Kiblam's ongoing fork woes

Kiblams

My seemingly never ending dilemma regarding suspension continues; as I have now gone back to the Instigator fork and must admit is felt better in almost every way :?

The reason for the switch is I have been having a fitness failure since sticking the Tora fork on the bike, and developed a serious lack of confidence on steep techy descents, though on the plus side it was quite nice being able to attack everything with crazy speed

I was finding that struggling with the climbs being as heavy as I am was affecting my energy levels for the downs and I was getting very lazy with unweighting etc, and this became most apparent around Dalbeatie at the weekend when I kept coming off :x

So I changed the forks out for the good old Instigators today and rode FtD with the Mrs, and lo and behold; I was back on form, climbing like a mountain goat (for me) and had enough energy to properly engage any techy descents again. The only downside was the aching wrists as I hit a few braking bumps wrong and had a pinch flat on the front tyre :shock:

So the current dilemma is do I go for less achy hands but tired and crap at techy stuff, or faster on ups and downs with achy hands?

P.S. apologies for the wall of text.

supersonic

A lighter sus fork like a sid?

The Northern Monkey

can't you lock the fork out for climbs?

cat_with_no_tail

carry a spare set of forks with you and change them over at the top of a climb / bottom of a descent.

Or

MTFU




Seriously though. If you feel you're faster on both ups and downs with the rigids on, and
more confident with it. You may as well stick with rigid. No point changing something you're happy with.

Kiblams

supersonic I can't afford Sids! the only reason I was able to buy the Toras was because they were only £50

The Northern Monkey I'm pretty sure that It's not pedal bob that is tiring me out on the climbs

Cat With No Tail I was hoping no one would say that, as I really want to get on with suspension to become a better rider.

Crazy thing is that the difference in weight is only 700g :shock:

The Northern Monkey

Ahhh... so you saying its more to do with the extra weight?

If so then the only way to experiment is with lighter suspension forks... but as you said the toras only cost £50.

Just stick with what you know and what makes your ride feel better!

You will get used to the weight though... just about training and putting the effort in!

cat_with_no_tail

Kiblams wrote:

Crazy thing is that the difference in weight is only 700g :shock:

700g is a lot when it's hanging out over the front end like that.

You know, it might be that you just need a little while to get used to the difference. I remember when I first went from HT to FS, and it took me ages to get the hang on the different way they work.

Of course, I've since gone back to riding a HT, so I'm not sure if that little story actually proves anything

Kiblams

Right, I have decided to go back to the Tora for the sake of not having to worry about hurting my wrists/pinch flats on braking bumps etc, and since I should be getting fitter the weight will become less of an issue on long rides.

What concerns me most os the lack of technical ability on steep rocky descents and drops, and I am thinking that it might have something to do with the Instigators being a tall fork so when on the Toras the front end is alot lower.

Also; do you think it might be an idea reducing the length of the stem? It is 105mm at the moment but as the bike is kind of short I am not sure this will be a good idea for climbing. :?