Need fork recommendation



JJL7

New Member
Jan 14, 2015
3
0
0
I've got a Masi CX Comp 2015 and a Scattante CX 350 2014, both size 58 (but the geometries are pretty different).

I'm looking to replace the fork on the Scattante, hoping to bring out some similar ride qualities to the Masi.

Problems with the Scattante:

- When I'm standing and working the bike from right to left during hammering climbs (kind of leaning it in the opposite direction of each pedal stroke), it jerks around a bit and feels very unstable, like the wheel wants to turn. I've kind of gotten used to it but I don't like it.
The Masi doesn't do this.

-Toe overlap. The Masi is fine, and has 700x40 tires. The scattante has 700x32's and there's too much toe overlap for me to be comfortable with. Tried to get used to it to no avail.

-When riding with no hands (not that it's important), the Masi is very stable, the Scattante requires careful body positioning, straighter posture, and faster pedaling. This isn't a big deal, but it's an example of the stable feeling I'm looking to get out of the scattante.

Eyeballing the 2 bikes, I can see that there's a lot more rake on the Masi fork. Or at least the fork legs are at more of an angle from the steerer tube. (not sure about the dropout position in relation tot he steerer axis) The handlebar on the Masi is wider, which may contribute to the stable feeling. I was planning on swapping to a wider bar on the Scattante as well.

I'm wondering if a fork with more rake would help me out on the Scattante. I've read some articles on how to measure rake, but it requires removing the forks from the bikes, u-bolting them to a jig, etc. Before I got through all that I was looking for some advice.

I'd be looking for a steel or aluminum for for disc brake, must be disc compatible. Does anyone know of a disk fork with a lot of rake?

The Masi is very smooth and stable but is steel. I like the Scattante as a fast/light bike and my rain bike. I'm not opposed to a completely new frame AND fork if it's affordable and works with my current parts kit, but it should be aluminum, not steel.

Hopefully I can just swap a couple parts under $200 and improve matters.

Tips? Thanks
 
Head angle and trail are arguably the the most important factors in bike handling. Other things being equal, a steeper head angle means quicker steering. And trail, the distance on the ground between the vertical dropped from axle center and the the center of the steering axis, determines the bikes ability to self-center. Trail is about finding a sweet spot. Too much makes the bike slow to respond to rider inputs; steering feels heavy and the rider constantly over-corrects. To little makes the bike twitchy to rider inputs; around corners, the front end might feel as though it wants to swing wide, and the bike responds more to handlebar steering than weight shifting. Generally, to maintain the sweet spot, which most would put at around 65-75 mm, a slacker head tube requires a fork with more rake. A trail calculator can be found at this link: http://www.yojimg.net/bike/web_tools/trailcalc.php

The secondary factors in handling are overall wheelbase, bottom bracket drop, and the rider's center of gravity between the wheels. More drop lowers the rider's center of gravity. Longer wheelbase slows the bikes reactions to rider inputs. And moving the center of gravity back makes the front end more twitchy, somewhat like reducing trail.

The geometry of your Masi is available at the Masi website but I can't find any information about the Scattante. I suggest measuring and comparing the two bikes, plugging some numbers into the calculator, and seeing if a different fork rake can bring the Scattante's trail dimension closer to the Masi's.
 
Thanks for your reply and link!

I e-mailed Performance Bike and they got this to me in under an hour, pretty good service on that.


Of course the Masi is already online:
http://www.masibikes.com/bikes/competition/cx-comp-2015

They both claim fork offset is 45. Both claim the Head angle is 72 degrees. Are the forks different lengths? what am I missing here? These bikes steer and self-center very differently.
 
Hmm. What are the sizes of your two bikes?

I just went to my go-to source, QBP, to see what they had for cyclocross forks. I found three reasonably priced carbon forks, a Ritchey and two by Whiskey Parts, all with 45 mm of rake.

Looking at the profile of the Masi, I wouldn't be surprised if its rake is longer than 45--possibly 50 mm.

It's also possible that the stability you're feeling on the Masi is partly due to the inertia of the disc brake rotors.
 
