Niner Reynolds Rigid Fork - perfect with Niner’s geometry. Custom drawn Reynolds fork legs are proprietary to Niner. Forward facing dropouts ease insertion of the front wheel into the drops. 1100 grams, disc only, 470 or 490mm (490mm discontinued, available while supplies last) axle-to-crown.
Why are there 2 fork length options?
Since our inception as a company, we’ve spent a lot of time and effort on 29er geometry. Over the years, things have changed with respect to forks, and our response to geometry has changed as well. Suspension fork companies have increased offset in their forks substantially from the initial offerings for the 29” wheel. Many frame companies have slackened head tube angles in response to this, but we at Niner have found out something very important about the 29” wheel. The inherent stability of the wheel keeps it stable even at decreased trail figures (steeper head angles will decrease trail). This is why we continue to build our frames around the steeper head tube angles we’re known for, which makes our bikes super nimble in the tight, slow stuff, but the larger diameter wheel and increased gyroscopic effect still make the bike very stable at high speeds and descending.
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Niner Reynolds Rigid Fork - perfect with Niner’s geometry. Custom drawn Reynolds fork legs are proprietary to Niner. Forward facing dropouts ease insertion of the front wheel into the drops. 1100 grams, disc only, 470 or 490mm (490mm discontinued, available while supplies last) axle-to-crown.
Why are there 2 fork length options?
Since our inception as a company, we’ve spent a lot of time and effort on 29er geometry. Over the years, things have changed with respect to forks, and our response to geometry has changed as well. Suspension fork companies have increased offset in their forks substantially from the initial offerings for the 29” wheel. Many frame companies have slackened head tube angles in response to this, but we at Niner have found out something very important about the 29” wheel. The inherent stability of the wheel keeps it stable even at decreased trail figures (steeper head angles will decrease trail). This is why we continue to build our frames around the steeper head tube angles we’re known for, which makes our bikes super nimble in the tight, slow stuff, but the larger diameter wheel and increased gyroscopic effect still make the bike very stable at high speeds and descending.
We have tweaked our geometry slightly, building our frames around the lowest crown-to-axle forks on the market (Fox) and controlling the steepest head angle based on the shortest fork. For longer forks, it could decrease the head angle by up to ½ a degree, but this will not be detrimental to steering precision due to the longer offsets fork makers are currently using.
Based on these minor tweaks, we’ve now started producing our Niner rigid forks in a 470mm crown-to- axle height, as opposed to the 490mm crown-to-axle of our previous offerings. We’ve also increased the rake to 45mm vs. the old 39mm. For those of you with model year frames 2008 or older, this new crown to axle offering will retrofit right on to your current rig without a problem. The steering precision will increase slightly, but your bike will still handle great at high speeds.
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