Steel forks

[asterix]

I've a mid-80's bike with steel forks and a 2008 bike with steel forks. The older forks are slimmer than the newer ones and absorb the bumps much better.

Is it no longer possible to get slim steel forks? Why are modern steel fork blades so fat?

[scottg]

Skinny fork blades look better with old skinny tube bikes.
The fashion is now for fat tubes, hence fatter forks.

Mechanics and science have nothing to do with it.
This was explained to me by a famous frame builder.

[g00se]

I needed a pair of 70s-style 'skinny' threaded road forks recently (wanted a longer steerer). A few of the local bike shops had them 'knocking around the back'. I got a nice lugged pair for a tenner.

For something new - google "surly steel forks" - or there are some here: http://www.on-one.co.uk/c/q/forks/rigid_forks

[Mick F]

Carry out an experiment for me please.

Stand at the side of your bike, and hold the front brake on hard.
Rhythmically - rock the bike back and forth quite hard and watch the forks flexing.
Look down at the BB to gauge the movement of the bike.

How far does your bike move from rearmost to frontmost.

Mine moves about an inch.
531c skinny forks.

[al_yrpal]

I have fat steel forks on my tourer. They are basically a piece of tube bent in a U welded to a steel steerer.. I suppose the logic is that they carry a disc brake and thus need to be very stiff. Unfortunately this is at the expense of comfort. I have been looking for some carbon ones with disc mounts, these are quite a fashion in mtb circles now. The very low weight, just 500g or so including the carbon steerer takes 2 kg off the weight of a mtb. As well as being much lighter I think that the shock absorbing properties will be better on my tourer.

The sticking point is, these carbon forks dont have a centre mudguard mount, and, I must have that.

Has anyone seen carbon forks with disc and muguard mounts for 26" wheels?

Al

[Ribblehead]

There are various factors here:

1. Modulus of the fork material (531 probably has a higher modulus than typical no-name junk)
2. The thickness of the material and cross section of the blades (i.e. part of the fork design)
3. The curvature of the fork blade (also part of the fork design, small radius curvature near the bottom of the fork blade = comfort, large radius curvature or straight fork = pneumatic drill experience)

[Mick F]

......... = pneumatic drill experience)

Hence the many posts on here about "road buzz".
I don't suffer from it at all, even though I have narrow high pressure tyres.

Anyone going to try my experiment?

[alicej]

Carry out an experiment for me please.

Stand at the side of your bike, and hold the front brake on hard.
Rhythmically - rock the bike back and forth quite hard and watch the forks flexing.
Look down at the BB to gauge the movement of the bike.

How far does your bike move from rearmost to frontmost.

Mine moves about an inch.
531c skinny forks.

Mine move about half an inch. Steel forks, how skinny is "skinny"?

[Ribblehead]

......... = pneumatic drill experience)

Hence the many posts on here about "road buzz".
I don't suffer from it at all, even though I have narrow high pressure tyres.

Anyone going to try my experiment?

Well, large radius and straight forks are more efficient than small radius forks, which is important if you're in a race, and races aren't supposed to be comfortable, are they?

[PW]

All our forks are 531C so I can't help, sorry Mick.

[Ray]

The sticking point is, these carbon forks dont have a centre mudguard mount, and, I must have that.

If you are unable to find a fork with the hole you're looking for it is not at all difficult to fix the mudguard by drilling or piercing 4 small holes (2 either side of the mg centre line) and threading zip ties through and over the shoulders of the fork. I've done this with chromoplastic mgs on a number of bikes in the past, with the particular aim of snugging the mg up as high as possible to maximise tyre clearance. No problem with durability; lasts as long as the rest of the mg, particularly if you thread the zip tie through a chain link plate on the inside of the mg as reinforcement.

Ray

[stewartpratt]

The very low weight, just 500g or so including the carbon steerer takes 2 kg off the weight of a mtb. As well as being much lighter I think that the shock absorbing properties will be better on my tourer.

The sticking point is, these carbon forks dont have a centre mudguard mount, and, I must have that.

Has anyone seen carbon forks with disc and muguard mounts for 26" wheels?

It'll remove 2kg compared to an average suspension fork but if you've got another rigid fork weighing 2.5kg it must be filled with cement

If you want a mudguard on the MTB style carbon forks you could use a THE fender or similar - they have a bung/wedge which fits into the bottom of the steerer tube. They're excellent at keeping the muck out of your face but they won't keep your feet dry. Also, they'll be aesthetically incongruous on a tourer

An alternative would be to fit a star fangled nut up the bottom of the steerer (or, if you want something removable, you can get wedges - the original angle-topped Syncros ahead-stems used to come with them) and a top cap under that, and then run a bolt through the mudguard into that (or maybe fit something to attach the bracket to - you should have enough clearance since most rigid MTB forks are 420 or 440mm these days). Probably need P-clips for the stays, of course.

You could use a 700c CX fork, if that opens up options, provided you're not using fat tyres. It'd drop your front end a bit if you have longer forks on there at the moment, of course.

[AlbionLass]

There are carbon forks available for mudguards if that's what you want.
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/pp/road-t ... inter/FORW

[al_yrpal]

Thanks for the suggestions, perhaps I'll just go for it and solve the mudguard mounting problem as I go along using your ideas. I dont know the weight of my present steel forks but they don't have the nice forward slim curve like Micks and thus are totally unforgiving. Unfortunately the Ribble forks don't have disc mounts. I was looking at something like this : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2011-TRIGON-M ... 017wt_1396

Al

[cycleruk]

When sourcing forks remember to get the correct steerer size.
Older forks will more than likely have a 1 inch steerer tube.