it’s what these forks can or can’t do coming off a rigid steel fork for ride quality. Therefore, matching up trail figures via head tube angles has been on my mind. Whether or not this is worth taking into consideration is another thought.
Perhaps I should just let it go and ride!
Someone makes a rigid 29er with a 73deg head angle?
I thought most production frames we 72deg or slacker?
Why do you think other companies used the same dropouts on their 26in and 29in forks, with any increased offset only coming from the longer leg on the 29er fork?
brant: Questions #1 & #2: Fisher’s new model “Ferrous 29″ is listed as having a slightly steeper than 72 degree head angle, Ellsworth’s Enlightenment 29″er hardtail was described to me at Interbike as having something like a 72.5 degree head angle, and Salsa Cycles Mamasita is still not dialed in yet, but the show model had a 73 degree head angle. As I stated above, I’m still not sure that this is worth taking into consideration. They are bikes. They will be rideable. Having these different forks put on them may or may not change the handling a great deal. I’d like to find out though.
Question #3: Hmm………..is this a trick question? The answer seems obvious, doesn’t it?
Okay, okay! I’ll say it! It’s because it’s cheaper to do it that way. Just like the crown offset on 29″er suspension forks are the same as their 26 inch siblings. That looks to be changing somewhat; however, with White Brothers already going to a longer offset and Manitou’s new 29″er fork is to be produced in Fisher’s Gen II offset. (43mm, if I’m not mistaken)
That all costs money and time which alot of manufacturers are not willing to invest into such a niche market, as 29″ers are percieved to be by them.
If demand is there we will make a shorter offset version. It’s no hassle.
just bear in mind that if someone does a fork test they should fit the fork to the same bike with the same tyres as well as even a tyre can change the head angle of the bike, I can say havinf ridden the on-one fork over some seriously hairy roads and descents in Taiwan this is by far the best rigid fork on the market – barr none.
I have a Surly KM Large with a 72 degree head angle. The Surly fork has a 43mm rake. This On-One has a 47. Will this be a good ride? I really want to buy one of these.
Can someone let me know?
Thanks!
CB
Christopher: You should be fine. It’ll handle a bit more quickly/ snappier with the On One, but definitely rideable.
Go for it, I think you’ll really like it!
Ted,
Thanks for the response! I thought a fork with more rake would be slower to respond? Assuming the forks are the same length, so the head angle remains the same, doesn’t a longer rake slow steering response?
CB
No! This is a common error. The longer the rake, the QUICKER the steering.
Ah, Brant from on-one!!!
So, just to make sure, my Surly rigid is 468 long, and 43 rake, the Bontrager is 465 and 38 rake, and your fork is 470 with 47. So, this will actually quicken the slightly sluggish steering on a 29er due to the natural inertia of the larger wheels? If so, rock and roll!! More importantly, if this is true, why is the Bontrager so low in rake? That seems horrible for a 29er as they certainly don’t need less steering input. A 29er is already naturally more sluggish in the corners due to the larger forward gyroscopic inertia of the wheel.
Had tyhis fork now since 6 months – it makes all kinds of riding a pleasure and has had some serious punishment and just keeps coming back for more
Christopher: Brant is correct, (Duh! why wouldn’t he be….sorry!)The longer rake makes handling quicker, but that’s not the only thing going on here……
You mentioned the Bontrager and questioned it’s geometry numbers. Well, the idea was to mimic a “sagged” Reba fork, since Bontrager figures you are going to a rigid from a suspension fork set up, or at least using a bike designed for a Reba, et all.
The goal is to keep the steering geometry somewhat the same as your old suspension forks. The really cool thing is what you can do with the slightly shorter axle to crown and a slightly steeper head angle. If you match the fork to the bike correctly, you can achieve similar results as you might by lengthening the offset.
So, the Bontrager Switchblade will be fine for alot of applications and really be fun on the few bikes that have frames designed around steeper head angles, (72 degrees or steeper) and longer axle to crown measurements, (Niner Bikes comes to mind)
I have the Switchblade and it’s currently mounted to the Haro Mary XC frame that I have. It resulted in a nearly 73 degree head angle which translates into a bit quicker handling bike than it was with the stock steel fork, which made the head angle 72 degrees.
You can see that there is more going on than just offset, or head angle alone. All the geometry numbers have to be taken into account to accurately predict what a bike will handle like, and even then, riding it tells all.
Ted, Brant, et. al.,
Thanks for taking the time to input! I really appreciate the help. Internet is an amazing thing these days.
If I end up going back to rigid from suspension, I think with the 72 angle that the KM has, that I will go with the On-One. That thing looks bulletproof! And, with the natural increased gyroscopic effect of the larger wheels, if anything a quicker steering bike will only make things better. Or, at least, we’ll see if that theory holds. You can see my bike under the “Monkeys Love Coffee” post here for fan pics from a week or so ago. (Ignore the toeclips, as my 50 clipless Sidi’s hadn’t come in yet…
)
Thanks again!
Hi,
Really old thread I know…
I’m going to build up a Zion 29er frame I’m interested in using the Superlight.
I currently ride a 06 MC 29er with a Switchblade, which I think is a good combo. I like the way it feels. The Zion and MC 29er have the same HT according to their Websites, but the Zion has a slightly steeper ST that the MC 29er. Should I take ST into consideration when deciding on my fork?
Do you think the Superlight is a good match for the Zion?
Thanks!
AC
AC: Well, the question really should be, “Will you be compatible with the Superlight?” That fork shouldn’t be any problem on the Zion, and I’d probably enjoy it, but it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. My feeling is that based upon your input you wouldn’t care for it all that much. That’s just a guess though.