My hunt for a full carbon integrated fork was not as in depth as my quest for climbing wheels, but it resulted in what has proven to be a great product. I was looking to turn myself into a bit more of a weight weenie, and I made the fork the reward for meeting my mileage goal for March. Granted, I ordered it before the end of the month, and rode on it to actually meet said goal, but still.

Installation was easy as you'd expect from an integrated fork. I cleaned up the integrated cups and wiped down the bearings on my FSA headset since I was in there, and they're in great shape after a year and a half, just as I thought they'd be. Cut the steerer down using a cutting guide I borrowed from my LBS and a new hacksaw blade. LBS reminded me to wrap electrical tape where I was cutting to help to further reduce the risk of splintering. Cut like a dream. Filed it smooth with some fine sandpaper and installed it. The plug that Ritchey uses is similar to many of the aftermarket units I've seen since I got my full carbon fork on my old roadie frame; it's solid, sets easily and it easy to adjust. The clamp inside the steerer tightens with a 5mm and the top cap uses a 6, so you can tighten everything down while the top cap is still partially threaded on. This is handy. Not necessary, but handy. Put on the stem and took her for a spin or two. I rode it with my regular wheels to try to keep any influence of the new wheels out of the equation.

Within about 10 feet I noticed that it rides much smoother than the Zeus Aluminum Steerer carbon fork I've had since I got the bike. I have about a quarter mile dirt road to my place and it's nice and hardpacked with some washboardy kind of stuff and this fork was smooth as silk over it. I was initially concerned about lateral stiffness, but the first couple of corners proved that, if it's less stiff laterally than what it replaced, it's not so much so that there are any problems as a result. With my regular wheels, I didn't get any front end wag or movement of the wheel when out of the saddle climbing, and it tracks as well as I expect a good fork to.

I didn't weigh it, mainly due to a lack of accurate scales and an additional lack of patience to hunt one down around here. But, the front end probably dropped in the neighborhood of 150-220 grams, not bad for replacing one piece. I can't say that this is something that's incredibly noticeable except in terms of the bike's overall weight. Not like I'm lifting the front end over rocks and stumps or anything. But to lose a quarter to a half pound isn't bad, especially when ride quality is enhanced at the same time.

It's also a good looking fork. Whether you like integrated headsets or not doesn't matter a bit to me; the fork is clean, with subtle graphics and only the three colors found on Ritchey's WCS logo plus white lettering anywhere on it. Dropouts are even and the front wheel lines up as it should as well. Seems like something any good fork should do, and it is, but I've seen a few that don't always pan out the way they should.

Overall, good stuff. I did get it for under retail, but I've seen it priced reasonably, especially when compared to similar forks at similar weights. The only thing that I don't get, and need to email Ritchey about, is a series of four slots that sit on the inside of the fork near the rim of the wheel. I'm assuming it's some sort of aerodynamic thing, but it could just be bling. With the new fork and the Rolf Elans, the bike is under 18 pounds (17.5 by the old bathroom scale method, again no shop scale unfortunately) which ain't bad for a 60cm steel bike.