After a season of cross racing and thinking there was times my cross bike was a bit less than up to the gloop, got me thinking I should set my under-used MTB to be a bit more XC friendly… First plan is to replace the beefy wheel rims with a mavic 717 or similar, then fit a rigid carbon fork (exotic cycles version?) during cross season/winter then back to my old faithful coil sprung RS pikes in summer. Plan B is to sell the Pikes in favour of a ligher XC fork (SID?) then keep it as a lighter build all year round – at expense of my Chamelon’s hardcore jumptastic abilities (the bike, not mine!). Any thoughts about using a rigid set up? Would it be daft to go for a flexy fork (the 20mm bolt through pikes are solid) just to save 2lbs?
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One of the new SIDs with 15 mm maxle light (and 120 mm travel) could be ideal. They’re really not that flexy anymore.
Go for a dump before your ride – save 2lbs and a fortune.
changing your wheels and tyres will make a big difference – rolling mass and all that physics. Fork wise, at 100mm travel I doubt you would feel the difference between maxle and qr, so you could get a good deal on a qr Reba or similar from Merlin, asuming your bike will have the geometry for a 100mm travel front end. Faced with the choice of rigid Bad Boy or 100mm travel Rock Lobster I almost always go for a bit of suspension if riding ‘proper off road’, just for a bit of comfort.
Suspension forks are nice, I wouldn’t bother getting rid of them for weight, simplicity in winter it’s nice to have rigids, although with 26″ tyres it is asking for random accidents when riding proper off road. Especially if you’re forgetful about what bike you’re riding