 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
If you had the option of just one what would it be?
Thinking 29er suspension forks.
bolt through.
I bet if you rode two identical bikes, one with each, you'd never know the difference, so either.neither!
[i]I bet if you rode two identical bikes, one with each, you'd never know the difference, so either.neither! [/i]
20mm Maxle is ertainly noticable over a 9mm Q/R.
Another vote for bolt through here - def noticeable over a QR
Glasgowdan is probably right but given the choice of either I reckon as the bolt through "ties" the legs of the fork together more solidly (i.e. a stiffer unit over-all?) then that would edge it for me.
As b r says 20mm maxle is definitely noticable over a standard QR.
Bolt-through without a doubt.
A few years ago now but I replaced 130mm QR Revs with Maxle Pikes. I wound the Pikes down to 130mm so it was about as close a comparison as you could get.
The difference was clear.
Theres not really any point in having either if you've never had regular qr forks before - You wont have anything to compare the bolt through or steerer to will you!?!?!
Theres no point just jumping straight in with a bolt through fork, as this will just feel normal to you and therefore you wont be able to progress up the fork ladder.
Like with anything in cycling, start at the bottom , put the graft in and work your way up.
Davidtaylforth, you're [i]very[/i] good.
higgo - MemberA few years ago now but I replaced 130mm QR Revs with Maxle Pikes. I wound the Pikes down to 130mm so it was about as close a comparison as you could get.
The difference was clear.
Still not a totally useful comparison though, a quick-release Pike (if there were such a thing) would also be stiffer than a QR 426 Revelation- it was a stronger chassis all round
You can do direct comparisons, with assorted forks. TBH the difference gets much smaller once you're dealing with a reasonably stiff fork- it's very noticable going from QR to 15mm on a long Fox 32, because they're so squiggly in QR. But going from a QR to a 20mm Sektor is less obvious, because the QR one is still reasonably stiff.
Course, you can do the same with steerers, but so far my only experience of that was a mate commenting that you could really feel the stiffness benefit of my tapered steerer Revs. I don't have any tapered steerers- it's just a tapered headtube with a step-down. But hey, placebo stiffness is still good.
So in answer- I'd go bolt-through, partly because all my wheels are bolt-through, but I wouldn't be especially fussed.
Bolt-thru, especially on a 29er. A magnitude of order more difference!
I've had all sorts of forks.
Currently running 20mm and QR Reba Teams but have no experience of the tapered steerers so interested to hear folks thoughts.
It would seem that within he budget I have I can have one but not both 😆
Another vote for bolt through here.
Theres not really any point in having either if you've never had regular qr forks before - You wont have anything to compare the bolt through or steerer to will you!?!?!Theres no point just jumping straight in with a bolt through fork, as this will just feel normal to you and therefore you wont be able to progress up the fork ladder.
Like with anything in cycling, start at the bottom , put the graft in and work your way up.
???
that makes no sense whatsoever.
put the crack pipe down and think about what you've just written.
Bolt through.
QR15/Maxle is easier to take the wheel out, too (compared with QR). No downsides.
bolt through
Tapered makes a very minimal difference, bolt through is noticeable. When I looked earlier in the year I struggled to find a 29er fork that was non-tapered but had 15mm QR mind. Choice was either tapered & 15mm or QR and straight.
bolt yeah but i find all my forks very flexy back-forward (e.g. under braking), which i only recently realised is what tapered is to help with.. but if RS say that's only 20% better for tapered (and 5% under turning) vs 1-1/8, it must be pretty bad with all forks imho. i can def. see 1-1/2 to 1-1/8 or something bigger becoming standard in future.. also 32mm stanchions are starting to look like 28mm looked a few years ago - thin. i'm a skinny xc rider too btw.