Originally Posted by
dr1445
my vintage bikes are steel and have crmo forks. last year i built up a miele aluminium frame and fork from ebay with disc brakes. my roads are mostly chip and seal surface which sets up a high frequency vibe, that i ride for 15-20 miles. neither AL or crmo type fork, in my opinion, is any better than the other in that environment. never tried a composite fork, but it is on my bucket list.
Interesting. Chip and seal is pretty much what all the residential neighborhoods here have gone to, so that's what I'm taking into account when I ride. That plus the random gravel/debris/cracks/etc you encounter on any ride. I don't see myself doing rides longer than 15 - 20 miles at a time as well. So it sounds like either my best bet is to get the Trex 7.4 FX Disc on closeout like I originally mentioned, or maybe save up/hold out for this Specialized, which looks to combine everything (hydro disc, carbon fork and components that are good enough for me):
Specialized Bicycle Components
Basically, I think my mentality is "spend just enough to get everything you're pretty sure you want, but then cut it off so you're not overspending on things you'll probably never notice the difference on"