# Rigid vs hardtail for Western Wildlands Route and beyond



## Aggrin (4 mo ago)

I‘m having a 29er steel frame built with an eye toward doing the Western Wildlands Route. The question is do I go hardtail or rigid. I’ve been riding full suspension for 20 years and haven’t spent any serious time on a rigid bike since the 90’s. I don't want gear failure to end my trip and was wondering if i could increase the comfort of a rigid bike with a fatter tire. Unfortunately, I’ve not found a shop who will rent me a rigid bike so I could see for myself. Or are forks so dependable these days i dont need to worry about it failing? Ive never had a fork fail but ive not bikepacked one for 2500 miles either. What tire size for a rigid bike? Or for a hardtail? Thanks in advance for the input.


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## eb1888 (Jan 27, 2012)

That route is listed as 4.5/10 for technical difficulty. I'd not worry about a fork with a good reliability rep.
All steel frames are no longer supple. Most are now overbuilt. Link. Steve can consult with you.


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

I would get the frame built for 29 x 2.8" tires at the rear you can always run a 2.6" tire if you decide to go smaller, but if you don't have the clearance you can't go bigger. If the geo accommodates a ~130mm suspension fork you can choose to run rigid or with a suspension fork as you wish. If you are getting a custom frame then getting a nice flex is not an issue just talk with your builder about that. I'd want a supple frame with a rigid or suspension fork. If you are a typical guy [size/weight] there are certainly off the shelf frames that are supple, but you do have to look for that specifically.

Suspension forks are pretty reliable, but of course you can't rule out an issue. If you were to get a coil sprung fork that would eliminate one of the most problematic of the common failure modes. 

I've toured on rigid and hardtail setups. They both work pretty well. I wouldn't hesitate to ride a rigid bike most places. The longer the tour and the more remote the more I'd choose rigid.


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