Rigid Forks Versus Suspension Forks…..Again!
October 16th, 2006 by Guitar TedOne of the really cool things about 29″ers and the whole evolution of the wheelsize is the rehashing of ideas and concepts thought to be closed years ago. Things like front end geometry, standover height, and rigid forks for off roading are topics for discussion again. It’s as if we get to have a “do over” in mountain biking, and it’s even affecting the 26 inch mountain bikes.
One of these things that I’m dealing with now is the rigid fork versus suspended fork debate. It’s a question that several of you might think is crazy to bring up again. However; due to the way that 29 inch wheels roll over things,it’s a legitimate question to ponder again for many folks and courses.
I’ve had the pleasure of riding on a White Brothers 80 mm travel 29″er fork with their IMV technology lately. Well, only because it’s stuck on the front end of the Badger Cycles Dorothy. Since I’ve now had several rides on the fork, I can say that I really liked it, most of the time. There still are some niggling issues with suspension and me that haven’t been overcome to the point that I’m going to run out and buy a suspension fork for one of my 29″ers.
I have always despised how the front end geometry of a mountain bike changes through out a forks stroke, especially when I’m on the hairy edge of control in a corner. The suspension compresses over a bump and hey! The whole feel of the bike in the corner is upset, I either have a yard sale, or I have to slow it down to correct for the change in geometry to a steeper head angle for a moment with less trail. That harshes my shred, dude! I don’t like it.
Then you’ve got the whole maintenance issue thing, and the initial costs of the fork which are necessary evils of going to squish that make it harder to swallow for me. Give me a cheaper rigid fork, with no maintenance, that doesn’t change geometry mid-corner, and doesn’t exhibit brake dive. I’ll take that!
Maybe I’m just lazy, cheap, or a glutton for punishment. I don’t know, but I’m still not convinced that I need this suspension thing. Well…………not yet, anyway!
Maybe I’ll change my mind about that……..stay tuned!
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For a constant trail suspended fork, you should really try to get one of BigWhell custom Fournales fork.
I may be able to help you.
@++
V
First of all, understand that I am with you on the use of rigid forks. Most of my riding is on a rigid HT.
To verify my thinking, I did back to back rides of the same trail on a fully rigid hardtail, and a FS bike, both 29ers, over the last two weeks. Front fork on the rigid is a susp. corrected Waltworks, fork on the FS is a WB bw1.0, w/o IMV.
And the winner is…. neither. These are two different sports. With the rigid, the line is completely different, speed is lower and the body is more tired at the end of the day. One reaches the “hairy edge of control” at a lower speed. And hitting a bump in the middle of a turn at high speed on a rigid fork is no picnic.
With the FS, of course one can charge much harder, and still be able to grip a beer at the end of the ride. The choice of lines is much broader. Gotta say, I looove the FS.
The compression curve on the WB (rising rate) has always served me well, in terms of brake dive and & changing conditions in turns. I set them up fairly stiff, because I feel the steering & climbing of a rigid fork is the ideal.
I like my suspension fork [Reba] super plush, and my rigid forks [Pace Carbon and Niner steel] rigid..
There is a place for both. Trails for both.
Even though I mostly ride the rigid and prefer it, the rigid fork extracts a price from your endurance over a long ride where there are lots of rocks and roots on rough trails.
….But….
For most of the riding I have seen in the USA, the trails seem very smooth to me, and a rigid fork would seem to be the weapon of choice, but people being what they are, demanding everything to be “easier” and “smoother” most of you guys use suspension… I really can’t understand why when the trails are so groomed.
Anyways, with great forks available like the Ti Blacksheep, the Pace, Walt and On one, the choices are fantastic for the rigid rider.
I honestly think that once you become accustomed and conditioned to the feedback of a good rigid front end, everything else feels a bit “soft”.
R.
After going rigid on my Gunnar, I found a Softride stem in the pile of bike “junk’ in the garage. Installed it as atrail. Hven’t taken it off yet. When will someone upgrade this design?
When I can afford it i’ll go ti. But I love the way a rigid steers sure I can’t go down every trail but thats not always what I’m after when riding a bike =)
It definitely depends on the type of trails one rides most often. I lived in Delaware when I had my Curtlo SS built full rigid. I loved it because my local riding was very flowing and fast. I loved the precision steering, the clean/simple look and the weight savings.
