Road Cycling - Zipp wheels don't fit Alpha Q Sub 3 fork...Help!

After almost a year of receiving my custom Calfee Tetra Pro I had it assembled today. It is basically a standard 50cm geometry bike, except that it uses 650c wheels. The fork I chose was the Alpha Q Sub 3 - all painted nicely to match the frame.
The wheels are Zipp 303 with Michelin Axial Pro tires (650 x 23c). These wheels fit perfectly on my OTHER 650c road bike that uses a Reynolds Ouzo Pro 650c fork.
After bringing home the bike I noticed a rubbing sound from the front wheel. I thought it was the brake pad rubbing on the rim but upon further inspection I noticed that the top of the front tire was rubbing on the inside top curve of the fork! What the???@!!! Fork is a 650c size, wheels are 650c - you'd think they'd work together. Anyone else experience this? Ideas? Suggestions? Would going to a 20c tire size help much?
Here is a pic to show you the rubbing:

http://members.shaw.ca/nemod/tireclearance.jpg

Could be a dodgy fork? It should fit a 23 tyre!

Could be a dodgy fork? It should fit a 23 tyre!


Possibly. I just spoke with customer service at Calfee and they said that this problem is not uncommon with Alpha Q Sub 3 650c forks. They've had complaints before. They recommended that I try a smaller width tire, like 20c, or another brand other than Michelin if I want to stick with 23c (as supposedly Michelin tires run fatter than others - I tend to agree). I guess the folks at True Temper needed as much space as possible in the crown area to strengthen the carbon fork, but this really tight tolerence is not good product design. I still need to talk with someone from True Temper to hear what they have to say. The least they could do is warn the public about this before people spend $100 worth of tires and find that they don't fit.

btw how tall are you? riding 650 and all... good luck! (i'td be neat if I could ride 650 cause its rare...but at my size... i think not (6ft))

btw how tall are you? riding 650 and all... good luck! (i'td be neat if I could ride 650 cause its rare...but at my size... i think not (6ft))

It's not really how tall you are (I'm 5' 9"), but rather your inseam and reach measurements. I regularly ride a 50cm comfortably. 650c wheels looks proportionately correct with smaller sized frames like this.
There have been many discussions on the benefits/pitfalls between 650c and 700c. They basically feel the same to me (I have two 650c and one 700c road bike), but the 650c just 'looks' better.

Look at my signature. The Dean is a 650c bike and the Casati is 700c.

Tell them to order you a new fork as that one is buggered. If they measure the crown to dropout length on it I guarantee you it's not at factory specs. Sometimes bad ones slip through the quality controls and that's what you got IMO. Don't let anyone at the shop where you made your purchase tell you different and make them fix it.

For the record, I run a 700c Alpha Q Sub3 with Zipps on my race bike and there's plenty of tire clearance.