homebrewk

I need some suggestions for a new fork. I am buying the 2011 Leader 725 in white, possibly black, and I need a fork. The obvious choice is the new I05TR from Scrod, but I need something cheaper.

So, does anyone have any suggestions for a carbon fiber fork that matches the headtube on the 725 and is less than or around $120?

Leukybear 

There's two on bike island with an oversized crown (matching the 725's oversized headtube for around $115 - 120; free shipping. They're road forks however with a lax rake if you care.

https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ls&ProdID=1877

https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ls&ProdID=1258

You can go cheaper/ much cheaper* nonetheless on ebay by buying a fork with a oversized steerer from a forsaken road frameset or an upgraded bike. Be careful of oversized forks with ~tapered~ steerer tubes if you take this route.

Squirrelli

This is a good deal too, but shipping is somewhat expensive. Also road rake.

evilcryalotmore

Im using my carbon fork off my road bike witch is the first bikes direct link, Its heavy just to let you know.

homebrewk

All these options look great. Appreciate it!

Hothead286

I have the EC70 fork posted. It's light and looks great for the price.

Kayce

The rake on those forks would make for very wonky steering. Its a much better idea to save the extra $50 for a fork that fits right. No need to get a fork an extra week or two earlier that doesnt work right.

UCF Eric

There's this https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ls&ProdID=1794 but it isn't going to match the rake you need for the frame.

edit: they beat me to it

Scrodzilla

This.

homebrewk

Why?

Kayce

The length and angle of the headtube are designed to take a certain fork rake(in this case 30mm), the rake is how much the axle is offset from the heatube. With the wrong trail, distance from the wheel contact to the ground and the headtube angle, your stearing becomes erratic. At a certain part in the bar turning your turning will feel sluggish, almost as if you are forcably pulling the back of your bike around. But then with a couple of degrees more your wheel will flop over. That will force you bike to either make a steep jump to an impossibly sharp turn, or make it so severe that your forward momentum will bring you and your bike up over the front end. With time and practice you will find where these spots are and over come them(its what I do on my polo bike) but with that bike I cant imagine any advantage to dealing with these things.


On my polo bike I have the opposite set up, the aftermarket for has less offset than the original. So my turning at small degrees pulls my bike around very harshly and quickly, but it has the same flopping issue at some point.

homebrewk

Thanks for the explanation. Does anyone know the proper fork rake needed and the proper crown race as well?

vw addict

Save money and get the correct fork, or you could piss away $100 and be let down.

homebrewk

Good points everyone. Thanks for the help.

Hothead286

The more I think about it, the more I should've done this. :/

stryper

Running a "slack" geometry fork on a bike is going to make it handle like a road bike, running a "tight" geometry fork will make it handle like a track bike.

The bike itself is not some modern engineering feat where unless you run the exact specific fork it will explode (it's a leader for cryin out loud). The head tube angle of the frame is 74˚. It's not uncommon for a road bike to have that same angle. The difference between that road bikes handling and the 725's handling is the offset of the fork.

Just a guess that based on your question you are not racing this bike on a track, but riding on the road. Call me the moon and say I'm made of cheese, but I think one of the above mentioned carbon fiber "road" forks will work perfectly fine on the bike you are riding on the road.

Kayce

There is a difference between working and working perfectly fine.

Scrodzilla

Whether it's a Leader or a $4000 custom frame, there's no real sense in using a fork which wasn't designed for use with that particular frame's geometry. If you want different geo and handling, perhaps you should consider a different frame.

stryper

^ I'm not disagreeing with you Scrod that "there's no real sense in using a fork which wasn't designed for use with that particular frame's geometry," but what exactly is it about a 40mm rake fork that doesn't work with the design of the leader frame in question? I would bet my bike to yours that I can find more than one stock bike that has the exact same head tube angle as the Leader frame, and uses a 40mm fork, or one that is even more "slack".

I'm not trying to challenge what you say just to be right, but to either learn something I didn't know or to show that everyone here is just being pretentious/elitist.

dookie

Front end geometry.

The frameset is a system. If you want the bike to handle like the designers intended, match the rake. A different rake will 'work', as in fit, but the further off stock the more dramatically the handling will be affected. A few mm is pretty subtle but 5mm starts to be noticeable, and at 10+ you will certainly feel the difference.

Try it. If you don't feel anything, or don't care, hey...the fork works.

gilmatic

I'm in the market for a carbon fork but I'm willing to spend up to $300 for a good fork with a 30mm rake. Any recommendations?