Hello,

I'm building up a steel frame mtn bike, and I'm looking for recommendations on a fork that can handle single track and also gravel grind/touring options. I've done some touring on a mountain bike in the last few years and have used regular mtn bike Fox shocks, but I'd like some fresh perspectives. (Not into carbon for that though, unless you prove me wrong...)

Best,

Shano
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Carbon forks are light and are stiff but fairly forgiving....but open up your checkbook. If I was concerned about performance I'd go this route.

Sounds like you are not concerned with attaching racks? I don't keep up on the latest and greatest fork options out there but I think there are some carbon forks that do have rack mounts now.

For the price of a high end carbon fork you can get a custom steel fork built with all the bling accouterments your heart desires. I'd probably go this route just to make sure I get exactly what I want and you can get it to match your bike, I'm vain like that....

You need a bit more explanation here. Are you looking for a fork for a 26" bike or a 700c MTB? Suspension or ridged? Do you want to be able to have a rack on it?

Me neither. What I did on my 26"-wheel MTB was to replace the suspension fork with a Kinesis Maxlight 450, which is about 760 grams, tigged aluminum and has low-rider bosses. I haven't had the opportunity to tour with them, yet, with low-rider installed, but I will next summer, I hope. Kinesis is great, but don't distribute in the U.S. any longer. www.hollandbikeshop.com
They have disc versions, too. Make sure you get the right crown-to-axle measurement.

If the frame was designed to be used for a solid fork (non-suspension) and you want another solid fork for it, try to find out what the fork specifications were that the frame was designed for. Two key numbers, (1) axle to crown length and (2) fork rake or offset. If you keep the new fork to the same or similar numbers, it should handle about the way that the frame designer wanted it to.

If it had a suspension fork and you want a non-suspension fork (this is the touring forum, most touring is on solid forks), there are a few solid forks out there that can replace a suspension fork. I think Nashbar had one.

You really need to be more complete about your wish list. Besides the points I made above, brake type, wheel size, etc.

I bought a suspension fork for my expedition bike several years ago. I had a lot of trouble finding a quality fork that had V brake posts and enough steerer tube to fit in my frame with a long head tube for my wheel size.

If you buy a fork, keep in mind you will need a fork crown headset race if you do not have one.

I switch my suspension fork and solid fork depending on what I plan to use the bike for, having a headset race installed on each fork simplifies the switch.

Touring , you can add front racks to a rigid fork , like above the fork blades will be long,

because the frame was designed for the travel compression length of a suspension fork..

and you don't want to drop the head tube and screw up the steering geometry...

+1

It's best to match ATC distance within 10mm of original fork length specification to maintain bike geometry. To measure existing fork ATC, sit on bike in normal posture while helper measures from wheel axle to fork crown, where crown race mounts, making small correction for distance added by fork rake.

STA and HTA generally change one degree for every one centimeter of deviation from original fork length.

Search Surly, Salsa and QBP (Dimension) fork offerings for closest match to original fork's ATC & rake.

I would do a broader search than that, I found a new fork last spring by doing a search on Google that was for a frame that was now discontinued, but it was never handled by QBP or their associated brand names. I was looking for a fork with V brake posts, the manufacturer was switching that model to disc so the old V brake forks were on clearance.

The German Tout Terrain , and British Thorn, make forks for their frames leaving the option to use a suspension fork on their frames.

Tout T is disc , Thorn is V brake..

Thorn is starting to make some forks for disc brakes, selection is not broad but there are a few. The 26 inch wheel Nomad fork is now available in V brake or disc.

they stated they wouldn't put discs on a bent offset fork , they have had disc forks with straight blades..

Thorn Frames, etc are built in a contract Taiwan Factory, probably Maxway Ltd..

the in house frame shop in the back of the UK regional retail outlet went away decades ago...




.....

But, as I stated they now make disc forks for the Nomad.
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/forks/48...gloss/?geoc=US

This is a recent change, when I bought my Nomad in 2013 the front was rim brake only. They still make the rim brake fork too. (I will never understand why they put the brake behind instead of in front of the fork.)
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/forks/48...ellow/?geoc=US

I do not know about other models, I have not researched that.

SJS has been selling the Nomad disc fork for a year now. I'm been waiting to see if they start specing/selling the Nomad frameset with disc fork. Getting a Nomad frameset to USA is already a $770 proposition (at times ~$100 on winter sales) - getting the optional disc fork as well raises total for a USA buyer to $920.

Send them an e-mail and tell them what you want. I would be surprised if they insist on selling you a fork that you do not want.

They are reasonably good at figuring out what size you should take from your measurements too.

Be advised, the Nomad is a heavy bike. My Nomad is rated to carry something like 60 kg not counting weight of rider, but my Thorn Sherpa is rated for something like 30 or 35 kg, or roughly half that. I like both bikes, but my Nomad is roughly 4 kg heavier than my Sherpa. Having a bike as solid as the Nomad is quite reassuring when you are in the middle of nowhere carrying a couple weeks of food. But if you are loaded touring where you can buy groceries every few days on good roads or good trails, the Sherpa (derailleur) or Raven (Rohloff) might be a better bike.

I consider my Nomad to be my expedition bike for heavy use, Sherpa for medium weight and Lynskey Backroad for lighter touring. But to define light, I still carry four panniers on my Lynskey, nobody has ever accused me of being a lightweight biker.

They recommend flat bars for the Nomad but I am running drop bars. I got a slightly smaller frame size to get the top tube length right.

And shipping the frame and fork will probably be over $100. The mail carrier also wanted a check from me for customs duty when delivered, it ran about 6 percent of value (I had expected 4 percent). Customs on a complete bike is higher percentage. You might get lucky and not have to pay customs, but you should include it in your budget. I deemed myself lucky to not have to pay customs on my Rohloff that I had shipped from Germany.

But mine is S&S, that pushed the price up more. Maybe I tripped over a cost threshold for customs?

I use Reuters for my currency conversions, they are usually spot on for accuracy.
https://www.reuters.com/finance/curr...istoricalDate=

Good luck.