I’ve gotten several rides in on the White Brothers Rock Solid 29 forks and it’s definitely an experience riding them. These forks are incredibly light (they reduced the weight of the bike 2.14 lbs) and I realized it takes some getting used to in order to ride them correctly.

I was getting frustrated at the beginning of the first couple rides on the Rock Solid 29s because I felt like the bike was beating me up. I felt every little rock and bump on the trail transferred straight to my arms and upper body. But then after that first 10 minutes or so everything seemed to smooth out and I started enjoying the ride.

I realized after the second ride what was going on… I had to get used to such a light frontend on the bike. I’m used to having a heavy Rockshox Reba or steel fork up front and I was relying on that weight (or suspension) to smooth out the trail for me. So when riding the carbon forks I was trying to ride them the same way and they were just careening off every bump and beating me up… so after ten minutes or so of riding I would subconsciencely adjust my riding to take advantage of the lighter front end and the ride would smooth out.

So all that to say, if you’ve never ridden on a set of carbon forks, be ready to give yourself time to get used to riding them. It’s definitely a different experience.

Now some more impressions on the forks (this is all after I’d gotten acclimated to riding them)…

The steering on these forks is extremely accurate and precise. I ride a lot of rooty and rocky terrain here in the southeast and I tested hard on picking lines and sticking with them. Around corners I’ve felt very little latteral flex. All in all, so far the Rock Solid 29s are staying true to their name.

Also I’ve begun taking full advantage of being able to throw the front end of this bike around. Picking up over two pounds less has given an advantage in pulling it out of creek beds onto a steep bank easier and popping it over big logs with much less effort.

As I said, I’m still working on getting used to the forks in general, so I’m still testing to see how well the carbon is absorbing bumps in the track. I feel like once I’m halfway through the ride it’s doing a fantastic job, but that’s also been comparing to the first few minutes of getting used to it.

So more riding to come on these forks and more updates.

To see all the posts on this fork review, click here…