Choosing budget rigid forks: alu/steel/carbon?

Bordersroadie

My old Rockhopper is my winter commuter, with 25c tyres on one pair of wheels and Marathon Winter studded tyres for icy days.

The current old forks are okay as they're old lockout steel spring type (Rock Shox J3) but as they weigh around 2.5kg I've been thinking about getting a lighter and properly rigid fork.

Current candidates are
On-One steel £70, 1200g
Salsa Cromoto steel £80, 1100g
Exotic carbon £125, 900g
Kinesis Maxlight alu £90, 800g

I'm quite sold on the idea of the Kinesis ones as their light weight (800g) is attractive to me but whenever I read about alu forks on an MTB forum the comments are generally derogatory in terms of their very harsh ride and questionable robustness in the event of an accident or generally in the long term. But then these guys are MTBers, not commuters.

How are alu forks for real-world commuting? Should I go CroMo for robustness despite the heavier weight? Or do carbon forks offer something to the commuter that makes them worth the outlay despite their heavier weight than alu at this low price point?

I'm wanting to be convinced that alu is a good option (as I like the lightess per £ factor) but wonder what they'll be like with those 25c tyres on rural roads.

supersonic

it is generalizing as construction plays a large part, but with forks alu does tend to be harsh, and the carbon forks a little bit more flexy with good levels of buzz absorption. Heavy steel forks tend to be harsh too.

The Exotics are great forks, but the V brake version has shot up in price lately.

Kona project 2 forks are excellent, well worth looking out for, from about 750g for the triple butted version.

Bordersroadie

supersonic wrote:

it is generalizing as construction plays a large part, but with forks alu does tend to be harsh, and the carbon forks a little bit more flexy with good levels of buzz absorption. Heavy steel forks tend to be harsh too.

The Exotics are great forks, but the V brake version has shot up in price lately.

You're right, those Exotics have gone up ately. Kona project 2 forks are excellent, well worth looking out for, from about 750g for the triple butted version.

I should have said I'm running Vs and need 100mm corrected, so an A-C height of 440mm is ideal or could possibly get away with 425mm.

Those P2s are like hen's teeth and corrected for 80mm suspension I think?

supersonic

The P2s vary - and having a shorter fork may not be a bad thing, many hoppers run 80mm forks anyway. 425mm on an older hopper will be fine (and the J3 was quite short anyway!)

cat_with_no_tail

I'm on the lookout for some P2s for my hopper too as it happens (mine's a disc version though). I'll race you to find a set

There are loads of rigid options about, but if you're like me, you'll be wanting some that are eyeletted for full length mudguards too, which limits the choice somewhat I've found.

So far I've been looking at much the same ones as you, with the addition of the Orange F8s, which are pretty cheap, but iirc, disc only. and pretty heavy at a claimed 1200g.

Agree with sonic though, for commuter duties, a shorter A-C should be alright, the 80mm corrected ones are what I'm looking for anyway. Shorter fork, 100mm stem and 600mm flat bars. :shock:

The Rookie

GT put some fairly light steel forks on some of their MTB's (like the Chucker) worth looking out for as they are fairly compliant (my daughter has them on her commuter - v-braked and 935g), second had they can be got for around £20-30.