Both on road and off road, specifically meaning here gravel, because never shall the words that come with MTB (or VTT) be mentioned here, tires are getting wider. It seems that done well, speed does not have to be sacrificed, for lower tire pressure and a smoother ride. Indeed speed might even be increased and lower tire pressure makes tubeless all the more robust. In the gravel world a smoother ride means less fatigue and more speed. Due to this front suspension seems to be a thing again, or rather more accepted. One might argue gravel is about simplicity, inclusiveness and more so just fun. Thus the fangdanglry (made up word) of suspension goes away from the buttoned shirt, IPA drinking ethos of the sport. Well sadly that boat has already sailed with the UCI running races. I heard one comment now that Unbound was the “Tour de France” of gravel where journalists go to see what’s hot in tech for gravel. I’m going to be a little controversial and say in Europe (more to the North West) gravel doesn’t really exist – at least not in decent quantity or quality. It’s more single track on a drop bar bike – which to be fair is still fun! But it is NOT riding for countless miles on graded gravel roads in the US, I know, I have been lucky enough to do that (and also have messed around on single track in UK and France). With Kevin Swanson discussing his use of the Rockshox Rudy, the Canyon Grail (their more sporty gravel bike) getting the DT Swiss front suspension and more systems hitting the market, is front suspension now a thing and do we need it?

Some might know, in an act of complete “whatever”, I bought a Cannondale Slate early on because I fell for the Lefty aesthetic. And the wonderful green matt colour it came in, so cool… That’s why I bought a grey one. And I am on my second one now, due to wearing the first one out. The rumours of being a prat and not maintaining the seat tube lube enough so it cold welded itself in the frame and after two days of trying to remove it, I then the frame with a car bottle jack, are a lie. A horrible sentence but I had to cover that one quickly. So for over 10 years I have had front suspension (never mind Cannodale SAVE suspension on the rear hardtail) and am yet again ahead, in front of the trend.

So what do I think of it? I love it. I love it so much. It looks so cool and gets so many comments – for those who don’t know the Lefty is a single fork suspension and looks weird with out forks down either side of the wheel. Indeed geometrically it’s not fork – more a “spork”… no, no, no. Here’s a pic anyway…

Those who are observant will note I am having a tubeless issue that needs sorting. Anyway I love it so much that I ride it locked out 99% of the time. Why? Because only about 1% of the time was it ridden on Texas style gravel! I can remember the first of those rides, where 50km on some really chunderly (new word number two) gravel, when I realized I has a front shock and unlocked it. What a difference.. I was gliding over the chunder…

So some quick thoughts on gravel front suspension…. Yes, it is a help, a huge one. It can make a long gravel ride better for sure. But it comes at a 1kg+ weight lose (which is a reason to like to Lefty but you do then need a special front hub which means a new wheel). What are the types of gravel front suspension and the pros and cons… I am ignoring non-fork based suspension as I have no experience of that other than my arms!

We have to mention bigger tires, with less pressure first! This is the passive way but should not be forgotten as it brings a huge amount of bang for a lower cost. We are seeing more and more MTB style tires widths on gravel.. just don’t go chuncky tread unless you really plan to play in the mud.

Fork based – of which I’ll state two derivatives… suspension normal way up (you’ll see the piston extension at the top of the forks) and upside down! Which is how the lefty is… Look at the pic and you’ll see the narrower section where all the action happens near the hub… (OK, much of the action is internal but that’s another thing). There is speculation that the upside down version is better as it really works on ensuring the wheel is doing the work making sure the wheel has more contact with the ground, whereas the normal way up tends to make it easier on the rider… From a purely physics point of view (!) and I not sure this makes sense. Pro – these forks are very tunable with SAG, rebound adjustment etc. They have typically 30-40mm travel and can make gliding across gravel so much easier. Cons – they can take a lot of maintenance (every100 – 400 hrs) and come with the most weight! The Leftie does drop the weight little with only one “leg” but comes with more maintenance… but you will all ignore the maintenance guidelines away, so you decide. Most can be locked out which can be super useful.

Spring based.. by which I mean the Lauf fork. Here is a GCN discussion on it:

Pros – super light and little maintenance. Cons – no real tuning, so what you get is basically – what you get! But honestly for proper gravel this might be the easist way to smooth the ride and reduce fatige. Just is it best on pea gravel or thick chunder is another matter.

When getting pneumatic/oil fork based suspension do remember it is typically 5 cm taller than a solid fork so it affects the ride geometry. OK – most bikes with it built it have that handled but for a retrofit you need to think about that additional fron end height.

So front suspension is a thing – especially if you are riding real gravel without lots of climbing! It makes the ride smoother and therefore faster and you’ll last longer. However there is a caveat! Is it new? Remember Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle and Andrei Tchmil winning Paris-Roubiax in 1992, 1993 and 1994? (I didn’t – I cheated and look it up). They had the RockShoks Paris-Roubaix SL fork with 30 mm of travel. Greg Lemond used it in in 1991 as well (always the innovator – Oakley and TT bars included). But it didn’t hit the mainstream.. why.. or are we going to see it again moreso?