Mountain Biking - Full Rigid

Just got into mountain biking last spring and I'm thinking about going full rigid. I've been riding a hardtail I got on craigslist for about $40 and the fork has about 30mm travel left in it and weighs a ton. I ride sometimes rocky single-track.

Anyone on here ride full rigid? How is it? One of my concerns is that my traction wouldn't be as good without the suspension pushing the front wheel into the ground.

Frankly, riding rigid probably won't be much different than riding with that suspended fork.

So let me see if I have this right: You bought a bargain bike off CL that has a crappy fork and you're ready to write off suspension because of this experience? Sounds like it's time to move forward rather than backward.

There are forks for less than $50, worth trying. Many people run rigid.

Surly 1x1 (http://jensonusa.com/store/product/FK409C01-Surly+1X1+Fork.aspx)

I ride a full rigid 29'er singlespeed. It's fun, but decided to buy a Ti XC hardtail with front suspension. Rigid is fun, but generally slower than something with suspension. I like it a lot, though, and I don't expect to hang with FS bikes on the rocks.

But again, I ride a 29'er. The thought of riding a 26" rigid again hurts my teeth.

My first recommendation would be to ride the bike as is until you can afford a good dual suspension trail bike to ride on the "rocky" trails.

My second would be to do the same and save for a good quality front suspended trail bike if you can't afford a good dually.

My 3rd and final would be to do the same and save for a Redline D440 29'er 1x9 rigid bike.

I ride a rigid carbon mtb. I like the direct power transfer and don't mind looking for the smooth line. Nice thing about a real light fork is how easy it is to get up and over stuff in technical sections. You definitely ride slower, but to me it's more fun.

So let me see if I have this right: You bought a bargain bike off CL that has a crappy fork and you're ready to write off suspension because of this experience? Sounds like it's time to move forward rather than backward.

I'm not writing off suspension, I'm just thinking about swapping out the crappy suspension fork for a much lighter rigid fork. Just wanted to know about some personal experiences before taking the dip.

My first recommendation would be to ride the bike as is until you can afford a good dual suspension trail bike to ride on the "rocky" trails.

My second would be to do the same and save for a good quality front suspended trail bike if you can't afford a good dually.

My 3rd and final would be to do the same and save for a Redline D440 29'er 1x9 rigid bike.

Thanks for the advice! I'm wanting to upgrade to a 1x9 29er as soon as I can afford it (probably not for another few years) and I didn't know that Redline offered a full rigid model. Maybe I'll try full rigid on this for a while and see how much I can handle.

I ride a Redline D460 29er 1x9 with a Bontrager carbon fork. I really see no drawbacks with it as compared to my hardtails. I think the carbon fork and 29er wheels help with the rough stuff a bit. I also like the weight savings over a suspension fork. I did a 12 hour solo race and felt just fine when I finished.

I rode a rigid for the first three months I did mountain biking. I added a front suspension, and never looked back.

If a bike's sproingy fork retails for less than $300, I'd usually rather ride rigid, personally. I built up my KHS a little while ago, found an old, cheep, crappy suspension fork to slap in there. Rode it for a couple months before getting a rigid one on there.

Now the bike actually goes where I point it! I love it as is, but I'm apt to make rides much shorter, cuz the rigid really beats up these 40+ year old multiple skateboard/snowboard accident surviving wrists.

Besides the accurate steering, there's also easier jumping and better climbing.

I'm saving up for another REAL suspension fork at the moment...

I rode for 3 years on a full rigid bike (back before suspension forks were common as OEM)

It's pretty punishing on your hands so wear gloves but You learn how to ride better fast. The handling skills you develop will let you take trails faster once you do put a decent suspension fork on it than your buddies who learned to ride with a suspension fork from day 1

Just my experience / opinion

I rode for 3 years on a full rigid bike (back before suspension forks were common as OEM)

It's pretty punishing on your hands so wear gloves but You learn how to ride better fast. The handling skills you develop will let you take trails faster once you do put a decent suspension fork on it than your buddies who learned to ride with a suspension fork from day 1

Just my experience / opinion

i agree. i know there are naysayers...

but i admit, if i KNOW there are huge stones and rocks and it's downhill FAST, suspension will help and save the wrists. today i explored a new trail that was really fast, punishing and...i knew i would be in less pain had i gone slower, but i wanted to push it. now my wrists are killing me.:rolleyes:

still, i prefer the rigid for most applications. until they make front suspension that is extremely light, i will stay with the rigid set up with tires deflated accordingly.

I personally cant speak for myself, for I haven't rode a rigid bike since my BMX years. But I can honestly say that I know more than several fellow riders who have bought 29r fully rigid hardtails, and not even a month after owning them they end up getting front suspension forks. And again that's 29r's, you put a rigid on a 26r and you are really asking for a beating. But hey its your body. :)

would the weight be about the same? rigid 29er vs. a hardtail 26?

i weighed my rigid today and it is about 30 pounds. which 'sounds' heavy. i took off the lead/concrete old shocks...it's aluminum with the new cro-moly fork. weird.

A rigid fork should be better in every concievable way than the junk you have on now.

These days, you can actually get a susp fork for 200 bucks that will work better than a rigid fork. Not true just five years ago. But 200 is obviosuly still too spendy for a 40 dollar bike. Throw the rigid on there and make it a trusty old bike. Then save up for something better all around.

screw chelbod. he is a woss. go full rigid. i do it on my single speed 29er and its a blast! you dont need ds. ds is bs in my opinion. id go 29er if your going full rigid though. in 29ers you can run low pressures and the you get a surprising amount of give without pinch flats.

^^ It's silly crap like this that keeps the wheels on this bus of bozos going 'round and 'round. Gotta love it.

screw chelbod. he is a woss. go full rigid. i do it on my single speed 29er and its a blast! you dont need ds. ds is bs in my opinion. id go 29er if your going full rigid though. in 29ers you can run low pressures and the you get a surprising amount of give without pinch flats.

Wow, someone is trend bound. :rolleyes:

Back when it was only rigid it was fun, then came FS it became even funner, now we have dual suspension, and I will never look back again. Well maybe I'll build up a hard tail/FS one day, but it's so much fun to pre-load a dual suspension bike and get a few sec of extra air time when screeming down hill balls out.

screw chelbod. he is a woss. go full rigid. i do it on my single speed 29er and its a blast! you dont need ds. ds is bs in my opinion. id go 29er if your going full rigid though. in 29ers you can run low pressures and the you get a surprising amount of give without pinch flats.

Give 3 viable options and get hate in return.:lol:

again, as reiterated else where, what is the limit?

true it's about getting a bike that works for you AND you should know what you are planning to do, even if the plan goes awry. there's where the skill comes in...no matter what you are riding.

there are times when a total rigid sucks...but more often, not the case.

true, a FS will give you confidence to try more and push harder...but it's a bike for certain applications.

they'll always be heavier. insane descents are probably one of it's best terrains.

but trail riding is alot more than riding downhill on a marshmallow bike.