Krenovian

I'm riding a 2019 Niner RLT RDO. I find that the rear of the bike and front of the bike are out of balance. By that I mean the back of the bike feels much more compliant than the front. I guess that is to be expected when the fork has no rider wt. limit and I weigh 155 lbs. I've replaced the stem with a Redshift Shock Stop stem and that has helped. I'm wondering if there is a more compliant fork out there? I'm also looking for a fork with more rake/offset. I have some minor toe overlap with a 38 mm tire on the front which will be more marked with a bigger tire. Forks under consideration include ENVE's G series gravel fork, Parlee's gravel fork and the 3T Luteus II Team Stealth fork. Do any of you have experience with these forks in comparison to the Niner fork? Any other forks you might recommend for my consideration?

Krenovian

I hadn't thought about it from that standpoint. It makes sense.

mstateglfr 

What spoon said.
your bike with a different steerer width or perhaps better yet- a frame that doesnt have a massively oversized head tube and tapered steerer combo would change the stiffness/harshness.

https://whiskyparts.co/forks/no.9-cx-disc-12-straight

This has a 1 1/8 steerer, is full carbon, and clears 42mm tires. Not sure how the rake and axle to crown measurements compare to your current setup.

shoota 

Oversized head tubes are a plague on modern gravel bikes. There's no reason for them. Change my mind.

ThermionicScott 

Isn't there some thinking that having a steerer that is more flexible than the fork blades contributes to brake shudder, though?

Elvo

Fox Ax, Lauf Grit

dsaul

Carbon forks and compliance don't go together. Let some air out of your front tire.

sweetspot

this is a very interesting topic for me. I feel that today's gravel bikes are not balanced in terms of front and rear comfort. It is much easier to engineer compliance at the rear. Front of the bike is much harder but you still have at least 3 things to do. First, like it was already said, it is the headtube and the width of the steerer. Your bike, like many of current gravel bikes, has an oversized headtube so even if the steerer itself is narrow, the headset will keep it from flexing too much. The second thing is the fork length. Generally the longer the fork the more flexing it can exhibit. But too much flex is no good, especially if you have disc brakes (like every gravel bike has now) so don't expect much but for sure longer forks can be more comfortable. And finally, there is something that I discovered recently while testing a GT Grade Carbon bike with its Flip Chip fork. I mean if you move the axle of the fork axis and closer to the rider it will promote more flex and generally more comfortable ride (this is the same patent that my Jamis Renegade bike uses with its ECO compliance fork). Yet again, we are talking about a few percent more compliance. So in the end, if you want a really comfortable front end of the bike, go for something like Specialized Diverge with its Future Shock. From my experience, you will have a hard time finding something more comfortable...

dwmckee

I suspect your more sensitive hands at the handlebars vs. your comparitively less sensitive and well padded arse at the rear is why you feel the front is less compliant. Actually a curved, raked and cantilevered front fork at the front end is likely more compliant than the dual triangulated rear on most biikes though if you could measure it. Also the fact that you instinctively take weight off of the seat by standing a bit when you see bumps also makes the rear seem more compliant. You cannot easily de-weight your front end like you can your rear end.

I have been riding a Lauf Grit fork for about two months now for gravel riding and I have to say it is freakin' amazing. Not only is it a great way to gain compliance with no loss of precision steering, but it has INSTANTLY cured my chronic hand numbness problem! I highly recommend it as a great comfort enhancer with very modest weight penalty. No moving parts either!