Thinking of possibly buying a trek that doesn’t have a shock on the front fork and wanted some opinions for bike packing
by Round-Ad-1491
Thinking of possibly buying a trek that doesn’t have a shock on the front fork and wanted some opinions for bike packing
by Round-Ad-1491
10 Comments
The only honest answer is: it depends.
That’s like asking what the best tire is. It depends on the terrain.
Or more specifically, is the weight penalty or risk of mechanical failure worth the comfort and reduction of upper body fatigue?
There is no “best style”. It depends mostly on the terrain and your preferences. I did a 1.5k Bikepacking trip through Scandinavia with a no-shock fork and 28mm road tires. No problems at all with their great cyclepath infrastructure but if you are going through rough terrain and prefer more comfort, a shock suspension is probably the better choice.
I’m trying to see if the middle ground of a suspension stem and seatpost works for me. So far, I have found that I do not need a suspension fork.
Mine is a steel rigid mtb. Steel has nice give whan loaded. Aluminum front suspension would be pretty good too.
People competing are going short travel XC FS. That’s definitely the fastest.
Whatever you have.
I think the best fork for bikepacking is one with triple mounts either side, wide tyre clearance, and preferably steel. It’s mechanically simple, practical, and not fragile
You probably don’t need a shock unless you’re doing actual mountain biking. Steel frame with lots of mounts that can host decently large tires is usually the way to go.
Longer touring style wheelbases and upright geometry can be helpful too, but that’s a little more personal preference and terrain dependent.
I’d like to see these rear forks people keep alluding to
Unless you are doing a lot of Singletrack/MTB trails riding, then a rigid fork is probably better. No maintenence, and usually has built in pack mounts. Look for at least 50mm tire clearance.