Customer Review: Lauf Carbonara Fat Bike Suspension Fork

The Lauf Carbonara fat bike fork seems to be a rider favorite for those looking for an efficient suspension fork. This review is written by one of our customers, Doug Jones, who has plenty of experience using both rigid and suspension forks on his fat bike. Let's see how the Lauf Carbonara shapes up. 

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I bought this fork for my wife's Pivot LES Fat. She had been riding her Pivot with the standard rigid carbon fork and had been complaining about having sore wrists from the drops and heavy root action we have on our local trails. I put a Bluto fork on my Pivot LES Fat and was considering doing the same for her until I started researching alternatives. I came across some reviews online about the Lauf. I was intrigued for two reasons: the lighter weight and zero maintenance. After considerable research, I pulled the trigger and ordered the light spring version of the Lauf Carbonara Fat fork from Worldwide Cyclery!

I had our local bike shop do the installation, which was straightforward and fairly simple (I probably could have done it myself but always feel better letting the pros handle the high dollar items). Having never seen a Lauf in person, they were extremely impressed with the quality and unusual look, posting multiple pictures on Facebook during and after the build. I rode with her on her first ride with her new fork. One turn, one root, and one drop into the ride and she was in love! The fork absorbs the smaller roots, smoothes out the larger ones and really helps absorb the drops with a lot less stress on her wrists. It holds her line as well as her rigid fork. It was, without doubt, the best upgrade I could have on her Fatty. I now have fork envy. I have even tried riding her size small Fat (I ride a large) by jacking up the seat post to max height just to try and compare my Bluto to her Lauf. Although far from a proper fit, the Lauf seems to ride and handle as well as the Bluto. I hesitate to try any big drops as it is a light spring fork designed for lighter riders but I never bottomed out on the ones I tried.

The only negative I can say about the Lauf fork is that we rarely get started on a ride on time anymore as it always draws a lot of attention and questions from other riders. This was a great purchase. I am seriously considering swapping out my Bluto for a Regular Spring Lauf for the same two reasons listed above, it's lighter and no maintenance. It ain't cheap, but it was well worth the price to see the smile on my wife's face at the end of our rides.