hard tail or full rigid for great divide ride?

[beargrass]

as i look at various setups of riders who have done the gdr i see some bikes with rigid forks.being new to this i assumed there must be miles of washboard road and i would want a suspension fork,accepting the weight and potential problems for the added comfort but i know i don't know.so i'm hopeing some of you who have experienced this sort of thing might offer some advice?  thanks

[Thumby]

It's a tossup, completely personal preference.  The only way to go wrong is to use an extremely heavy rigid fork.   

[Rockin]

I would recommend trying out a rigid fork first and see if you like it.  You can save a couple pounds.  Personally, I cannot comfortably ride a rigid fork for extended periods on anything much rougher than pavement and gladly pay the weight penalty.

[woody]

I did a little test to see if I could handle a rigid fork. I pumped my shock up to a higher PSI and locked it out and did a 50 mile test run. My back was killing me, put the fork back to my normal riding PSI and unlocked it and my back was fine. So I have a suspension fork, but this is just me and my two cents.

Woody

[Beardog]

hard tail --weight over comfort and sore hands-shoulders--plus when you are tired after say 16 hours of riding and tyring to bomb a rutted or rocky downhill the locked out fork really helps your mistakes smooth out and keep you on the road--just my thoughts after 2 finishes on a hardtail with a rebal sl 80 travel fork.

[Groundshine]

If I race the TD again I will go fully rigid.  Personal preference for sure.

However... I am thinking next time I do Trans North Georgia I'll have a front suspension fork.  (I am open to suggestions here!) 

And since I'm in the market for a new fork I was just thinking about the TD and who rode rigid and who had suspension and what they rode... I remember seeing several forks that were no longer functioning in New Mexico - maybe even as early as Montana... can't remember what model or whose they were.  Maybe there is already a thread on what fork has made it through the TD without an oil change?

[annoying crack]

Maybe there is already a thread on what fork has made it through the TD without an oil change?

I ran a 29er RS Recon gold without any problems in the 2011 TD. Why do you think you would need an oil change after only 3 or weeks of riding? 

[chriskmurray]

Here is an interview with Kurt Refsnider on Salsa's website about his choice to run rigid.  Personally I have never done the race but have done some 70ish mile gravel road grinders and was fine with rigid but that is no where near the demands the GD puts on your body.

Salsa - In your first Tour Divide race I think you rode a soft tail with a front suspension fork. This time around you rode fully rigid. How was the experience different? Did you miss having front suspension at all?

Kurt - There were only a few rocky descents on which I missed the suspension. It felt great to shave a few points off the bike by using a White Brothers carbon rigid fork. And the bit of fore-aft flex in this fork also worked wonders to smooth out the endless miles of wash-board bumps, something suspension forks always struggle with. My hands felt fine at the end of the race, and if I ever do the race again, I’ll definitely use a fully rigid configuration again.