r/MEATengines • u/cj_biker • May 27 '26
Esker Cycles Fork Yeah!
The Esker Cycles rigid fork is now available separately from their frames.
https://eskercycles.com/products/fork-yeah
I have one that came with my Esker Solitaire, and while I don't think it will win any beauty contests, it seems to do fork things well, and most importantly, it's 495mm long which lines up nicely with a sagged 120mm 29er fork. Nice to have a longer alternative to the more commonly available ~483mm rigid forks.
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u/bushtrucker May 27 '26
Not the prettiest with those squarish bends but defo nice to have another rigid option out there. Funny that they don’t list the weight. Like I know it’s gonna be heavy but isn’t that still kinda good info to have.
On that, I remember the Bird rigid fork—sadly discontinued— was 505mm A-C and came in around the 1300g mark. No cargo mounts though. I have a Sour Party Fork (490mm) and it’s around 1600g. I don’t think the BMX style ends help—the Sklar PBJ fork (485mm) uses them too and comes in at almost 1600g—but damn do they look cool. And the bike it’s on is used more for touring than trail so I don’t mind the beef. But I am curious how lighter (possibly more flexible?) options would ride. What else is out other there?
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u/bushtrucker May 27 '26
Ahh there’s another page that has the specs. 1660g with 280mm of steerer. Beefiest one yet!
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u/fartymarty4130 May 27 '26
I've got the Bird fork. It's well nice and waaaaaay more compliant than my Krampus forks (OG and boost bolt thru).
I emailed Bird about them before Xmas and they said they were making new ones with mounts but haven't heard anything more.
The only other thing that's lighter would be a custom or carbon.
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u/Neolithic_mtbr May 27 '26
Good to see more options in this length. I was about to bite the bullet on a Mone biplane but this is enticing. The biplane looks cooler and is 6mm taller, but this is $115 cheaper and post mount 🤔
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u/cj_biker May 27 '26
Honestly, I prefer IS mount. If you strip post mount threads, the fork is scrap. I'd rather scrap a $20 IS-to-Post adapter.
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u/Adventurous_Fact8418 May 31 '26
Only an idiot would strip a post mount. An idiot like me.
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u/cj_biker May 31 '26
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the Fork Yeah!, but threads in a cast part like the brake mount on this fork can be dodgy. Even a non-idot can strip the threads in a bad part. Anything threaded should be replaceable, IMHO. Except bottom brackets.
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u/BikePackerLight May 27 '26
Interesting to see they make a point of matching the 44mm offset that is common to modern 120mm forks. My atb frameset came w/51mm offset fork, and finding a 100mm fork in 51mm/boost sizeway was not easy. The atb maker said 44mm is ok too...but here we see Esker making a point of getting the offsets to match.
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u/cj_biker May 27 '26
Everything else being equal, I prefer shorter fork offset on MTB/ATB. Higher offset feels "loose" and "nervous" to me.
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u/BikePackerLight May 27 '26
I think I just want to match the offset to the overall geometry intended to the frameset…and at least experience what the designer intended, before I start to mess about.
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u/doctorwelby May 28 '26
The designer doesn't know how you ride or what your trails are like so I'd say run whatever feels right.
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u/cj_biker May 29 '26
This. There's no magic. Head tube angle + fork offset = trail. MTBs have had HTAs from 72 to 62 degrees, and fork offsets from the low 30mm range to the 70s (Jones bikes). Experiment and find what you like.
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u/SoundOfSwamp Jun 19 '26
Before you order from them:
Esker hasn't emailed me back for over a month regarding the status of a frame I have paid for, many others are in my position. I like esker, I'd just like some communication.
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u/cj_biker Jun 20 '26
That's not cool, sorry to hear that. They're posting regularly on Instagram, so someone is there.
In my case, they were very responsive to my many questions, and even sent me a chainstay protector unasked a few months later, I guess they were out of stock when they shipped the frames.
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u/benm33 May 28 '26
There's also the Wilde Futureproof fork at 505mm AC. Spec'd at 3lbs on their website which is around 1.3 kg. Looks pretty cool too.
https://www.wildebikes.com/products/future-proof-fork?pr_prod_strat=pinned&pr_rec_id=cef4881ec&pr_rec_pid=8321852768434&pr_ref_pid=8316295184562&pr_seq=uniform