Originally Posted by
matthew_deaner
Well, I was making generalizations... sure, there are exceptions to all my points, depending upon how deep your wallet is. You can buy a lot of rims for the price of a carbon fiber disc fork. And not everyone can afford a custom wheelset to use a narrow rim with disc brakes.
Surly 1x1 Fork for $65 and disc mounts. It's Cro-Moly, weighs about 2.4 lbs. and is perfect on a winter MTB commuter. Pair that with Performance's Access XCL alu frame, some mechanical discs and you have a cheap MTB commuter than can do lots. Build a set of disc wheels with rims as narrow as you want and have some roadie-like capabilities or, if you live in a wintry locale, build it with burly rims for fat, studded tires.
Last I checked you could get a whole set of adequate mechanical discs at Performance for $70. They're Forte, so not as nice as Avid, but they work really well (i.e. do the trick) and are as cheap as buying a set of calipers.
Anyways, that's my dream winter commuter build. Only thing that build doesn't have that I would want is braze ons for rack and fenders on the rear. Oh well, that's why there's hose clamps!