"Dear Abbey, why did you choose to go with a rigid fork for the Tour Divide? Did you like it? Would you do it again?"
In my opinion the rigid fork is the way to go for the Tour. (I almost ended this post by answering with this one sentence but I should probably go on and expand A BIT.)
The Tour Divide goes through some rough country and there are definitely some fairly technical sections. There were lots of sections that I had to hike and some sections that required some technical prowess to get up without dabbing.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that the course is on 'dirt roads' but it's not all that smooth. (Think dirt roads that haven't seen a maintenance crew for about 50 years...)
During the Tour I experienced three feelings about having a rigid fork:
1) This thing is a piece of ^%&%$$#^ and I really want a cushy fork right now. (About 10% of the time)
2) You know this road isn't that bad but a suspension fork might be worth the extra weight. (About 15% of the time)
3) This Niner Carbon fork kicks @$$. (About 75% of the time)
As you can see by my break down here, most of the time I loved the rigid. When I do the tour again I will likely ride with my Niner Carbon fork again.
Keep those questions coming!!!
