A couple of questions I need some guidance on.

First I am building a road bike, standard on an Argon 18 Krypton frame. And I am needing some forks. Wheel set is 700 and rim brakes.

1. As I am looking at forks there are two kinds, straight 1 1/8 or the kind that are tapered. Are one better than the other? I see more available in the straight than the tapered. I know this is like saying what's better ford or Chevy but is there a general consensus about this? I have not purchased the headset yet, I wanted to get forks then buy the appropriate headset to match. Thought getting forks first would be easier.

2. I have been watching ebay and seeing lots of options. I keep seeing these EC90 forks? They are under $100 are they at all any good? I have been looking for used stuff just because of the price point. Take an Enve new in box $300...that probably is worth it but I just don't want to spend that much. But there are many makers out there, I just don't know who is reliable. I actually don't even care if they are carbon really, would obviously prefer it though.

thoughts, guidance, help!

Your frame either takes a tapered steer tube fork or it doesn't. You don't get to choose one or the other, you choose the one that fits your frame. You can't put a tapered steer tube fork on a frame that is designed for a straight steer tube

Can you tell me how I know the difference? I was talking with FSA and they gave me a parts list for either way or after I told them the measurements of my head tube. Now I am super confused.

Here is the bike "tech card" for the frame. See pages 7/8 for my specific frame.

https://www.argon18bike.com/uploads/...cards-2013.pdf


Here is the communication from Brian at FSA below. Now I am just confused...…….


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Ok, that's no problem.

The 53-1 is the correct headset but we'll have to build it piece by piece based on what fork you decide to go with. Here is the build kit for a straight 1-1/8 for and for a tapered 1-1/8 to 1-1/4 (like Enve makes).

Bearings x 2160-0018000000 Orbit C-33 Bearing 1-1/4 45x45 CrMo ACB MR168, TH-970E $10.99

Top cover161-4502 No.53 Top Cover Black Alloy 10mm H2216 $11.99

Compression ring160-7651 Compression Ring No.53 H2213 $2.99

For a straight 1-1/8 fork:160-5542 Crown Race 1-1/4 Reducer Fits No.44-1 No.53-1- C-33-1 H6067 $9.90

Or



For a tapered fork:160-5543 Crown Race 1 1/4 Fits No.44- No.53- C-33 H6063 $5.99 Feel free to call our sales department with any purchases you'll need. I'm afraid you'll most likely need to call as there are not many, if any, dealers/bikes shops that will carry all of these parts together.

Cheers,



Brian Collins

Tech Support

Full Speed Ahead

425-488-8653 x1318

Thank you for the link!!

this is a picture of the original fork....thought it might help...…

What's wrong with the original fork?

BTW, there is only one(1) fork on a bicycle.

The upper right corner of page 8 has the headset specs at " • FSA No 53-1+3D (Bearing 1”1/4 Top & Bottom, 36°/ 45°) + FSA TH-883 Compressor included ". You have the OEM fork. What's the problem? Measure the fork to make sure it matches the specs. If it does great you have your answer.

Now why you want a different fork or would even consider one that didn't match the specs is the question some of us wonder about. Andy

The bike is already a road bike as is.
But a review said the steering is a "bit relaxed for some".
https://www.bikeradar.com/us/road/ge...-105-15-49309/

Also some kind of strange head tube...
"The real advantage of the Argon, however, is that should you decide or feel the need to start riding in a lower, racier position then you’ve got more than 30mm of adjustment."

Maybe all it needs is an adjustment to your personal taste.

If you want the steering to be more responsive then get the straight forks. The trail will lower though.
https://www.yojimg.net/bike/web_tools/trailcalc.php

they are straight, the offset is in the way the mold was made at a particular angle to the steering tube Axis..

low trail is more fork offset, (or smaller wheels)

I am really sorry I should have mentioned that I don't have these forks, these are just a picture of the original forks. I have no forks and need to purchase some for the frame…..just want to make sure I get what I can use.

you got me on the plural to.....lol

sorry about the confusion, I don't have any fork. I failed to explain this, sorry. I can't because I can't find any original.

