Replacing Fork

[jleiby]

I am interested in replacing the steel fork on my 6 year old cannondale road
bike with a carbon threadless. Is that a good idea and does anyone have
experiance with a a Sette carbon fork? I'd like to make the bike a little
lighter and hopefully smoother riding. It also seems I can get better
control on the Handlebar geometry.

Thanks

John

 

[Ted]

> I am interested in replacing the steel fork on my 6 year old cannondale road
> bike with a carbon threadless. Is that a good idea and does anyone have
> experiance with a a Sette carbon fork? I'd like to make the bike a little
> lighter and hopefully smoother riding. It also seems I can get better
> control on the Handlebar geometry.
>
> Thanks
>
> John

Handlebar geometry has nothing to do with the fork. You can change the
bars to ones that suit you better without changing the fork.

Be aware that installing a "carbon" (plastic) fork will indeed save you
a few ounces and *may* damp road buzz a little, but a few ounces off the
total rider+bike weight is a tiny percentage. And if the new fork's
length or offset is different than the original, you may change your
bike's handling for the worse.

Ted

--
Ted Bennett
Portland, OR

 

[Paul Kopit]

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 17:26:44 -0500, "jleiby" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>I am interested in replacing the steel fork on my 6 year old cannondale road
>bike with a carbon threadless. Is that a good idea and does anyone have
>experiance with a a Sette carbon fork? I'd like to make the bike a little
>lighter and hopefully smoother riding. It also seems I can get better
>control on the Handlebar geometry.

I don't think it is a good idea. Your bicycle will be lighter but the
smoother riding is more a myth with CF than a reality. You are about
to spend a bunce of $ for a fork, headset, and stem that will not
enhance the value of your bicycle.

You can buy a used CAAD4 with the setup you want for less than what
you are going to spend on parts and labor.

 

[[email protected]]

jleiby wrote:
> I am interested in replacing the steel fork on my 6 year old
cannondale road
> bike with a carbon threadless. Is that a good idea and does anyone
have
> experiance with a a Sette carbon fork? I'd like to make the bike a
little
> lighter and hopefully smoother riding. It also seems I can get better
> control on the Handlebar geometry.
>
> Thanks
>
> John

The Sette forks are generic Taiwan-made units sold on Pricepoint.com.
They are probably identical to the Weyless forks sold by Supergo, and
any number of similar OEM and replacement forks. Not necessarily bad,
but you could shop around and find them for less money. For instance:
http://www.chucksbikes.com/store/forks.htm

Jeff

 

[B]

>And if the new fork's
>length or offset is different than the original, you may change your
>bike's handling for the worse.
>
>Ted

Or for the better.
B

(remove clothes to reply)

 

[Dave Thompson]

jleiby wrote:
> I am interested in replacing the steel fork on my 6 year old
> cannondale road bike with a carbon threadless. Is that a good idea
> and does anyone have experiance with a a Sette carbon fork? I'd like
> to make the bike a little lighter and hopefully smoother riding. It
> also seems I can get better control on the Handlebar geometry.
>
> Thanks
>
> John
You must be careful when changing to a fork with a different geometry, it
could alter the handling characteristics for the better or worse. If you
install a fork with a different rake and offset, you *will* change the
handling of your bike. But you won't know until you do it, and it could
prove to be an expensive experiment. To get the correct geometry fork, you
must know your current fork rake and offset and choose a fork with the same
numbers.

There are those that have changed out their steel fork for a carbon fork and
have reported the carbon fork is harsher than the steel., not as they hoped.

 

[jim beam]

jleiby wrote:
> I am interested in replacing the steel fork on my 6 year old cannondale road
> bike with a carbon threadless. Is that a good idea and does anyone have
> experiance with a a Sette carbon fork? I'd like to make the bike a little
> lighter and hopefully smoother riding. It also seems I can get better
> control on the Handlebar geometry.
>
> Thanks
>
> John

well, as someone with personal experience of owning 6 different types of
carbon forks, some great, some awful, i can say that in general, this is
a good idea. i like the way carbon takes some of the buzz out of the
road and threadless is definitely the way to go for ease of generic
parts replacement.

only caveat i have is whether your frame takes a 1" steerer or not. if
it does, track down a fork with a steel steerer. if it's 1.125", you're
fine with most of the generic forks. just do the squeeze test before
buying - squeeze the blades together with one hand. if you hear any
creaking or cracking noises, DO NOT BUY THAT FORK.

regarding geometry, from personal experience, there's little to worry
about. there's a small difference in feel between rakes, at least on
the size frames i use, but it's not dramatic. you can rest assured that
if any small geometry change was as apparently catastrophic as some
people seem to think, there would be an awful lot of law suits out
there. it would also negate the use of adjustable ride height mountain
bike forks, a common commodity.

 

[Joselas]

"B" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >And if the new fork's
> >length or offset is different than the original, you may change your
> >bike's handling for the worse.
> >
> >Ted
>
> Or for the better.
> B
>
> (remove clothes to reply)

Or, since the offset range of almost all carbon forks on the market is
between 40 and 45 (most at 43), not noticably either way.

 

[Ted]

[email protected]lothes (B) wrote:

> >And if the new fork's
> >length or offset is different than the original, you may change your
> >bike's handling for the worse.
> >
> >Ted
>
> Or for the better.
> B


Agreed.

Ted

--
Ted Bennett
Portland, OR

 

[Ted]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Joselas" <[email protected]> wrote:

> "B" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > >And if the new fork's
> > >length or offset is different than the original, you may change your
> > >bike's handling for the worse.
> > >
> > >Ted
> >
> > Or for the better.
> > B
> >
> > (remove clothes to reply)
>
> Or, since the offset range of almost all carbon forks on the market is
> between 40 and 45 (most at 43), not noticably either way.

Sure, but the relevant difference here is between the original fork and
a new one. Does the OP know how much offset he now has?

Ted

--
Ted Bennett
Portland, OR