Ambrosio carbon forks, etc. - opinions?

[David E. Belcher]

Have noticed of late that SJS Cycles are selling Ambrosio forks for
about 80 quid (and not subject to the usual SJSC hefty carriage charge,
which is nice) - potentially seems a good-value upgrade for my road
bike, beingas they're (a) cheap and (b) threaded forks like the
existing Cr-Mo ones, so avoiding the need to replace any other bits
such as headset or quill stem. Any opinions on the quality of the
product being sold? Never bought anything made by Ambrosio in the past,
so this is a bit of an unknown area for me. As far as the rest of the
road bike goes following the damage to the transmission (see post from
a couple of weeks back), it has now acquired a Campag Mirage rear mech
as an early Christmas gift from my folks, the chipped frame paintwork
has been touched up, and the wheels are being rebuilt with DT stainless
spokes - should be ready to collect very soon. The wheels are still the
Gipiemme Quattro ones I mentioned many months ago - interestingly the
shop rebuilding them report having had quite a bit of trouble with the
Campag-compatible version (luckily I have the Shimano 8/9sp version!),
which seems to confirm Simon Mason's comments made re. the suspect
Gipiemme build quality a good while back (bike shop reckons a hub
design fault causes frequent rear wheel spoke breakage).
One final question - any recommendations for a budget saddle for a
training bike that won't damage either wallet or posterior? I'm
considering a San Marco's ODS entry-level road saddle from Deeside
Cycles which looks cheap & cheerful enough at just over 12 quid incl.
P&P - I've read that San Marco are generally wider and so slightly
comfier saddles than Selle Italia, which is encouraging. Anyone had any
experience of the ODS? Thanks in advance for replies.

Regards,
David Belcher

 

[turkeytickler]

David E. Belcher wrote:
> Have noticed of late that SJS Cycles are selling Ambrosio forks for
> about 80 quid (and not subject to the usual SJSC hefty carriage charge,
> which is nice) - potentially seems a good-value upgrade for my road
> bike, beingas they're (a) cheap and (b) threaded forks like the
> existing Cr-Mo ones, so avoiding the need to replace any other bits
> such as headset or quill stem. Any opinions on the quality of the
> product being sold? Never bought anything made by Ambrosio in the past,
> so this is a bit of an unknown area for me. As far as the rest of the
> road bike goes following the damage to the transmission (see post from
> a couple of weeks back), it has now acquired a Campag Mirage rear mech
> as an early Christmas gift from my folks, the chipped frame paintwork
> has been touched up, and the wheels are being rebuilt with DT stainless
> spokes - should be ready to collect very soon. The wheels are still the
> Gipiemme Quattro ones I mentioned many months ago - interestingly the
> shop rebuilding them report having had quite a bit of trouble with the
> Campag-compatible version (luckily I have the Shimano 8/9sp version!),
> which seems to confirm Simon Mason's comments made re. the suspect
> Gipiemme build quality a good while back (bike shop reckons a hub
> design fault causes frequent rear wheel spoke breakage).
> One final question - any recommendations for a budget saddle for a
> training bike that won't damage either wallet or posterior? I'm
> considering a San Marco's ODS entry-level road saddle from Deeside
> Cycles which looks cheap & cheerful enough at just over 12 quid incl.
> P&P - I've read that San Marco are generally wider and so slightly
> comfier saddles than Selle Italia, which is encouraging. Anyone had any
> experience of the ODS? Thanks in advance for replies.
>
> Regards,
> David Belcher
>
I have ambrosio A7a (threadless) forks on my winter bike - have been
running them for 2-3 years now and no problems here at all - very good
value for money i think...