Originally Posted by
cubewheels
Suspension fork doesn't actually make turning response slow unless it has ridiculous amount of play (which is a sure sign to replace or repair)
Rigid fork is better if you never intend to ride in MTB trails. Suspension fork isn't bad either if your bike already has one. It's only bad if you never ride in MTB trails, you ride over lots of hills (road or gravel), and if you pedal out of the saddle a lot (it will bob up and down a lot in that case, wasting energy).
What about light singletrack? I'm sure that a good rigid fork would hold its own in that case, right?
I see rigid forks which are straight (MTB style) and then raked forwards, like the one I got recently. What are the differences between the two and which one would you recommend? As far as I know, the forward rake helps increase the wheelbase a bit and mainly increases stability at speed. I think its a good setup overall because it helps blend the fast handling of a steep head tube angle with an increase in overall stability. My new cromo fork (if you take a look at my other thread regarding frame geometry) has been measured at 420mm. that's almost 60-70mm shorter than the original bent Manitou I had on there. Steering speed and precision has drastically increased and the bike is much faster now.
Originally Posted by
Kapusta
When you say the bike is 23”, do you mean the seat tube or the top tube?
Surely the hassle of carrying around a 2nd wheelset and swapping at the trailhead cannot possibly be easier than just riding the knobby tires to the trail.
But hey, whatever floats your boat.
I would thinking of switching just the rear tire back and forth. Just one rim is not that heavy.
I think, most likely, I will not do that...
Frame measures at just under 21" to the top of the top tube. 23" to the top of the seat tube.