Customer Review: Lauf Carbonara Carbon Fork (The All-Weather Fork)

Many of us have become so accustomed to riding our bikes the way they are and often find ourselves skeptical of trying something new. Sometimes you just have to pull that trigger and give it a try. Christian Worby did just that and sent over this review of Lauf Carbonara. Let's see what he had to say!

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Simplicity, fun, and freedom. That's the appeal of fat biking for me. Eschewing fork overhauls and rear suspension sag settings and choosing to just whack and bounce your way down the trail instead... and then deciding to get off the trail and ride through a quagmire, because it turns out there's a swamp just over there. It's a beautiful thing. On the rough stuff, though, it can leave you absolutely shaken to hell. And drops can nearly snap your wrists off. So... after a couple of years of riding my Ice Cream Truck purely rigid, I figured it may be time to do my body a favor and think about adding some extra cush. I spent a while researching the usual suspects... Bluto, Wren, Lefty... and then I came across the Lauf Carbonara. I knew right away that it looked like the one for me. Extra bounce to ease the impacts, with no maintenance or settings or any of that stuff. Just slap it on and forget it. Perfect.

I've been riding with the Lauf Carbonara for nearly a month now, and I gotta say, I like it a lot. The geometry of my Ice Cream Truck, which I love, seems to have had no noticeable change at all. If you keep your tire pressure nice and low (like around 6 psi), the Lauf gives you waaay more cush. Or, if you want less rolling resistance (or self-steer), the Lauf lets you bump up the pressure a bit and still not take the kind of abuse you would be enduring with a rigid fork. Rock gardens do not have to be a pain-fest at moderate speed. Sweet!

Honestly, if you've done a few minutes' research on the Lauf Carbonara, I think you already know in your heart of hearts if it's for you. If you ride your fat bike year-round and like to shred through gnarly terrain, I think this adds to the fun. If you think you want damping and 100mm+ of travel and all of that, then this may not be for you. You know this already, though. Like I say... you probably already know whether you're gonna get this fork. These are just words. Oh... one tip, though. If you do get it and you get it installed and then you notice a lot of creaky clicks coming from your handlebar/headset area... you may need to add more carbon and alloy assembly compound to the steerer. A mechanic at my LBS figured this one out for me. He added some, and then it ended up creaking and clicking some more, and then I added even more, and then all was well. Good excuse to buy a torque wrench. Oh... and one more tip... if you're upgrading your fat bike with a suspension fork, then you may as well get a dropper post at the same time. They go pretty well together ^_^ Happy trails!