About a year ago, I moved to South Central PA and have not been able to sustain the level of riding I desire with a rigid fork. I can handle what the trails throw at me with the rigid fork in most conditions, except when the the trail goes down. It’s just too rocky and my hands fatigue too quickly. I would rather run my Reba w/Poploc than spend tons of cash on ti forks/bars/stem (carbon is not an option in these rocks) and fat tires to try and take the edge off. Poploc on when I want the front end stiffer, Poploc off to let the 4″ soak up the rocks and maintain the momentum.
I give big credit to the folks that can manage with a rigid here (very few), but it unfortunately does not work for me.
Where is our fork review?
Tim: Please explain what you mean by “our”. And also what fork you are talking about. I’m a bit confused by your comment. Thanks!
Guitar Ted,
Didn’t intend to cal you out, was just curious if you had further ride time on the On-One carbon fork , “……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!”
I used “our” to mean the collective “us” who count on riders like you to test and disseminate!
Tim: Hey, that’s okay. That’s the great thing about a “blog” format, you can have these sorts of conversations to get to the meaning of things.
So, you were wanting to get more info on the carbon fork testing, eh? Well you will be satisfied! I just have to put in a little more time on both the Superlight and the Switchblade before I report again. In fact, I will be periodically posting on these forks for awhile, at least as long as riding conditions will allow throughout the winter months.
hey ted hows about whether any of the superlight forks fitting the raleigh XXIX I think somewhere else you said the crown to fork distance was one of the shortest you encountered? thnaks, mark
Ted: The axle to crown height on the XXIX is just about akin to what alot of suspension corrected forks are for 26 inch wheeled bikes. At 430mm you should be able to find a disc only fork that will work. Some forks will be a bit shorter and some a bit longer, but if you can find something 10mm or closer to 430mm either longer or shorter, you should be all right. Anything beyond that I wouldn’t recommend.
One thing to keep in mind about the XXIX: the claimed head angle is 71 degrees, which is already an inch slacker than alot of 29″ers. Also, the fork rake on the XXIX steel fork is 40mm. If you go to a 26″er fork, the rake will most likely be 38mm, so not much change there. Keeping that in mind, it would be a better choice to go slightly less than 430mm with your 26″er fork’s axle to crown measurement to attain a quicker handling bike when mated to the XXIX. (Of course, we are talking about 26 inch rigid, disc only forks here that are able to be used with the 29″er front on your XXIX)
thanks ted thats making sense to me…I guess looking at my wheel widthoptions thereafter would be some of my next thoughts I am running the piggy stock exiwolf right now but if I start heading lighter on the fork I will probably head the same way with tires…igniters? I will see what you all say on tires in other threads thanks, mark
Ted, I’ve been riding the best of both worlds lately. I had Doug build up a Curtlo 29er with an ActionTec fork. It only has a little over 2″ of travel, but with the big wheels, that’s enough. It has the “feel” of a rigid yet takes a major part of the shock fatigue away… seems a perfect 29er SS fork… only problem is that it requires 1 1/4″ head tube… so it can’t be retro’s on most bikes. I do love that ride though!
Old Man Riding: Thanks for the comment. Yes, I’ve heard of the Action Tec fork system, (a little bit like a Cannondale Head Shok, for those who aren’t familiar with Action Tec) and it’s been around for years. I also have heard good reports from respected 29″er advocates on it’s performance.
It’s a proprietary system, so yeah, not any way to retrofit it at all, since you need a frame specific to an Action Tec fork not only from a head tube size, but from a geometry standpoint, as well.
The main beef that I have with it is that it raises an already tall front end even higher to get all that suspension hardware in there. Not a good thing for most 29″ers, as the majority of riders are looking for ways to keep front end height in check.
Glad to hear it’s been working for you. It’s cool to see an “old skool” product still kickin’ it these days.
blankety-blank: Yep, I’ve tried letting off a little bit on the front end. That’s right about the time the front wheel washes out from underneath me.
……….hairy edge of control, remember?
Seems like a headshock type setup would be a natural on 29ers, best of both worlds, rigig and suspension. Also it would be simple for the manufacturer to adapt from 26 to 29, and they work pretty well for short travel. I’m surprised that Cannondale is not offering a headshock 29′er. I had a headshock on a older F400 and must say it worked very well. Short travel is all you need to keep your hands from getting quite so tired, especially over high frequency washboard stuff.