Touring fork?

kingsley said:

Howdy,

Any suggestions as to a plain simple steel fork?

I want to junk the cheapie elastomer suspension forks
on the touring bike, since now we need front racks.

I can't see the point of buying expensive front racks
to cater to the sus-forks I don't really like anyways.

So... anything in quality with mounting holes available?

Last time I mentioned it to my LBS guy he reckoned on
getting a carbon-fibre fork. Seems a bit too space
age for slow-paced touring - besides these don't have
eyelets right?

-kt

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Kingsley Turner,
(mailto: [email hidden])
http://MadDogsBreakfast.com/ABFAQ - news:aus.bicycle Frequenly Asked Questions

CF forks would certainly be appreciated after a day in the saddle.
From memory some of the newer flat-barred roadsters (Specialized, Avanti, etc) have forks with eyelets in em. cant remember which brand had em but i remember spotting them in the parking arera at (then) work and thinkin 'clever bike designers'.
You in Melbourne?
Speak to Peter Moore or the peoples at MBTC...

flyingdutch said:

CF forks would certainly be appreciated after a day in the saddle.
i remember spotting them in the parking arera at (then) work and thinkin 'clever bike designers'.

There seems to be some venting on this group tonite, but Ill join in anyway...

Get serious? WTF would you want a carbon fork for, for touring in western europe? If you are going to get enough of a clue to drop the suspension, just carry it on and get a steel fork. If you cant get a steel fork from a bike shop because they arent in fashion anymore, just steal one from the tip.

till, who found steel bike, steel fork good enough in china, laos and cambodia

kingsley said:

Howdy,

Any suggestions as to a plain simple steel fork?

I want to junk the cheapie elastomer suspension forks
on the touring bike, since now we need front racks.

I can't see the point of buying expensive front racks
to cater to the sus-forks I don't really like anyways.

So... anything in quality with mounting holes available?

Last time I mentioned it to my LBS guy he reckoned on
getting a carbon-fibre fork. Seems a bit too space
age for slow-paced touring - besides these don't have
eyelets right?

-kt

--
Kingsley Turner,
(mailto: [email hidden])
maddogsbreakfast.comABFAQOpen ↗ - news:aus.bicycle Frequenly Asked Questions

Hi Kingsley ,, I am Malcolm a new guy to this forum , from Vancouver.Canada ,,, I toured around Europe with a suspension fork a few years ago with front rack and found that it attracted to much attention in the cities ,i was worried about theft especially in Britian where fancy mountain bikes are not so common ,nor helmuts or clipless petals,,, a carbon fork would break as it is not designed to carry a rack and weight, aside from the theft factor!

About steel forks -- I have gone to them and have found them a perfect combo for touring and what I call Base Camp mountain biking ( sent up the tent take off panniers and day ride in the back country,

check out Kona bikes --Kona Smoke ,with the project two fork
http://www.konaworld.com .. the fork can be bought seperately ,, look in the not bikes section

Hope this helps Bye for now ,,Malcolm

till! said:

There seems to be some venting on this group tonite, but Ill join in anyway...

Get serious? WTF would you want a carbon fork for, for touring in western europe? If you are going to get enough of a clue to drop the suspension, just carry it on and get a steel fork. If you cant get a steel fork from a bike shop because they arent in fashion anymore, just steal one from the tip.

till, who found steel bike, steel fork good enough in china, laos and cambodia

WTF???

i should add the steel forks would be more practical, and cheaper

kingsley said:

Last time I mentioned it to my LBS guy he reckoned on
getting a carbon-fibre fork.

You really need a new LBS. That guy must be seeing $$$$ signs every time
you walk through the door.

Any old standard steel fork should do, but try and load test it before
you go (Watagans Overnighter {:-).

Terry Collins said:

Quoted message said:

Last time I mentioned it to my LBS guy he reckoned on getting a
carbon-fibre fork.

You really need a new LBS. That guy must be seeing $$$$ signs every time
you walk through the door.

Nah, he's fairly good. He doesn't yet know quite how
much money I'm prepared to drop on bike gear.

I think he suggested it 'cause he comes from a triathlon
background, where repair in the middle-of-nowhere isn't
really a problem.

