Offering a carbon road fork for builders

[cardinal]

I have a customer that wants a road bike that will use fenders and normal road calipers (39-49mm). He is also interested in using a carbon fork, but there aren't any fork options out there with a proper axle to crown.

Are there any of you out there that might be interested in a simply styled carbon fork with an axle to crown measurement in the 376 range? I'm talking to someone who would be able to have a high quality fork made to these dimensions. It would have a carbon steer tube and alloy dropouts and be similar to the old AlphaQ forks in quality. I would only be able to have them made if I knew there was some demand out there. I'd be shooting for a retail price of $500.

I'm just in fact finding mode right now.

Let me know what you think.

[hampco]

Enve is talking about making just the fork you describe, not sure what their timeline is.

But if that falls through I'm interested.

(This is for short-reach calipers? If so, why the 376 CRH?)

[cardinal]

Steve,
Enve was the first place I called. The word I got is that they have had requests for this fork, but have no plan to make one. I wish they would.
And 376? I was pulling that out of my butt while thinking about steel crowns . With a carbon crown it might be 370 or less I suppose...

[Eric Estlund]

With the small sampling of carbon forks I've looked at the issue is less A-t-C and more A-t-brake hole/ relative drop of "crown"- ie, there is more meat between the headset and the tire then a similarly long a-t-c steel fork. Said another way, for the same a-t-c the brake often sits 3-5mm lower in the carbon example

Just tossing that out there- I'm pretty content with making forks for everything.

[Dallas Tex]

tell your customer no.

[markbeaver]

What would be really nice would be a good-looking slim lined carbon fork built for 49-59mm "standard reach" ie long reach sidepulls, with enough room to fit a narrow fender above a 23mm or 25mm tire. There's so many of us rando- freaks out there who would love a carbon fork on their custom rando mileage machine. I know, I know, yeah. But there's a market that's pretty much unfulfilled as long as we keep on using 1" steerers. A sweet looking slender carbon fork like the older Time's or Profile AC's with long reach would be grand.

Mark Beaver
Tamarack Cycles
Halifax, Nova Scotia

[Linnaeus]

Wound-Up not an option? I realize they're a bit out of the mainstream for carbon forks, but they are quite nice.

[pruckelshaus]

Yeah, I was going to mention Wound UP.

It's too bad Ventana doesn't make their road fork anymore. I had one BITD and it had straight blades with a profile that made it look a bit more classic, and a CNC crown with plenty of clearance for wide clinchers (I ran 35mm hybrid tires without any problems). It was a nice fork.

[anon.]

Do the folks in question have the molds for the alpha q cx20? Those forks need to come back.

[cardinal]

I wish someone would buy the AlphaQ molds. The cross fork was just right.
There was a rumor that Moots was interested...

That's not what I had in mind. About a day after posting this question, my customer decided a steel fork would be OK. I still think there is a market for this fork, but I don't want to sink the resources into the project right now. It sounds like 10k+ and a guaranty that they would start under selling them to anyone as soon as they are pulled from the molds.

For now I'll just make due. I am looking forward to the day when Signal can bring unique parts to market that fill a need.

[zank]

Serotta is offering a "Light Touring" fork that is for normal reach brakes and has eyelets on the dropouts. I believe the length is 381 mm and comes in a couple of different offset options. Drop an email to Stephen Fairchild. Stephen at Serotta . com.

[cardinal]

Thanks y'all,
So much good info available for the picking here. Another great example of why this place rulez.

[e.Gellie]

Received from Serotta yesterday....

The S3 is 37.2cm axle to crown and is available in 40, 43, 47, and 52mm rakes.(my notes from their table: Road oriented fork, aluminium dropouts, )
The S3 Rapid Tour is 38.1cm axle to crown comes in 42, 45, 49, and 54mm rakes. (my notes from their table: for long reach brakes, fender/rack eyelets on dropouts)

there is also on their table, 'SE Super Tour': Canti brakes, mounting for full pannier racks, fenders ... I don't have more details on that one ...

Finally a production fork for long-reach brakes ...

p.s. a Van Nicholas 'long-reach' fork a customer got in 1 year ago was a complete disappointment ... it put the brake pads fully UP in the slots of a 57mm reach brake, gaining no extra clearance in terms of length, and it in fact worked with a 49mm reach brake with pads DOWN in the slot ... aaaghh.

enjoy,
Ewen Gellie

[johncaletti]

Beyond the Serotta offerings, Wound up offers a road fork with a 365 A-C for standard road caliper brakes, as well as "commuter/light touring fork" a 376 A-C for 57mm reach caliper brakes.
Wound Up Composite Cycles - Product Specs

Also of note: Volagi (spelling?) who is making a carbon frame/fork for road with disc brakes, has a disc front fork that isn't very long (A-C) but has a very compact crown and looks like a 28mm tire would fit fine. It will be interesting to see what happens with discs. 3T is working on a carbon CX fork for disc brakes, Wound Up offers one currently, and I would imagine there will be more options there as well.

