rigid vs suspension

drrastapopulus

Hi, im considering upgrading the fork on my Beone Spirit 2009, the dart 1 is a piece of turd and weighs a ton (2.5kg), i was thinking maybe a Carbon Cycles rigid carbon fork (0.75kg), bargain for what your getting (£90), or similarly great, rock shox tora 318 solo air(£150, 2.25kg).

i have to confess that i rarely get the old dear up to the hills and have quite a depressing commute which i'd like to make as brief as possible and was thinking the weight saved (1.75kg) with a carbon fork would outweigh the rare usage the tora would get however cool they are. what say thee?

supersonic

I hate it when you can't get the old dear up. ;-)

Sounds like the carbon fork is a good option if you are not needing suspension and will make a difference. It is a good fork too.

Where have you seen the Solo Air? Some versions are just over 2kgs. Again, a good fork, a different league to the dart.

Anonymous

If you're mostly commuting, then the rigid fork is a great idea. You will burn in hell if you use a rigid fork for riding off road these days though

mikeyj28

supersonic wrote:

I hate it when you can't get the old dear up. ;-)

Nothing like some healthy smutty banter haha

Kiblams

yeehaamcgee wrote:

If you're mostly commuting, then the rigid fork is a great idea. You will burn in hell if you use a rigid fork for riding off road these days though

:shock: What's the best way to make your stay in hell as bearable as possible? :?

Anonymous

simplez, suspension! Or just stay away from those brimstone rock gardens.

drrastapopulus

ive been to the doctor but he had nothing to help!

as for the bike, yeah looks like rigid might be the way for me to go, just needed some clarification, though the toras are kool!!

you reckon, despite serious noob value of rigids off road, they would be able to handle at least some light xc?

supersonic

Sure they'll handle it ok - but will you?!

Kiblams

supersonic wrote:

Sure they'll handle it ok - but will you?!

I read that with a gruff scottish accent in my head

The rigid forks are designed for offroad, if they weren't they would be road forks...

Rigid forks are fine offroad, the only question is how fast you like to go. The faster you wanna go; the better technique you will need.

supersonic

Aye laddie, it will handle it awe rrriiiite, but will ye?

Anonymous

drrastapopulus wrote:

you reckon, despite serious noob value of rigids off road, they would be able to handle at least some light xc?

Rigids is all we had a while ago, and I've ridden them offroad on some horrendous terrain.
Even when I started regularly visiting Coed y Brenin, all I had were rigids.
However, I have absolutely no yearning to go back to rigid forks. Suspension is a godsend

But as I said, if the vast majority of your riding is commuting, and you only do light XC rides, then you'll be better served with rigids.
On my commute (on those rare days that I get up early enough to ride to work) I like to hit stair gaps, some singletracks, drop offs, etc. But I use my mountain bike for everything anyway.
I am considering building up my hardtail into a lightweight commuter bike, but I'll still have suspension forks on it, so that I can still use it anywhere - the vast majority of what I ride is off road though, so I differ somewhat to your cicrumstance.

drrastapopulus

well isn't that grand, ive had my joints rattled on my last bike, a rigid dmr, so hopefully that'll provide a base for my rapidly ageing joints.

thankyou very much for all your advice, xxx

ilovedirt

i'd go for the toras, yes they're a little heavier but i wouldn't think you would notice the weight difference that much while riding. They have lockout, and you can open them up when you do go offroad. personally i would never go off road without suspension, yes i sound a wimp but it doesn't do your wrists any good (i'm only 18, i would think for an older gentleman this would be particularly important)

Anonymous

ilovedirt, that doesn't make you a wimp, that makes you sensible!
We didn't used to have the option of suspension, but now we do.

nicklouse

I am building a rigid MTB tomorrow.

mmm carbon.


Mmmmmm steel.

CycloRos

If its commuting comfort your after then go for the lightest fork possible cos you really will notice the difference in weight (i've recently stripped 1.5kg of flab off my commuter).

The rigid carbon would be a good choice purely for commuter duties, but a light XC fork with lockout like a Reba would be a significant weight saver (the forks about 1.6kg) and allow you to go off road with some comfort too.

The Rookie

I've had my ex MTB commuter (avatar pic) on a diet and am now building a new commuter aiming to save another 2Kg....

There are some Pace RC31 carbons and an Onza smart guy (Which I'm running on mine right now) on fleabay as I type. Or Onza sell the smart guy's direct on ebay for about £50 delivered they weigh just 840g (and IMHO look better than carbon as 'street tuff'!)

Simon

drrastapopulus

believe me i would love a reba, however a bit much for my price. cheers for the ebay heads up btw, interesting, i didnt realise pace had been taken over and LIQUIDATED according to one of the ebay posts!

NatoED

pace are owned by dt swiss now