Who uses rigid forks and what type

[stu-2]

I'm curious about putting a rigid carbon fork in my hard tail for fire road and back road riding, so I'm after any info,
thanks, Stuart

 

[mtb101]

I use these. niner probably the best. make sure you go reputable brand don't want no name brand failure.
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FOMK35CF/mkm-35-rigid-carbon-mtb-fork

 

[Flow-Rider]

White Brothers have been making sets for years that are quite good from personal experience.

 

[Nath8]

Have used White Brothers, Pro XCR and Niner.
Niner is the best, in terms of stiffness. Don't notice any flex at all compared to the other two. In saying that, the Pro XCR is still quite good, especially for the money!

Have ridden a mates rigid, which has a chinese carbon fork. Looks similar to a Niner, but flexes like a bastard. Surprised me a little.

 

[rone]

Have the White Bros 26 and the On One in 29. Both excellent.

 

[Binaural]

I'm curious about putting a rigid carbon fork in my hard tail for fire road and back road riding, so I'm after any info,
thanks, Stuart

If you want a cheap experiment to see if it suits you, perhaps consider something like the Salsa steel forks - my personal experience was positive, although they won't kill as much buzz as carbon. My personal experience was that rigid forks are great for dual-purpose commuter/light trail bikes where you often ride some soft roads, but really came into their own for trials or highly technical riding.

 

[Halo1]

I have a Carver carbon 29er fork for one bike and a steel fork on the fat bike. They are great on flowy trails, climbing and slower tecky stuff. The stiffies do get a bit scary when the bike is up to super speed and you hit some rough bits. It really opens your up your eyes to picking the best lines.

I switch up my hard tail between the Rigid fork or Sus fork and also 29 wheels or 27.5 plus wheels.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

I too have used a Carver 29er fork in a steel xc hardtail. It was interesting. Light was the defining feature...Made the front end easy to lift and flick but it was also its downfall. Anything and everything could change your line so it requires commitment and concentration to maintain your chosen line.

I loved it but it was exhausting and when a quality suspension fork came up, the Carver went on the shelf. It's still there if anyone is interested.

The other thing I noted in the change over is that the 15 mm axle on the suspension fork was way stiffer laterally than the 9 mm qr of my Carver rigid. If i was to go back to rigid then it would be one with a thru-axle.

 

[tasty.dirt74]

My 2c......

Niner. This is a QR model. Is incredibly light. Tracked straight and copped heaps of punishment whilst showing minimal scarring.. Would recommend again and am trying to figure out how to incorporate another onto a bike..:whistle:

 

[asterix]

+1 for the Niner carbon fork. I've got the QR, tapered version &, like others have said, it's ridiculously light & stiff.
I've had it on my carbon SS & I'd guess the bike weighs mid to low 8kg.
There are a couple of drawbacks to them though. One is that they deflect more of rocks which can pinball you around. I've just swapped mine out for a set of suspension forks for the SS Nationals at Melrose in May.
The other thing is the axle to crown height on mine seem to be a bit lower than the other 100m suspension forks on my other bikes(haven't looked at the numbers) which means I have to run a stem with a rise on it.
For backcountry adventures & commuting though they are sweet!

 

[silentbutdeadly]

I too have used a Carver 29er fork in a steel xc hardtail. It was interesting. Light was the defining feature...Made the front end easy to lift and flick but it was also its downfall. Anything and everything could change your line so it requires commitment and concentration to maintain your chosen line.

I loved it but it was exhausting and when a quality suspension fork came up, the Carver went on the shelf. It's still there if anyone is interested.

The other thing I noted in the change over is that the 15 mm axle on the suspension fork was way stiffer laterally than the 9 mm qr of my Carver rigid. If i was to go back to rigid then it would be one with a thru-axle.

I should also point out that i have a Niner RLT with a Niner QR fork in it. And it's not much different to the Carver in actual performance. Hell of a lot of fun and yet exhausting. But again I'd love to get a thru-axle Niner fork for it.

 

[Benny Storer]

White Brothers Rock Solid 445s. Love them for exactly the type of riding you are describing.

 

[Nath8]

Carver went on the shelf. It's still there if anyone is interested.

I'm interested. Send me a pic if possible. I'll use it in my sons 29er SS.

 

[ozzybmx]

Ive ridden rigid for quite a few years and on a few different forks and bikes.

Niner is very rigid with little bump forgiveness, White bros/PRO Components is my fave fork (same fork, different names), its stiff as but has some suck up with trail chatter. Surly steel was nice but heavier than a OEM Susp fork. Carver on my fatty was (and is) good, but got 4.8" of tyre suspension to iron out the trail. Dengfu on my current fatbike, the same, carbon, china, does the job.

My choice is PRO Components, best rigid fork I have ridden that is stiff, solid and sucks up the trail chatter.

 

[slippy]

Got an On-One on my ti 29er. Seems plenty stiff enough and still comfortable. Supposedly puts in a stellar performance in testing to failure machines which adds confidence. Similar price to the pro/white bros/exotic/generic options.