[cardinal]

Digging this back up because I've started conversations about this fork with a couple manufacturers. We still do a lot of steel forks with this axle to brake hole measurement. For Shimano road calipers on a 45mm offset fork it is 358-9mm kind of depends a bit on rim width. The axle to crown ends up somewhere around 368 and 370 depending on the crown used.

We see a growing need for this fork for Signal projects. I'm trying to gain a better view of what others think about the demand for this fork. Whatcha think?

I can see it being a "for builders only" kind of thing as the added height on the front end would slack the headtube angle about a degree.

[hampco]

sorry to be so obtuse but we are discussing a fork for fenders AND short-reach (49mm) calipers? if so i'd see it as having pretty limited appeal and little practicality but i could be wrong.

if it's a molded carbon fork for 35mm Honjo fenders (or larger) and 57mm-reach calipers then i'm interested. two rakes - 45mm and 50mm - should be considered if possible.

and then we need some high-zoot calipers - who can make those happen? TRP, maybe?

[GSmith]

Are we talking about something similar to the Alpha Q cs25? We used lots of them on Club Racers. Could take up to a 32 w/o fenders and a 28 with fenders and long reach calipers. I am down to 2 NOS, and have been mostly making steel forks for CR's, with the occasional Wound Up.

FWIW, I tried to buy the Alpha Q molds, and was told unequivocally that they were not for sale and were slated to be destroyed. The issue is product liability. It's one of the reasons True Temper folded the Alpha parts business, and one of the reasons the economics on these things suck. Combine that with the need for forks to pass CEN standards, and what you get when you try to build a carbon fork for sport touring applications is something that will be over-built to the point of being 1) ugly, and 2) not much lighter than a well built steel fork for the same application.

Again, FWIW, the new disc compatible CX forks coming into the market represent more potential for a carbon sport touring application. The big issue that I have with them is that they are mostly being designed/built around tapered steerers, so they look like ass on a normal tubed steel frame. QBP's new carbon brand, Whiskey, offers theirs with eyelets The top one in the pic).

Lastly, I have a pretty good back-stock of Alpha cx20's, so if anyone wants one or more, ping me.

[cardinal]

sorry to be so obtuse but we are discussing a fork for fenders AND short-reach (49mm) calipers? if so i'd see it as having pretty limited appeal and little practicality but i could be wrong.

Yeah Steve I'm talking about using standard (short reach 39-49) calipers with pads at the bottom of the slot. I admit it is a very specialized product, but what I am hearing from customers (enough to make me me take notice), is that long reach brakes calipers split up full grouppos (maybe not such a big deal)
AND make the bike into an "old man" bike.

Keeping short calipers with room for 28's or small tires with fenders keeps the bike sporty, keeps the group together.

I've noticed other builders making steel forks with these dimensions, so I think there might be some demand for something like this, but I could be wrong. I know some bike companies offer bikes with this spec (Cannondale CAAD10 and the old Fisher Cronos are a couple).

I really appreciate the honest feedback. It's helpful to have a large group to bounce these things around with.

[turpentine]

I would like to see more options in the 1" steerer market. Just from a consumer perspective of 'upgrading' (don't want to start a discussion on steel vs carbon forks, but mentioning that it isn't always the best idea) old steel bikes with lighter weight, less rigid carbon options.
The columbus minimal looks good but I have no idea on the clearance it offers. I just have to assume it's not a lot.

[swhittingham]

I do a lot of "adventure" road bikes in all kinds of configurations. Options are:

Carbon fork for short reach brakes "maxxed out" in the slots. This fits 23-25mm tires with fenders very well and even some 28mms but is running the ragged edge. I get these forks through Marinoni in Quebec. Not super high end but definitely a great fork and looks good. Retail price is about $250 comes in 45 or 50mm rake 1 1/8" steerer. I think axle/crown length in 376 but could be wrong. If anybody has trouble getting these I can get them for you.

For "long reach" or what used to be called normal reach (47-57) I have also been using the longer version of the fork mentioned above from Marinoni Same fork just a little longer. I have been working with Seven cycles who make some great carbon forks that retail in the $550 range I believe. They have been good enough to sell me forks at a reduced price. Best thing about these is the range of offset from 40mm to 60mm in 2-3mm increments! Awesome!

I really like woundup forks as well and they can accommodate custom lengths for you. I realize the look is a little more aggressive than some people like but I think a bike all kitted for winter with a pair of these looks like you mean serious business!

Of course you can always just make some............

Cheers,
Sam