Originally Posted by Trakhak

Agree completely with all of that except that carbon fork installation suggestion. I know that many people fervently believe that a carbon fork makes a perceptible difference in the smoothness of the ride, but I and many others have never felt any such difference between steel, aluminum, and carbon forks. Apparently whether you feel a difference depends largely on whether you anticipate that you will feel a difference. Better to install the widest tires that the frame and fork can accommodate; that makes a real comfort difference that does not depend on a placebo effect.

In any event, only a few carbon fork manufacturers still offer a fork built to accommodate the obsolete 1" standard, and their forks are expensive.