mistermog

Howdy again time for another stupid noob question that I couldn't find an answer to yet.

Front fork material? I know alum is harsh and hear that steel, chromoly and carbon absorb vibration well but how do they compare to each other? How much different are they? The carbons are a lot more expensive and for the riding I am going to do.

Also, front and rear dereuliatlaiesialeirrer? Most of the ones I am looking at are altus or acera, a few have tourney front and altus rears, or altus/acera etc... Im coming from a beat up old junker so anything would probably be an improvement, is it worth trying to get any particular level of these? what does each step buy you?

(city, 10-20 mile leisure at most, hoping to get up to mid teens average mph) and right now I have a spreadsheet with 26 bikes on it trying to compare.

Thanks!

tyrion

Shimano has both a road bike and a mountain bike component hierarchy.

https://www.evanscycles.com/coffeest...heir-hierarchy

https://www.evanscycles.com/coffeest...heir-hierarchy

mistermog

Yeah I found the list but saying its more crisp doesnt say if its noticable on every shift or if youre only an expert paying attention to it etc... same with fork... is it a BIG Difference between them or just a tick above academic for an average lower experience rider?

hokiefyd 

The drivetrain works together to produce good shifts consistently. The chain probably plays the smallest part in shifting, and the cassette and shifters probably play the largest part. The derailleur simply reacts to the cable pulled or released by the shifter. I generally suggest not getting too worked up over the spec sheet. If you have two otherwise identical bikes for the same price and one has better components...sure, go for it. But anywhere from about Altus up through Alivio is just splitting hairs in my opinion. The quality of the cassette (with the indexed shifting ramps on the cogs) will play more of a part in shifting than your derailleur, and any of these derailleurs will be reliable for many, many years.

mistermog

fantastic thanks hokie... any input on fork material?

Wanderer

Carbon forks make a noticeable difference in comfort. Bumps are less harsh, and buzz is almost non existent. On top of that, it is lighter.

hokiefyd 

I don't have any experience with carbon, but I do have two somewhat similar steel bikes from the '90s. One has a cromoly steel fork and the other is just a basic "hi tensile" steel fork, and the cromoly fork seems to have more flex to it. That bike has a fully cromoly frame (with double butting) and the other bike is a heavier gauge steel, and the cromoly bike is a more comfortable bike overall. The hi tensile bike is heavier and feels more like a tank.

I've read that carbon forks are more comfortable and forgiving, but I have no experience with them.

mistermog

well, thanks guys but.... dammit there goes money hehehe

tyrion

About 2 and a half ticks.

tbo

+1 on this. Don't really care about the weight that much. Purchased my hybrid 9 years ago, not getting the carbon fork was the one and only misstep, maybe.

At the time, it was several hundred dollars more expensive to go from a standard bike (Trek 7.2 FX, which I got) to a first level carbon fork (Trek 7.4 FX). Using Trek as an example only due to familiarity, the carbon fork currently shows up on the FX 3, which is $600 or so. It's gotten much less expensive to go from the standard fork to the carbon fork. Do it.

<Trek Plug> The FX 3 is an amazing bike for the price these days.</Trek Plug>

hokiefyd 

People used to (and some still do) talk about the durability of carbon forks being materially less than steel. Is that really an issue anymore? I see "mainstream" carbon forks selling for about a hundred bucks in the aftermarket. Is one of these forks going to be able to do anything a steel fork can do, assuming normal/regular use on road/gravel/path? Not talking about downhilling a hybrid, here, just "normal" use for a hybrid bike.

Edit:

I'm thinking something like this: https://www.nashbar.com/webapp/wcs/st...2_175019_-1___

Though, I guess if it's marketed at CX, and is strong enough for stuff they do, it'll be WELL over-engineered for my riding...

mistermog

well, just as an update right now im comparing the '17s trek fx 2 and 3, and the sirrus and sirrus sport. basically deciding if i want to spend 500 for steels or i can get the fx 3 for 550 on sale or 750 for the sirrus sport.

the carbon fork did make the steering MUCH quicker, though the road vibrations felt the same to me

MRT2

All of my bikes have used cro moly steel forks so I cannot comment on carbon forks, other than the obvious which is, they are a bit lighter. But as for road buzz, I imagine if there is a difference, you would have to ride for quite awhile to notice a difference.

mistermog

Just as a note, I ended up going with the Trek fx 3. nice crisp white

coominya

What @hokiefyd said is quite correct but from a relative beginners perspective the actual technique used to shift is by far the most important aspect. The best gearing will not perform very well if you change under heavy load or change at a slow cadence. Likewise even crappy gears can be made to change well under the hand of an experienced rider familiar with the bike in question.

Thankfully it doesn't take long to get proficiency at it. Just change up when the pedals are spinning well and back off the power as you do so. As for forks, well I recon a fork is a fork, it wont make much difference unless you're into the sport side of things.

mistermog

Yep, I just found a bike that I liked and knowing it has decent stuff but wasnt much more expensive than the basic stuff on other bikes made me happy. basically, i spent about 80 bucks to upgrade from bottom level to more upper stuff.