Mountain Biking - Anyone riding full rigid?

anyone?

Yes.

yep.

no. unless my road bike counts.

Sometimes.

Yes. It sucks.

I couldn't imagine no suspension,
I have 80mm travel on mine and some times bottom out.

Adjust your fork.

I have. Its at max lol.

Redline D460 29er. Rigid steel is the way to go.

yes

Redline D460 29er. Rigid steel is the way to go.

Not really.

Rigid steel is the way to go.

Sometimes true, mostly no.

Yep. Columbus steel frame, Surly 1x1 fork, 29 up front, 26 in the back.

Sometimes true, mostly no.

Just sort of depends. I'd rather have rigid than cheap suspension. The redlines fill that niche nicely.

I have a rigid singlespeed in the works... I can't wait to hit the singletrack on this.

Suspension is just a fad, It'll never catch on.

Yah! Aluminum frame, steel fork [would prefer carbon], 1 gear. Fun to ride, especially when I catch FS guys on the trail.

Gotta love the full rigid bikes. :D

I ride a fully rigid geared Karate Monkey (29er). I suspect if it was a 26er, I wouldn't be able to take it.

Suspension is just a fad, It'll never catch on.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/1992/1992.pdf

Page 10:



Undeniably there are trails, terrain, events, and riding styles that require something other than
a standard bicycle to get the best results. But these situations are the exception, not the rule.


Not a single one of their bikes had suspension on them. Next year in 1993 "ummm so hey we think most of our bikes should have suspension on them.."

Yes it was ok but on the downhills it felt like my arms were going to fall after a minute.

Yeah, 2 of em. I want suspension! And yeah, I'm whining.

Bontrager steel frame with Ritchy Logic fork. I can't wait to get a full suspension bike, but I love the reliability of the full rigid.

been riding a fully rigid redline monocog 29er. just bought a specialized enduro elite. the redline is destined for craigslist. dont get me wrong, the redline is fun, but it's not an enduro in terms of capabilities. fully rigid is for hardcore enthusiasts or mellow trails or fire roads.

I rode and raced full rigid for years until I had a bit of a mishap while riding the ski slopes during the summer...seems I allowed my headset to work itself loose and then during the descent the fork decided to buckle under the bike. So now I'm riding with shocks up front...and I must say I like 'em.

I have purchased two front suspension MTBs in the past four years and have swapped the forks out for Surly rigids. I am rebuilding the Rock Shox Judy (from my Giant Rainier) and will be selling them, along with the Suntour XC60 (?) (from my Raleigh M50-DX). Just a preference - I like to 'feel' the road/trail :)

My next bike is going to be a rigid SS 29er. I think I got all the hot industry buzz words covered there. Oh wait, I'm sure I'll have some carbon fiber on there somewhere. There. Done.

...fully rigid is for hardcore enthusiasts or mellow trails or fire roads.

The first couple time out my rigid 29er beat the crap out of me. Then I realized that I was actually going to have to pilot the bike instead of relying on the fork to do things for me. Then with more experience, I realized the fork was actually making really stupid decisions on my behalf.

Since then, I have found suspension forks really annoying. If I ever went back, it would be nothing but platform shocks with high blowoffs.

Beyond that, I think a lot of people like training on rigid singlespeeds because it teaches them about piloting the bicycle. So when the DO hop back on their tricked out race bikes, they are reacting as if they're on rigids and making their bikes more efficient.

i ride a fully rigid 2000 M-50 with slick tires through the streets of NYC. accelerates well and is pretty nimble, a good setup to have in the city.

currently converting it into a 1x7 drivetrain. anyone else have any experience with this setup?

Yes. I ride a rigid Surly KM 29er. It's also a SS. I can see how a rigid bike would be bad for some situations. I only ride single track and the KM fits the bill quite nicely.

