Carbon forks?

[fast but dim]

Following on from vintagetourer's build thread.....

Who uses carbon forks on their Thorn Audax?

I recently bought one off the CTC forum, and could not be happier, but there's always a however.....

I ride with a club, and now it's summer the pace is picking up on the evening club rides. I'm looking to use the thorn for everything, and have fitted some lighter shimano  RS 10 wheels and lighter tyres for club runs, figuring I can fit the 36h touring wheels when needed.

I've just bought some black rain carbon forks to use for summer (ebay steal ) looking to leave them on until Autumn: primarily to save a bit of weight.

So: If anyone has swapped their steel forks for carbon, was it worth it, and how did they affect performance?

Ta Ian

[rualexander]

I bought the optional extra carbon forks (ambrosio momentum, i think) when I bought my Mk3 frame and forks.
Most of the time I have had the carbon forks on the bike, but changed to the steel forks for doing lejog a few years ago and left them on for a while afterwards.
I can't say that I noticed any real difference in ride quality between the two forks, both are very comfortable. There is a noticable difference in front end weight though.

[fast but dim]

  thanks!

[Vintagetourer]

I briefly thought about the carbon forks for my recent Thorn Audax build but decided on the 853 Reynolds fork. Expensive little purchase but long term I couldn't be bothered with extra care and precautions needed with carbon on rougher roads.

I don't know how much difference in weight there is, but it isn't much. Not enough to make a difference for my level of riding.

I think Thorn say there's about 600g difference between carbon and their standard forks. The Reynolds fork is a fair bit lighter than the standard Cro-Mo fork. The carbon is lighter still.

If you are going to carry front panniers, then you'll need the heavier steel forks. There are carbon forks available with front rack attachment points, but I wouldn't use them.

I have carbon forks on my (Taiwanese) Ti road bike. Perfectly good. Feels fine and yes they are light.

[jags]

steel will give you a better ride for sure, carbon will be lighter but wont make you go any faster that's guaranteed. .
can i ask you this, are there a lot of glory hunters in that group like guys that think they can race,if so find another cycling partener and enjoy your cycling.
been there wore the Tshirt

jags.

[honesty]

Ive just changed from the Ambrosio carbon forks to the Thorn 853c forks. I ahve not had chance to ride with the new forks yet, but the carbon forks were good but limited the tyre size down a little bit. Against the 853c forks I dont think there is much of a weight saving.

[fast but dim]

Cheers for all the replies.

I'll give the carbon forks a try for a while, and report back.

I'll never use front panniers, or tour with more than a small bag, and 90% of my rides are 20 - 40 miles locally.

The main sticking point will be tyre size: I want to be able to swap easily between my 28mm touring wheels and 25mm fast wheels, whilst retaining my front mudguards.

[honesty]

With the ambrosio forks (could be different with other brands) Thorn said you could only get a 25c tyre under mudguards. It'll depend on the tyre as well though because not all 28c tyres are actually the same.

[fast but dim]

Cheers for all the replies.

I'll give the carbon forks a try for a while, and report back.

I'll never use front panniers, or tour with more than a small bag, and 90% of my rides are 20 - 40 miles locally.

The main sticking point will be tyre size: I want to be able to swap easily between my 28mm touring wheels and 25mm fast wheels, whilst retaining my front mudguards.

Fitted a set of Deda black rain carbon forks yesterday, initial inpressions are good: no loss of comfort, handling a bit sharper, plus guards / wheels/tyres all fit fine.

there's a big difference in weight, more than I expected, mainly due to the long steel steerer tube on the OE steel fork vs the short aluminium steerer on the carbon.

I've lightened the whole bike for the summer: shimano RS 10 wheels, changed the Spa saddle for a lighter selle italia, an now these carbon forks. I'm seeing my strava segments improve, but that is more down to fitness than losing weight off the bike!

[fast but dim]

Well, we're back in winter guise, steel forks, wide mudguards, comfy spa saddle and 36h touring wheels. I rode the last 10 mi home from work in the dark, with the potholed roads the forks/wheels have got to be a good move.

The first think I noticed was the increase in comfort of the saddle

[horizon]

Have you re-timed your Strva segments?

[fast but dim]

Have you re-timed your Strva segments?

It's officially winter, I'm not trying as hard My foot is off the gas until next spring!