State Bicycle Co. - Carbon Rigid MTB Fork

563 grams, and it clears a 32-inch wheel. Start with the weight. Swapping a suspension fork for this one takes more than four pounds off the very front of the bike — the single place where weight is most obvious, in how the front end lifts, how the bike accelerates, and how it feels at the top of every climb.

Light, and not harsh

The usual objection to a rigid fork is that it beats you up. That's mostly true of aluminum ones. Carbon's advantage here isn't only mass — the layup damps high-frequency buzz, the fast, fine vibration from gravel and hardpack that makes your hands ache after two hours. You still feel the big hits. You stop feeling the constant chatter underneath them.

Pair it with a wide tire run at sensible pressure and you have a genuinely comfortable bike that weighs nothing and has no moving parts.

Mounts for going places

• Three cargo mounts per leg — anything-cages, dry bags, fuel bottles
• Rack mounts — front rack or lowrider

This fork does not have fender mounts. If you need fenders, the 4130 chromoly rigid fork has them, along with five cargo mounts per leg.

It clears a 32er

Almost nothing does. The 32-inch wheel is the newest size in mountain biking, and the thing holding it back is that there is barely a fork on the market with room for one.

We've run this fork with a 32 x 2.4" tire. If you're building a 32er — or you're curious whether you could — this is one of the very few rigid forks that will take the wheel.

Worth understanding what it does to the bike: a 32-inch wheel stands taller than a 29, so it lifts the front end and slackens the head angle back out. On a frame designed around a longer suspension fork, that height partly offsets the drop you get from this fork's shorter axle-to-crown — so a 32er build sits closer to the original geometry than a 29er build on the same fork does.

32-inch wheels, tires and rims are a young standard with limited availability. Check clearance at the rear of your frame before committing to a build — this fork handles the front, but your frame has to handle the back.

Fitment

Tapered steerer and current mountain bike standards throughout, so it drops into most modern 29ers:

• Tapered 1-1/8" to 1.5" steerer, 300mm, shipped uncut
• 15 x 110mm Boost front hub spacing, thru-axle included
• Post mount brake, 160mm native
• 29" wheels up to 3.0" of tire — or 32" wheels, run with a 32 x 2.4"

If you're fitting this to a 4130 Trail

The RockShox Psylo Silver RC that ships on the 4130 Trail measures 550mm axle-to-crown. This fork is 495mm — 55mm shorter.

That drop steepens the head angle, lowers the bottom bracket and shortens the wheelbase. The bike becomes quicker-steering and sits lower — a fast all-terrain bike rather than a slack trail hardtail. It's the intended outcome, not a compromise, but go in expecting a different bike rather than the same one with the suspension deleted.

Weight saved over the suspension fork: 4 lb 6 oz.

Specifications

Tire fitment varies with rim width and tire brand — a 3.0" on a wide rim measures wider than the same tire on a narrow one. Leave clearance for mud.

In the box

• Fork, 300mm uncut steerer
• 15 x 110mm thru-axle

Living with a carbon fork

Carbon is strong but it doesn't like being crushed. A few things worth knowing:

• Use a torque wrench on the stem bolts and don't exceed the stem manufacturer's figure. Overtightening a carbon steerer is the most common way people damage one.
• Use an expander plug, not a star nut. A star nut is driven into the steerer and will damage carbon.
• Inspect after a hard crash. Carbon can hide damage that aluminum would show as a visible bend. If you've had a significant impact, have the fork inspected before riding it again.

⚠️ Professional installation recommended. Fitting a fork means cutting a steerer tube, setting a crown race, and adjusting headset preload — all of which affect whether the bike steers safely, and all of which are less forgiving on carbon. The steerer ships uncut on purpose. If you're not set up to do this properly, have a shop do it.

Want to get technical? Full Geo / Specs here.