Argon 18 has been less than helpful so far. I tried them and a couple of dealers. I just hate to play the exchange game.

Yes, showing the original fork did lead me to think you actually had it.

So Argon 18 has no replacement to offer to you? They can't/won't give you the A-C dimension? Can they confirm that the specs you linked to are correct for the headset at least? Did you purchase this frame from a dealer or privetly. It sucks that you have a frame that has no dealers in your state (according to the Argon 18 dealer search function). Andy

yeah, my bad on that first part!

So no Argon 18 has been not helpful at all. They don't know for sure what they used. Silly.

I contacted a three of their dealers, I tried to pick out bigger ones and they only looking at the old tech sheets like I have already but not sure either. I really like this frame a lot and want to build it but finding a fork is becoming more difficult of a deal than I imagined. That too is bad on my part for not doing my homework first I guess.

If I can't get something figured for sure I am going to order what FSA says I should have and they get a fork and just start trying......

Have you tried contacting the head office?

​​​​​​6833 Avenue de l'Épée, suite 208
Montréal, Québec, Canada
H3N 2C7
Tel. for Montreal area 514.271.2992
Toll free: 1.877.578.1818

Hey, his state already gets two senators. Isn't that enough?

You might also try contacting Cycles Gervais Rioux
Gervais Rioux is the founder and owner of Argon 18​​​​

Address

4646 avenue du Parc
Montréal,*Québec,*H2V 4E5
Canada
514-278-1818
info@cyclesgervaisrioux.com

Oh okay, I didn't see the offset. Seems like that would put more stress on the head tube.
...
'fraid I'm scarred forever by an errant calculator I was using 3 years ago.
When I found out it was spitting out the wrong information it was a 'Your other left foot' moment. It was a wth scenario, see the pictorials, see the equations, but the calculator was wrong. I began to wonder if any of the info I was seeing was correct. Then I saw a video of two guys shoving a bike toward each other in a parking lot. The bike had been in a crash that bent its forks back perfectly head on. Thus a lesser offset. It sailed across the parking lot in a straight line. A little extreme for normal steering but it put me in right direction. So I found a calculator that actually worked.
A special hell has to await that calculator programmer.

Low Trail in steel . classically, the tip is J bent, tapered thin so a little elasticity & 650B wide tires softens the Parisian Cobbles feel..

steering axis line and axle plumb line cross above the ground.. trailis rhe distance between those 2 at the ground plane...


post crash that increased the trail .. as would reversing the fork, backwards..





..

this info was the missing piece I needed.** These guys were great.** FSA was spot on for head set parts.
However this shop was super helpful with the fork specs. * Straight tube 1 1/8 and such.** BEST part was they were going to check the parts dungeon they thought they actually had a couple of forks there from Argon 18 factory bikes.** SWEET!* So hopefully they do find one to sell me.* What a great contact this turned out to be.

I will say the actual contacts at Argon 18 are not very customer helpful.* I have tried calling a bunch of times and emailed them and they don't seem to reach out to customers at all.* Kind of frustrating, but I shouldn't need to use the actual corporate numbers now that I have this hopefully squared away!**

hoping they find a fork for me
*

That's great. I hope they got one for you.

" post crash that increased the trail .. as would reversing the fork, backwards.. "

Yup, I wanted to increase the trail. I don't ride fast enough to worry about straight on lock. And I wanted to sweep around when turning around. My original geometry had too much a little of this and a little of that when turning around. I got the geometry settled on my bike, it rides like I want it to now. The aesthetics and possible hardware failure aren't as pretty as the numbers and the ride though. I got a fork book but haven't committed to it or brazing equipment yet.

I bought an all carbon fork on ebay for $50.