-kt

--
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(mailto: [email hidden])
http://MadDogsBreakfast.com/ABFAQ - news:aus.bicycle Frequenly Asked Questions

BlueTwo said:

About steel forks -- I have gone to them and have found them a perfect
combo for touring and what I call Base Camp mountain biking ( sent up the
tent take off panniers and day ride in the back country,

check out Kona bikes --Kona Smoke ,with the project two fork '
http://www.konaworld.com ... the fork can be
bought separately look in the not bikes section

Checkout that 'Chopstick Chopper' fork, I reckon I could
hang two sets of front panniers on that monster 😉

http://www.konaworld.com/shopping_cart/FrontEnd/Products/not_bikes_category.aspx?categoryid=207#forks

-kt

--
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(mailto: [email hidden])
http://MadDogsBreakfast.com/ABFAQ - news:aus.bicycle Frequenly Asked Questions

kingsley said:

I think he suggested it 'cause he comes from a triathlon
background, where repair in the middle-of-nowhere isn't
really a problem.

-kt

Many carbon forks with canti/v-brake mounts judder under braking the moment the pads get a bit dirty, or the rim gets a bit bent/sticky/old. You can bend steel forks back if you do a head-on (try doing that with carbon or Al alloy), they absorb vibration fairly well, and you can paint them without much prep. They make good tyre hooks. You wont weep if they do break (unless you crash), & they have a long fatigue life. They make a pleasing "bonnggg" sound when you tap them.

Why the HELL would you want to put panniers on suspension forks? What an outrageously stupid idea. It's like tying your backpack to a pogo stick, and going bushwalking. Don't expect to have all your possessions inside it when you go to look for them.

We have a library of swapped (for suspension, back in the old days) 1" & 1 1/8" decent chro-moly steel forks, threaded and unthreaded, where I work, many steerer lengths, none with eyelets, but I know a very obliging fella who will do it for you.

M "opinionated" H

mfhor said:

Why the HELL would you want to put panniers on suspension forks? What
an outrageously stupid idea. It's like tying your backpack to a pogo
stick, and going bushwalking. Don't expect to have all your possessions
inside it when you go to look for them.

AFAIK usually you put the rack low (low riders), so the pannier is on
the axle/wheel and not the top suspended part and you keep the top done
up when riding. {:-).

Well, that is what I've seen because I've never felt the extra weight of
suspension forks was worth the slightly smoother ride. KISS means that
my all steel bicycle is more reliable.

"Terry Collins" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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[...]

Quoted message said:

Well, that is what I've seen because I've never felt the extra weight
of suspension forks was worth the slightly smoother ride. KISS means
that my all steel bicycle is more reliable.

Roughly speaking, what is the weight difference between suspension and
standard forks?

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DRS said:

Roughly speaking, what is the weight difference between suspension and
standard forks?

I hope that you are not asking me. The only suspension forks that I
currently have are Huffy {:-).

"Terry Collins" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

DRS said:

Roughly speaking, what is the weight difference between suspension
and standard forks?

I hope that you are not asking me. The only suspension forks that I
currently have are Huffy {:-).

I'll ask anyone who knows the answer. :-) My hybrid came with Suntour CR
880 suspension forks and I've never been terribly impressed with them. If
the weight difference was significant I'd be inclined to get rid of them.

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DRS said:

"Terry Collins" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]

[...]

Quoted message said:

Well, that is what I've seen because I've never felt the extra weight
of suspension forks was worth the slightly smoother ride. KISS means
that my all steel bicycle is more reliable.

Roughly speaking, what is the weight difference between suspension and
standard forks?

That might be a "piece of string" question, but here's my 2c.

My Rockshox fork weighs almost 2Kg. The Columbus fork on my roadie
weighs about 340g I think (it's full carbon). I've seen older,
(possibly) low-end steel forks weighing around 1Kg.

I'm not 100% but I vageuly recall seeing a 531 fork that weighed in at
about 800g - but it's a pretty vague memory.

Cheers.
-Nick

NickZX6R said:

DRS wrote:

That might be a "piece of string" question, but here's my 2c.

My Rockshox fork weighs almost 2Kg. The Columbus fork on my roadie
weighs about 340g I think (it's full carbon). I've seen older,
(possibly) low-end steel forks weighing around 1Kg.

I'm not 100% but I vageuly recall seeing a 531 fork that weighed in at
about 800g - but it's a pretty vague memory.

Cheers.
-Nick

that sounds about right. altho that steel fork is quite light. I'd be thinkun more like 1000g

Hey DRS. why stick with the suspension forks at all?
By the sounds of your riding exploits, hardly seems warranted

"flyingdutch" <[email hidden]> wrote
in message news:[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

NickZX6R said:

DRS wrote:

That might be a "piece of string" question, but here's my 2c.

My Rockshox fork weighs almost 2Kg. The Columbus fork on my roadie
weighs about 340g I think (it's full carbon). I've seen older,
(possibly) low-end steel forks weighing around 1Kg.

