Rigid MTB Forks
 

I am looking to change the suspension fork on my mtb for a rigid one.
Could someone tell me the essential difference between single butted and triple butted forks.
I have seen some Kona P2's , but apart from the price I can't see too much difference. I image that the triple butted will be stronger ! If so how much stronger ? And would I really need the extra strength as I don't do anything to extreme ?

Thanks
M

Good luck. The more that I learn about things like this the more questions I have.

"Butting" is a process by which you can form seamless tubeing in which the wall thickness at the ends of the tube is thicker than the wall thickness in the center. This is useful because the ends can be weakened by heat during the welding process and most of the stresses occur at the joints. Bicycle frames, for example, very seldom fail in the center of a tube so strength in that area is less critical.

Single butting is relative easy, you simply insert a mandrel that is smaller at one end into a red hot tube and run the whole assembly through a set of rollers. Afterward you pop the mandrel out and you have a tube that is thicker at one end.

Double butting is a bit tricker. After the tube has been formed the mandrel can't drop out so the assembly is run between a pair of angled rollers which causes the mandrel to pop out one end.

Triple butting is actually a low rent alternative to double butting. The mandrel is larger at one end than the other to make it easier to pop out of the finished tube. The finished tube will have a thick wall at one end, skinny wall in the middle and a medium wall thickness at the other end.

What I don't understand is how all this relates to a fork. Fork blades, for example, are commonly tapered so which end has the butting and does it matter?