Cyclocross - Another fork question

I have a steel frame that I am incrementally changing for cyclocross. With a steel frame, would an aluminum fork work fine since the frame already does a good job of absorbing the shock or would it still be worth it to go with a carbon fork? Nashbar has their carbon fork on sale, but I also saw a Redline al fork for basically 100 bucks. I thought if I could, I'd save sixty bucks or so, but if the extra $$ for a carbon fork is worth it, then I'd consider that as well. Thanks!

--happy mudding, er--riding!

Go for the carbon, then you wont have any question. Or if ya want, you can buy the carbon fork, send it to me, and I'll send you the aluminum fork off my X01!

Go for the carbon, then you wont have any question. Or if ya want, you can buy the carbon fork, send it to me, and I'll send you the aluminum fork off my X01!

Nice try! :)

The aluminum fork isn't going to be _bad_ it just won't be mojo-jojo ultra-sexy-cool. It's just a fork. Remember you're riding on dirt with soft tires, we aren't in the world of small pebbles making the frame jitter of 19mm tires pumped to 130psi.

Ron

Go for the carbon, then you wont have any question. Or if ya want, you can buy the carbon fork, send it to me, and I'll send you the aluminum fork off my X01!

WHAT CARBON FORK WOULD YOU RECOMEND?

There are many carbon forks made for CX bikes. Just a couple to mention Alpha Q, Winwood, and Wound Up. I would like to have any of the 3, especially the Alpha Q, I just don't have the money to buy a carbon fork right now.

The aluminum fork isn't going to be _bad_ it just won't be mojo-jojo ultra-sexy-cool. It's just a fork. Remember you're riding on dirt with soft tires, we aren't in the world of small pebbles making the frame jitter of 19mm tires pumped to 130psi.

Ron

I tend to agree, I've looking at pics from cross races, most of the racers are just using steel or alum forks. I'm a big fan of carbon forks on road bikes, but with low pressure tires, I don't see the big advantage of having carbon cross fork other than the bling factor.

Another question regarding carbon vs. aluminum:

I use this bike for an off-road duathlon that is mainly double track or cyclo-cross type off-road but does contain a short portion of single-track. Would a carbon fork work for something like that or would it be too brittle and susceptible to breaking? Thanks.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Winwood-Muddy-Carbon-Fiber-Cyclocross-Fork_W0QQitemZ7221349652QQcategoryZ56196QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Nothing BAD about that aluminum fork but if you're going through the process of changing the fork then by all means get the best you can.

The biggest advantage of a carbon fork on a cross bike is weight. While I haven't weighed it, the steel fork that came on my Poprad feels like it weighs at least 1kg.

On a bike I didn't have to lift up and throw over my shoulder who knows how many times per lap for 30+ minutes (lowly cat 4/C here) I wouldn't necessarily mind so much, but this is such a bike, and I do mind.

With that said, I've still got the original steel fork on, because I'm much to cheap (and broke) to buy anything else right now.

The biggest advantage of a carbon fork on a cross bike is weight. While I haven't weighed it, the steel fork that came on my Poprad feels like it weighs at least 1kg.

On a bike I didn't have to lift up and throw over my shoulder who knows how many times per lap for 30+ minutes (lowly cat 4/C here) I wouldn't necessarily mind so much, but this is such a bike, and I do mind.

With that said, I've still got the original steel fork on, because I'm much to cheap (and broke) to buy anything else right now.

I agree that weight is an issue, but check the weight of those carbon cross forks, unless you spend big bucks, don't expect to save that much weight. don't get me wrong, you will save something...with a $329 reynolds cross fork, it going weigh 500 grams...many other carbon forks will weigh over 600 grams.

you buy a carbon fork because you want a lighter bike and because you want a very cool looking bike.

carbon doesnt necessarily equal lighter though.

And there are more carbon options than mentioned above.

Kuota
Alpha Q
WoundUp
Easton---one of the lightest
Reynolds
Redline
4za/Python---another ultralight contender
Winwood (save your money and just get a real carbon fork from above)

The stock carbon fork that came on my specialized Tricross was beefcake at 770 grams (very heavy). My Woundup weighs 595 with 9.25 steerer tube (not superlight). I'm in the process of ordering a Kuota Mud fork which comes in at like 520 grams for the same size steerer.

You can ride singletrack on a carbon cx fork, so long as youre not 250 lbs and going off 3 foot drops. I've never heard of one breaking.

The redline carbon can be had cheap ($175) and it looks pretty cool too.

jeremyb