I'm not 100% but I vageuly recall seeing a 531 fork that weighed in
at about 800g - but it's a pretty vague memory.

that sounds about right. altho that steel fork is quite light. I'd be
thinkun more like 1000g

Hey DRS. why stick with the suspension forks at all?
By the sounds of your riding exploits, hardly seems warranted

You are right, it's of virtually no benefit at all to me. However, for me
to justify spending the money on replacement forks I need to be able in my
own mind to point to a tangible benefit such as a significant weight saving.
If I could save a kilogram or more then the prospect becomes very tempting,
and I'm now inclined to have a chat to my LBS, but I wouldn't go carbon for
my hybrid, I'd stay with steel.

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DRS said:

"flyingdutch" <[email hidden]> wrote
in message news:[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

NickZX6R said:

DRS wrote:

That might be a "piece of string" question, but here's my 2c.

My Rockshox fork weighs almost 2Kg. The Columbus fork on my roadie
weighs about 340g I think (it's full carbon). I've seen older,
(possibly) low-end steel forks weighing around 1Kg.

I'm not 100% but I vageuly recall seeing a 531 fork that weighed in
at about 800g - but it's a pretty vague memory.

that sounds about right. altho that steel fork is quite light. I'd be
thinkun more like 1000g

Hey DRS. why stick with the suspension forks at all?
By the sounds of your riding exploits, hardly seems warranted

You are right, it's of virtually no benefit at all to me. However, for me
to justify spending the money on replacement forks I need to be able in my
own mind to point to a tangible benefit such as a significant weight saving.
If I could save a kilogram or more then the prospect becomes very tempting,
and I'm now inclined to have a chat to my LBS, but I wouldn't go carbon for
my hybrid, I'd stay with steel.

I think a steel fork would undoubtedly save you a kilogram.

--
Nick

DRS said:

I wouldn't go
carbon for my hybrid, I'd stay with steel.

I spent ages talking to the LBS guy on Saturday
(first saturday off work for weeks - woohoo!)

Anyway, he said there's CF + steel forks, and he
reckoned that would be lightweight and durable.
Says the carbon goes over a steel skellington -
I'd not heard of such a thing before, but i guess
I've never really payed attention to carbon stuff.
(Although I'd really like some CF touring handlebars)

Anyway, we looked in one of his brochures - there are
a few plain steel forks available.

Interestingly, I had a poke around the net. Surly make
a steel fork with eyelets, but it looks horrible.
There also seems to be a market for them in the cycle-cross
world (no eyelets though).

-kt

--
Kingsley Turner,
(mailto: [email hidden])
http://MadDogsBreakfast.com/ABFAQ - news:aus.bicycle Frequenly Asked Questions

DRS said:

Quoted message said:

I hope that you are not asking me. The only suspension forks that I
currently have are Huffy {:-).

I'll ask anyone who knows the answer. :-) My hybrid came with Suntour CR
880 suspension forks and I've never been terribly impressed with them. If
the weight difference was significant I'd be inclined to get rid of them.

I first became interested in this when we got the tandem.
It's a steel frame with a simple steel fork. But the
ride on it bloody beautiful. It does have fat tyres, and
I'm sure that helps - but it's so bloody smooth, just with
the steel fork. It's a joy to ride.

I'm hopeing that I can get the same thing going on the
hybrid (touring bike).

Anyway, I'd guess that the touring fork would be relatively
heavy.

-kt

--
Kingsley Turner,
(mailto: [email hidden])
http://MadDogsBreakfast.com/ABFAQ - news:aus.bicycle Frequenly Asked Questions

quote='kingsley'On Sun said:

I wouldn't go
carbon for my hybrid, I'd stay with steel.

I spent ages talking to the LBS guy on Saturday
(first saturday off work for weeks - woohoo!)

Anyway, he said there's CF + steel forks, and he
reckoned that would be lightweight and durable.
Says the carbon goes over a steel skellington -
I'd not heard of such a thing before, but i guess
I've never really payed attention to carbon stuff.
(Although I'd really like some CF touring handlebars)

Anyway, we looked in one of his brochures - there are
a few plain steel forks available.

Interestingly, I had a poke around the net. Surly make
a steel fork with eyelets, but it looks horrible.
There also seems to be a market for them in the cycle-cross
world (no eyelets though).

-kt

--
Kingsley Turner,
(mailto: [email hidden])
http://MadDogsBreakfast.com/ABFAQ - news:aus.bicycle Frequenly Asked Questions[/QUOTE]
How about rocking into any halfway decent bike shop/frame builder, and saying "Hey, I'd like a steel fork" and them selling you one for under a hundred bucks?

M "Surly is just a name on some tubing, with not a lot of rocket science in the design" H