boshwag

So I'm working on somewhat of a budget road bike build, and the bike will be used mostly for recreational riding. I recently bought an aluminum frame from Nashbar and am considering my options for a fork. I've done a little research, but not too much so far. I'm wondering if a carbon fork is worth the extra cost versus an aluminum fork. It sounds like a carbon fork has a bit of a shock absorbing effect which could be nice as it seems aluminum can be a bit harsh riding. But is the effect noticeable enough to justify the extra cost?

10 Wheels

You won't notice any difference.
Just use tires that run with a lower psi.

Velo Dog

That's what I was going to recommend, too. I don't have personal experience, but a friend resurrected his old high-end steel frame recently (I forget what it is, but he mentioned that he paid ~$1000 in college in the early '70s). Tore it all down, had it professionally painted and built it up with Campy components, everything perfect. Hoping for a little more comfort, he put on a carbon fork, which wasn't easy to find for a 1-inch threaded headset. He paid a ton for it, and says "sometimes I think I can feel a difference."

boshwag

I've also heard that a carbon fork can be easier on the frame, helping to prevent stress cracks over time. Is it save to say that that type of benefit is pretty minimal as well?

ivan_yulaev

I would say the comfort angle is probably overblown. But the weight difference between a metal and a plastic fork is dramatic, about 2x in many cases. If it's a 1.125" headset you should be able to find a carbon fork for it pretty cheap - this is the route I would take, after having both steel and CF forks on my bike.

Not looking forward to the day (if it ever comes!) when I have to replace my 1" steerer tube CF fork...

RollCNY

If you just picked up a Nashbar frame, grab the Nashbar carbon fork with aluminum steerer. Wait for a 20% off, and get it for $72. Regardless of feel, it is half the weight or less of a steel fork. You compare it to an aluminum fork, which I have never shopped for, but a steel fork is in the $50 range whenever I have looked, so it really saves you little. Cheapest weight reduction you can get.

Paul Barnard

These guys have lots of forks and good prices on them. I have ordered from them twice with good results. I built with thier unfinished $25 aluminum forks, but if I had to do it all over again, I'd go with one of their carbon fiber forks.

https://www.bikewagon.com/part.html?cat=944

https://www.bikewagon.com/2danger-car...c-x-224mm.html

IthaDan 

Yes, the difference in comfort between an aluminum fork and a carbon fork, especially the comfort focused nashbar one, is amazing. For years my father had been having trouble with his hands and shoulders on his 01 allez with an aluminum fork. Once I put a nashbar carbon fork on there, his pain and numbness is pretty much gone.

Cheap aluminum frames are very stiff and unforgiving. It's worth the $100 to go with a carbon fork.

Fox Farm

12 or 15 years ago, I put a Kestral carbon fork on my Cannondale, replacing the aluminum/steel fork. I noticed an improvement in ride quality with out a doubt.

big john

Can you still buy an aluminum fork?

joe_5700

+1 on this suggestion. I have a Nashbar carbon fork with alloy steerer on my Jamis Ventura, and it has been great.

hueyhoolihan

i've done it on an '85 trek elance. replaced the old steel fork with a new-to-me time carbon fork (with aluminum dropouts and metal steerer). saved some weight and the ride was noticeably softer. felt like someone had dropped 15 PSI out of my front tire. i originally did it for the weight savings, and pooh-poohed all the stuff about riding characteristics of a carbon fork, but i was wrong.

i have subsequently built up a new full carbon bike and it is hard riding as any bike i have. so i suppose different carbon forks ride differently for me.

i'm considering doing the same for my '79 trek 710, but have yet to find the proper fork at a reasonable price.

since you don't have a fork right now, i would suggest going with the Nashbar carbon one.

Paul Barnard

See my above post.

RollCNY

Your links point to a carbon fork, and to the general bikewagon page. Looking at the selection they list for road bikes, they are all steel or carbon. Maybe I missed it, but could find no unfinished aluminum fork. Sounds like a neat idea, easy to rattle can some splash into a bike. If you know the exact link, please post.