I wouldn't want to do it with a 26er. The big wheels coupled with lower tire pressure is all the suspension I feel that I need.

x550x, that's what I'm hoping for too.

And the SS is for getting me additional leg strength by forcing me to work up hills instead of dropping a gear. The fact that it's rigid can change, although I'm looking forward to it.

I don't know if I agree 100% with the learning of a better line. With a suspension, it allows you to pick the quicker line, not necessarily the "best". The quicker line could be full of roots and stuff you wouldn't want your rigid to go over, yet with a suspension, it's no problem. YMMV.

yup (salsa el mariachi)

Yup full rigid and fixed gear! http://filebox.vt.edu/users/soneill/IMGA0530.JPG

Wow that's a small chainring. What's the gearing on that thing?

93 Kona Explosif- Project ll rigid forks. L/W steel frame and forks and it works. Climbing ability and rigid works. Downhills and you have to get used to riding out of the saddle and relaxed. Can't overtake the Full suspension bikes on the downhills-Which I could up to 2000- but can still shock them by staying close enough to them.

Yup full rigid and fixed gear! http://filebox.vt.edu/users/soneill/IMGA0530.JPG

Oh the pain!!!!:D

Yeah, I have a rigid. It sits in the basement while I ride my suspension bikes. It's a really nice 96 Rockhopper in great shape. I don't ride it cause I just don't enjoy beating the crap out of myself.

yep, I've been riding rigid for 8 months or so... I'm going back to suspension in a bit though.

I do

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b336/unsuspended/DSC03068.jpg

It is great fun and toughens you up! ;)

Just another way to experience the trails.

How do you like the CF fork? Mine's comming with a steel fork but I may end up putting a White Bro's on there (after trying out the steel for a while). Did you start with that or something else? If something else, then what was it and material?

I started with a vicious cycles rigid, non suspension corrected. I wanted a suspension corrected fork (what the frame was designed for), so I got the WB. No complaints with the WB fork at all. definately stiffer and lighter than the steel.

I will probably end up going back to a vicious cycles fork with the same ac height as the WB fork after 2 more years. I just can't see riding the WB fork for more than 3 hard years.

I think I prefer the look of the steel fork better and the ride is actually more compliant than the carbon.

Also, in my experience, there is a big difference between low end and high end steel forks.

still break out my original 86 procaliber often. Did buy a 06 stumpjumper hard tail on impulse, it's okay I guess,,, but wished i waited to order a proper Rigid from one of the handmade guys here in Northeast.

Here too. (26") Rigid is the way to go. Different strokes for different folks.

Some things have changed, like cranks, levers, and saddle, but, rigid, and loved
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/jmadams/Jamis%20Dakota/100_1488.jpg

A nice steel rigid is buttery smooth on *some* trails.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/commo_soulja/Bikes/IMG_1779.jpg

^^ nice score on the IRD frame.

I just built a fully rigid 29er SS. I like it. I need to relearn to ride.

i ride 2 full-rigids. one is a 26" 3x9; the other is a 29" ss/FG. I'm considering building a hardtail with front suspension, but i'm worried about the tuning/maintenance.

-rob

I always wanted to know if certain rigid frames with "switchback(?)" seat stays i.e. Nishiki Ariel/Alien are actually worthy for moderate mountain biking. I ride with sus, but I'm thinking of a fully rigid ride (except, maybe, for a sus stem). Bmalmquist, how do you get a 29 in a 1x1 fork? isn't the fork made for 26?

I think it's only natural that a neanderthal/luddite thread like this would attract a post by an individual named "biopacer"; we all probably saw that coming, somehow. But we could never expect him to be inquiring about switchback frames...

Now THAT's retro.

But, seriously, the full-rigid concept seems to be coming back in full-force, which is possibly a subconscious influence on my drive to try out a squishy fork. "Yeah, i decided to take it back to the old school; I'm gonna get me some suspension up front. A return to simpler times, i guess."

That'll be the day...
-rob