Originally Posted by zorax2

Agreed. I'm used to primarily fat biking in the winter at average speeds of around 8 mph. With winter riding, especially with our local singletrack, there aren't a lot of roots and rocks I'm hitting negating my need for a suspension. Now, if I were riding at speeds similar to my typical MTB riding, I'd more carefully evaluate whether to spend on a suspension for my fat bike.

Mastadon is great. Rigid carbon fork (and hopefully handlebars to go with it) - yup - the next best or alternative choice.