I don't know much about rakes and stuff other than I use one for getting the leaves off my yard...anywho, I do know from test riding many bikes with CF forks that some forks are indeed better at handling due to the stiffness of the fork. In that thought I've found that Enve seems to be among the best on the market which is why I ended up with one on my bike. I'm not saying they're the absolutely best because there's probably others that are equal to it, but from the ones I test rode it was the most surefooted fork, it didn't seem like it would wash out on you, like the problem you're having. Cheap forks will feel a bit squirrely and not very confident in handling, kind of like trying to make a 81 Cadillac Deville to negotiate mountain curves at a high rate of speed, vs doing the same thing in a Corvette...there's just no confidence in that Cadillac to do so.

Another good stiff fork besides Enve 2.0 (the best of the 2 they make) is Woundup. Enve 2.0 that I have made both myself and a friend who had a Serotta with a Serotta CF fork realize rather quickly that the Enve was the better fork. Good forks do cost money, around $400 so be prepared and be prepared to know your rake, to do that here's a little calculator that may help but you do need some information about the geometry of your bike, usually the bikes website will have this, or e-mail them and they can provide it; see: http://bikeraceinfo.com/tech/trail.html Here's more: http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2010/6/3/the-ideal-handling-bicycle.html
 
Both bikes are officially sized "58" but the top tube on the Scattante feels much shorter, haven't measured the effective TT length.

Both bikes have 160mm disc brake rotors up front. The BB on the MASI is higher off the ground. I'm also not certain the chart provided on the scattante is correct. Just eye-balling, you can tell the the fork legs are at more of an angle to the head tube/steerer on the MASI than on the Scattante, but...the dropouts on the satante might be farther forward. I know I get way more toe overlap/rub on the scattante. It's just a shorter bike. Same Clement X'Plor MSO 700x40 tires on both bikes (only the TPI is different)

Another odd thing that happens on the scattante is vibration when using the front brake hard at high speeds. Headset ins't loose but the whole fork kind of vibrates. It has Tekro Lyra brakes whereas I put BB7 SL's on the MASI (though it too came with Tekrtros and didn't have the same problem)

Both forks are steel.

I'll check out all the recommended forks! I'm leaning away from carbon just because I actually ride it on trails and have (unfounded) day-mares about the fork shattering on me.

I like the Scattante for being light, stiff, no worries about rust in the rain, and the drivetrain (Sora) has actually had less issues than the Masi (Tiagra) but man...that steering is scary to me. so jittery.
 
Originally Posted by JJL7
I like the Scattante for being light, stiff, no worries about rust in the rain, and the drivetrain (Sora) has actually had less issues than the Masi (Tiagra) but man...that steering is scary to me. so jittery.
Sounds like a carbon fork for the Scattante would cost more than the bike is worth.

Can you post a photo of the bike in full profile?
 
The following is in order of least expensive to the most expensive, check the easiest stuff first and work your way up stopping at each level and testing after adjusting to see if it worked..

A vibration during braking could be simply the skewer is not tight enough;
or the hub is not adjusted corrected;
check for excess play or looseness in the brake calipers;
rim is out of true;
to many spacers (if you're using spacers remove one and see what happens);
make sure the headset is adjusted correctly and not worn (these threadless ones can be tricky to adjust for someone who has never done one);
the headset may not be sitting square which means the head tube needs to be refaced.
 
Originally Posted by Runis1954

Thank you everyone for so much help and guidance
I didn't realize you had disk brakes, have the rotor checked and the spoke tension.
Also if the disk brakes did not come with the bike and was added later then the fork is not reinforced (ie: not a disk brake specific fork) to handle the disk brake and could lead to fork failure but would make the fork vibrate under hard braking.
 
Originally Posted by Froze
I didn't realize you had disk brakes, have the rotor checked and the spoke tension.
Even easier, try swapping the wheels between the two bikes, or at least the front ones. See what happens.
 
Originally Posted by oldbobcat
Even easier, try swapping the wheels between the two bikes, or at least the front ones. See what happens.
Great idea because it's easy and quick.