Suspension v Carbon v Rigid Forks

[thelankymanx2]

Looking at doing some light weight bikepacking on my Surly Karate Monkey 29er with a minimalist rear rack and was wondering the type of fork that I should be using.  I have always been very keen to get a On-One carbon fork to help soak up some of the bumps or maybe a suspension fork may help a little more when I hit something a bit rougher.  Can anyone give a bit more insight. I am looking at doing mainly fireroads but I think alot of them will get pretty rough and want to be able to head off-road

Rigid (karate monkey steel)
Pros - Will never break, no flex, I already have one so free, good energy transfer esp on hill/roads, could have racks fitted
Cons - rough ride

Carbon Rigid
Pros - soaks up bump so wrists don't take a beating, relatively cheap
Cons - Strength particuarly under heavy breaking, cant take racks

Suspension Fork
Pros - Good on rough terrain, Wrist dont get smashed, more fun on Single Trail
Cons - potential for breaks and then I am stuffed extra weight, dipping under heavy breaking, cant take racks

Have I forgotten something

[caseygreene]

in my experience, the carbon won't help soak up the bumps. It will be lighter and stiffer.

...and if you've got the dough, titanium truss forks are something to look at:
http://www.bikerumor.com/2011/03/03/black-sheeps-full-custom-continental-divide-racer-wins-nahbs-best-offroad-prize/

Sounds like you've got a good hold on it otherwise. Where are you going to be riding?

[donmeredith74]

My White Bros carbon fork was prone to chatter under braking in turns. If you have a chance to take a close look at one on a bike in your area, lock the front brakes down and push fore and aft on the bike. You'll be surprised at the amount of flex you'll see. The flex can be good and bad, of course. It helps with the lower energy high frequency noise from the trail that can really wear you out but chatter under load is the consequence. I've never ridden one but the Niner fork seems to address a lot of these weaknesses.

In my personal opinion a well designed steel fork brings better performance balance. I sold off all of my gear and sprung for a Black Sheep with the ti truss fork 6 months ago. I love it but they're silly expensive.

Good luck!

DM

[denver_whitest185]

most suspension forks offer some sort of lock-out which makes them semi-rigid. there are a few racks for suspension forks, but i always think a front rack is useless, even if your road touring.

[jimfab]

You said all you need to know... " more fun on single trail ". Enough said.  That was easy.

[jhl99]

My front end setup:   Suspension fork with full lockout, front rack and optional panniers.



The Cannondale Headshock fork is the ticket to front suspension with front rack/lowrider capability.  Too bad it is 26" only, and for the hardcore, the shock isn't that sophisticated (but easy to rebuild with minimal tools).  On dirt and paved roads, I probably ride 90% of the time locked out. 

Downside of front suspension is potential failure point and maintenance.

Many people are negative on panniers, but around the mid-Atlantic, I find putting some weight down low and upfront balances the bike out and really helps plowing through rock gardens--the front end has some mass to stay on-line.  I prefer to ride my loaded bike through rock gardens than the unloaded bike.