I assume you're considering the Wiskey No. 9 boost LT option?

 

Thanks, yep that is my front runner. Definitely a little more $$ than I'd hoped to spend, but seems closest to what I'm looking for as far as I can tell?

 

I ride a Waltworks as my main ride, so can’t not point you that direction. He’s amazing. My WW fork will run a 29x3.25 or a 27.5x3.8 - he’s your man.

 

The Trek 1120 fork is 510mm. That's the longest I've found.

 

You can add 15mm to the length by adding a niner slacker puck

 

I would add this for sure, and a big 2.6" front tire.

Some other companies make extended lower headset cups, Niner?, Wolftooth?, Pivot (not available aftermarket AFAIK), and I know Cane Creek make Crown Races in +3mm and +7mm I think. There's options out there if you look around.

I'm not a fan of super low BB height, this would be my primary reason for jacking the front end back up a bit. The bike wasn't designed around a 510 fork.

Also I just looked up the RSD fork, is yours aluminum? I would favor a carbon for steel fork for a rigid setup, paired with a big front tire.

Since you already bought it, only time will tell if it beats you up too much or not. It's going to be a big change from a 140 fork on anything bumpy, but mostly on the descents.

 

Great leads everyone thank you, I need to confirm what my actual sagged A2C looks like on my Pike, then will probably combine the slacker puck with the best corresponding option!

 

RSD has a 510mm rigid aluminum fork.

 

Carver also has a few options.

 

If you want a stock fork:

1) I ran an all carbon Carver xc470 for 5 years on my Krampus. Amazing fork, fits 29+, but not the long A:C you want. Carver has amazing customer service.

2) This Tandell... http://www.tandellbikes.com/29er-plus-carbon-rigid-forks_p0934.html. It's boost, all carbon 495 A:C, really good looking (none of the warts of the Whisky), and $169! Good buddy just put one on his Chumba Sendero...

You can also run a bigger tire up front to slack things out!

 

I have a few hundred miles on my tandell so far, no complaints, not the longest AC though
IMG_1361 by driverfound337, on Flickr

 

I'd recommend starting with a rigid 490mm A2C fork, then make adjustments with taller lower crown races. I didn't care for the effect the longer A2C rigid fork had to the steering on my Canfield Nimble9. You loose nothing going with the shorter fork but do gain some insight by playing with the geometry.

 

Ended up going with the RSD fork, got a ride in this AM, super pleased with it - don't think I'd want to go 10mm either way. Definitely a different experience with the rigid fork, probably will want a wider tire up front to add some cush, but feeling the 2.25 Rekon slide around at the limit was fun.

 

Agree regarding the BB height, the 510 A2C actually bumps me up higher than the stock (120mm) Pike did when sagged. Today's ride was about as rocky as the Honzo will now regularly see, and it felt like a good compromise on BB height while still keeping weight up front. Definitely felt the harshness from the aluminum, but that was to be expected.

Things I didn't expect to be so pronounced were loss of momentum in big rocks (moreso than actually having to consciously hit stuff slower) and reduction in traction in the rear while putting power down. I was pleasantly surprised the front end wasn't all over the place through rough corners, and popping off of stuff is as fun as ever.

Overall pretty pleased with the package as a whole, the original reason for this was to be able to give the Pike to an Intense Sniper I'm about to build. Feel like I'm going to favor the Honzo over it unless I'm trying to cover a LOT of ground fast.

 

I think the harshness is more rigid and less aluminum. I've had carbon, steel, and aluminum forks. Some ride better or different, but they are all harsh compared to my suspension forks with lock-out on! A larger front tire really helps!

 

You can run shorter forks and make up the difference with an external cup headset if the fork is tapered. Some companies make 10 and 20 mil external cup headsets. If the rigid fork you're looking at is 483 and you need to reach 493 external cups are the best option.

 

You can run shorter forks and make up the difference with an extended cup headset. Some companies make 10 and 20 mil extended cup headsets. If the rigid fork you're looking at is 483 and you need to reach 490's or 500's extended cups are the best option.

There is a bloke on eBay that offers crown races up to 25mm tall. Prolly will do custom length as well.

 

There's one from the UK that I forgot the name of that I've been looking for, Anyone recall this? I am positive this was over 500 mm...

 

Since this was bumped back up I’ll give a longer-term update on the RSD setup. Overall still happy with it. Been racing with it and it is less than optimal for AZ terrain, but that isn’t a fault of the fork.

Current plan is to replace it with some light XC-geared fork to quit beating myself up and slowing myself down, but will require a headset spacer to get where I want A2C-wise. And I’m convinced the really light 120mm options all are garbage given all of the complaints about them, so I’ve been dragging my feet.