OldsCOOL

Over at Nashbar. Easton still makes them....not cheap and not necessarily as light as one might want.

I'm going the carbon fork route soon. For a 1" threaded carbon fork, excellent weight difference from steel forks on the bike and 89.00, there isnt much risk for not trying.

StanSeven

This thread is providing a lot of advice about nothing. CF forks are better, cheaper, and much easier to find. It would be an issue if the OP was considering replacing a fork but he's just buying one from scratch.

mmmdonuts

Cheap forks are pretty much the same whether CF, steel, or aluminum. Not much of a difference between them. There is a difference between good forks of any material and cheap forks of the same.

What does this mean? If you're on a budget buy any fork that fits your bike. These days the easiest to find are CF forks with aluminum steerers and crowns like the Nashbar forks.

boshwag

That's very helpful! I just assumed carbon would be the more expensive option because it's this "exotic material." It appears I'm showing my inexperience

rebel1916

It might be helpful, but it's also nonsense.

rebel1916

Why are you spewing such demonstrably untrue jibber jabber. CF forks are substantially lighter than comparable metal forks. They may not matter to you, but it matters to many.

mmmdonuts

Right, jibber jabber. Good forks such as Enve, Easton, Reynolds, Alpha-Q, etc. are light. Nasbar forks and others like them are neither all that good or light. A good steel fork is around 1.5 to 2 pounds (700-900g) while the recommended budget CF forks with aluminum steerers are 600-700g. Good CF forks are much lighter.

But you are right that I don't care so much about weight. The job of a fork is much more than holding the wheel to the frame. Good forks are designed to ride a specific way. Where to flex and where to be rigid so to that goal the designers spend a lot of time using the right amount and types of materials to create a strong and light fork with reliable handling characteristics. That costs money, a lot.

The cheap CF forks are built to meet a demand for CF and looks. I have the Nasbar CF/Alu fork and the blades are so overbuilt that they don't flex at all. The force is transmitted thru the bonded aluminum crown to the steer tube, which is aluminum, and where all of the flex happens. This is not a good thing to have a bouncy fork that flexes at the steer tube going straight or thru turns. I also have an Alpha-Q with OX Platinum steel steer tube. Guess what, it is lighter and 10 times better than the cheap fork. The blades flex just right, not the steerer, and it stays planted in all conditions. I can't imagine a cheap full CF fork being much better than a CF/Alu model but haven't ridden one to compare.

I have ridden good steel, cheap steel, good aluminum, cheap CF, good CF but not full CF forks. The ride difference between those examples was not in the material but in the pricepoint and quality level.

I am not going to tell you to not get a cheap CF fork because I've done so myself. What I am saying is you should understand what you're getting for your money and don't expect any fork to be better just because it is or has CF.

rebel1916

You are comparing expensive steel, to cheap carbon. Apples to apples please. The cheap steel, (or more likely cheap aluminum) will be a boat anchor with a meh ride. The cheap carbon will be a bunch lighter even if the ride isn't substantially better. Sorry, but I'm gonna stand by calling your first post nonsense, and I;m gonna call your second post disingenuous because you are cherry picking high end steel to compare against low end CF

Paul Barnard

I just looked. I guess they sold out. Just a few days ago they had them for $25. I bought two for builds I did this past winter. Sorry for the false alarm. You might call them to see if they are going to get anymore.

mmmdonuts

What I'm saying is that there is more to it than weight and CF. Which seem to be your sole criteria.

rebel1916

Nope. I would rather have an expensive fork. But at the low end a crappy CF fork is gonna weigh less than an crappy metal fork. And weight is at least somewhat significant. I am not a weight weenie. My road ride is Easton aluminum. But I wouldn't compare my bike which was a high end aluminum bike in 03 to a $500 aluminum bike and conclude that aluminum frames are all slow handling, heavy and ****e riding. Because you gotta compare like to like. Which you are not doing.