CARBON FORK QUESTION

I have a ti gt edge with CF bladed fork and upon routine cleaning it was noted that the fork has a
"small" crack in the center of the crown that appears to only be thru the clear coat and doesn't
connect to the brake mount hole or anything else for that matter.

Am I just paranoid or is this good cause for concern? I took some pics if someone is interested for
the CF experts.

Michael [email protected]

 

When it comes to forks, especially CF, it's good to have a healthy dose of paranoia. I would not
trust it. None of the visualizations that comes to mind of fork failures produces a pretty sight.

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have a ti gt edge with CF bladed fork and upon routine cleaning it was noted that the fork has a
> "small" crack in the center of the crown that appears to only be thru the clear coat and doesn't
> connect to the brake mount hole or anything else for that matter.
>
> Am I just paranoid or is this good cause for concern? I took some pics if someone is interested
> for the CF experts.
>
> Michael [email protected]

 

Is this "paranoia" really necessary? There are literally tens of thousands, if not hundreds of
thousands of CF forks on the road. You do not hear about any massive amounts of failures. IF there
were problems you would hear about it, especially here on rec.bike.wreck! Of course, IF there is
some damage to a CF fork, then it should be throughly inspected and replaced if needed. However,
there IF you are that paranoid of CF forks, do yourself a favor and stick to steel. But don't spread
such fear mongering and paranoia, it ain't healthy..... "thekid" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
> When it comes to forks, especially CF, it's good to have a healthy dose of paranoia. I would not
> trust it. None of the visualizations that comes to mind of fork failures produces a pretty sight.
>
>
> <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I have a ti gt edge with CF bladed fork and upon routine cleaning it was noted that the fork has
> > a "small" crack in the center of the crown that appears to only be thru the clear coat and
> > doesn't connect to the brake mount hole or anything else for that matter.
> >
> > Am I just paranoid or is this good cause for concern? I took some pics
if
> > someone is interested for the CF experts.
> >
> > Michael [email protected]
> >
>

 

> > <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > I have a ti gt edge with CF bladed fork and upon routine cleaning it
was
> > > noted that the fork has a "small" crack in the center of the crown
that
> > > appears to only be thru the clear coat and doesn't connect to the
brake
> > > mount hole or anything else for that matter.
> > >
> > > Am I just paranoid or is this good cause for concern? I took some
pics
> if
> > > someone is interested for the CF experts.

> "thekid" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > When it comes to forks, especially CF, it's good to have a healthy dose
of
> > paranoia. I would not trust it. None of the visualizations that comes to mind of fork failures
> > produces a pretty sight.

"bfd" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Is this "paranoia" really necessary? There are literally tens of
thousands,
> if not hundreds of thousands of CF forks on the road. You do not hear
about
> any massive amounts of failures. IF there were problems you would hear
about
> it, especially here on rec.bike.wreck! Of course, IF there is some damage
to
> a CF fork, then it should be throughly inspected and replaced if needed. However, there IF you are
> that paranoid of CF forks, do yourself a favor
and
> stick to steel. But don't spread such fear mongering and paranoia, it
ain't
> healthy.....

I agree. I was very vocally wrong when I predicted large numbeers of failures on the advent of cheap
Chinese carbon forks on popular priced bikes. They have proven dependable.

However I would take great care to ensure _your particular_ ( the mysterious MrBubble, the OP) fork
anomaly is a clearcoat variance and not actually a crack.

Clear nail polish is useful if it is a clearcoat problem

--
Andrew Muzi http://www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April 1971

 

That's just it, a little paranoia my be healthier than lying mangled at the bottom of a steep hill
because the glue holdiing fork fibers together gave way. And all because after the design was
released to manufacturing, they decided to save a few dollars by using a cheaper resin that was
not reliable.

"bfd" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Is this "paranoia" really necessary? There are literally tens of
thousands,
> if not hundreds of thousands of CF forks on the road. You do not hear
about
> any massive amounts of failures. IF there were problems you would hear
about
> it, especially here on rec.bike.wreck! Of course, IF there is some damage
to
> a CF fork, then it should be throughly inspected and replaced if needed. However, there IF you are
> that paranoid of CF forks, do yourself a favor
and
> stick to steel. But don't spread such fear mongering and paranoia, it
ain't
> healthy..... "thekid" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > When it comes to forks, especially CF, it's good to have a healthy dose
of
> > paranoia. I would not trust it. None of the visualizations that comes to mind of fork failures
> > produces a pretty sight.
> >
> >
> > <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > I have a ti gt edge with CF bladed fork and upon routine cleaning it
was
> > > noted that the fork has a "small" crack in the center of the crown
that
> > > appears to only be thru the clear coat and doesn't connect to the
brake
> > > mount hole or anything else for that matter.
> > >
> > > Am I just paranoid or is this good cause for concern? I took some
pics
> if
> > > someone is interested for the CF experts.
> > >
> > > Michael [email protected]
> > >
> > >
> >
>

 

"thekid" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> That's just it, a little paranoia my be healthier than lying mangled at
the
> bottom of a steep hill because the glue holdiing fork fibers together gave way. And all because
> after the design was released to manufacturing, they decided to save a few dollars by using a
> cheaper resin that was not reliable.

My sailboat is made from fiberglass resin, still going strong after 20 + years.

Dashii

 

"thekid" <[email protected]> wrote:

>That's just it, a little paranoia my be healthier than lying mangled at the bottom of a steep hill
>because the glue holdiing fork fibers together gave way. And all because after the design was
>released to manufacturing, they decided to save a few dollars by using a cheaper resin that was not
>reliable.

That was certainly a common concern 10 years ago, but by and large the CF forks have proven to be as
reliable as their metal brethren.

That's not to say that every new design that comes along is going to be robust enough for an abusive
200 pound climber/sprinter. And let's not assume that just because a fork is made from metal that
it's indestructible - there could be a casting flaw, or a contaminated batch of aluminum alloy, etc.

In the end, I'm pretty conservative when it comes to forks I'll ride (my own road bikes have steel
steer tubes even though I'm only ~150 pounds / 72kg). I'm watching this whole carbon fiber steer
tube thing closely to see what kinds of real-world problems surface.

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles http://www.habcycles.com Home of the $695 ti frame

>"bfd" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>> Is this "paranoia" really necessary? There are literally tens of
>thousands,
>> if not hundreds of thousands of CF forks on the road. You do not hear
>about
>> any massive amounts of failures. IF there were problems you would hear
>about
>> it, especially here on rec.bike.wreck! Of course, IF there is some damage
>to
>> a CF fork, then it should be throughly inspected and replaced if needed. However, there IF you
>> are that paranoid of CF forks, do yourself a favor
>and
>> stick to steel. But don't spread such fear mongering and paranoia, it
>ain't
>> healthy..... "thekid" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>> > When it comes to forks, especially CF, it's good to have a healthy dose
>of
>> > paranoia. I would not trust it. None of the visualizations that comes to mind of fork failures
>> > produces a pretty sight.
>> >
>> >
>> > <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> > news:[email protected]...
>> > > I have a ti gt edge with CF bladed fork and upon routine cleaning it
>was
>> > > noted that the fork has a "small" crack in the center of the crown
>that
>> > > appears to only be thru the clear coat and doesn't connect to the
>brake
>> > > mount hole or anything else for that matter.
>> > >
>> > > Am I just paranoid or is this good cause for concern? I took some
>pics
>> if
>> > > someone is interested for the CF experts.
>> > >
>> > > Michael [email protected]
>> > >
>> > >
>> >
>> >
>>
>