Originally Posted by
Nessism
It's not strictly a matter of steerer tube diameter, the fork leg and crown stiffness comes into play as well. For example, the Woundup forks are known to be very stiff, even in 1". The old Kestral's were too. As for what currently available forks are stiffer than the Minimal? I'm not sure, but I've always liked the Ouzo Pro.
Of course blades and crown are part of the action. But at some point one has to be able to discuss the separate design aspects too. I moved away from solid and thin sectioned crowns a long time ago due to their contribution to flex, independent on the rest of the parts. We have pretty significant hills here and I make good use of my front brake, even when not loaded touring.
Here's a shot of my most recent touring bike's crown.
It's the Everest FC CX design (available in both 25.4 and as used here 28.6). Andy