trigger

Hi all,

I have a '91 Marinoni that I'm going to build up for the coming season. My first build, and I have a fork question for you all ...

The bike has a 1" threaded fork at the moment. Which requires a 1" threaded headset ... the bike is English threaded. If I find myself a 1" threadless fork (carbon), will that enable me to run a threadless headset?

The advantages I see of making the swap: a) will enable me to run a carbon fork to reduce road buzz on long rides (I have to protect my hands / arms for work), b) will give me more / easier stem options to adjust fit.

Is this correct?

What are the downsides? I will of course keep the original fork if I want to return the bike to original later.

The bike will be my only road bike, and will see hard use ... training, centuries etc.

Antipodes

Yes, if you change to a threadless fork, you can use a threadless headset. But really, putting a gasp, carbon, fork on a '91 'Noni! Leave it as it is! Asking those kind of questions in C&V is like putting yourself in front of the firing squad!...
If you want to make it more comfortable, and retain the original fork, the Nitto Technomic stem is a good choice, as it comes in multiple lengths.

cyclotoine

The answer to your question is yes.

Before I go on I must request pics being one of the many resident marinoni fans.

I only ride steel, carbon, titanium etc... someday maybe... but I am under the impression the carbon advantage of reducing road buzz etc is really something that concerns aluminum frames because they are so much stiffer than steel. A nice steel frame and fork can be very smooth. Now Marinoni did like to make his frame's stiff but the natural curve of a steel fork allows it to bend and absorb bumps on purpose, that is why bike forks are not straight.

The only real disadvantage (in my eyes (beauty..eye of beholder.. all that)) is that it will be very ugly with a carbon fork.

stringbreaker

How much for the old fork is it steel?

tuz

If you put a threadless fork yes you will need a threadless headset.

I never understood what really was "road buzz" (perhaps it's "marketing buzz"), and I doubt carbon forks augment comfort (tires do the most in that field).

It's true threadless forks make stem swaps much easier, plus bearing load ajustement is very simple.

trigger

Fork not for sale. Sorry. No matter what I do, I'm going to keep the fork.

Hmmm ... it seems I ought to reconsider this. Can any of you suggest some decent stems that would work with my threaded fork then ...

I'll post pics of the bike soon ... promise. It's yellow.

cyclotoine

Sure, two kind of nitto technomic here:

https://www.velo-orange.com/haandst.html

long or even longer with extensions of 70-120mm should give you the range you need and they come in 26.0 and 25.4mm clamp sizes, although velo orange doesn't seem to have any of the later. Velo orange is hands down the best store on the net for alternative and vintage and vintage-esq. cycling components and accessories. I would vote them best cycling store on the web. Extremely friendly, they let you choose your shipping option and don't overcharge... always prompt.

trigger

Ok - cool, thanks. The Technomic looks like the way to go. BTW - I like a reasonable about of drop from seat to bars, will the Technomic allow for this? They seem to emphasize being able to get your bars up high, and I prefer them below the saddle height. That said, it will be nice on longer rides to be able to yank them up a bit.

Bars - humming and hawing between the Nitto Noodle, and finding a set of old Cinelli bars ... thoughts?

I guess I'll keep the threaded fork for now, and just toss some of that gel stuff on under the bar tape. Road buzz does exist, oh yes indeed ... main reason I ride steel.

Thanks everyone, as usual you've been crazy prompt and crazy helpful.

cyclotoine

If you don't need the height of the technomic, then go with cinelli for panache. Just remember cinelli only did 26.4mm until some point in the 1990s so you'll need a cinelli stem to go with them. They can be had for reasonable prices on ebay.. do you know what length of stem and what width of bars you are looking for? I have a 100mm cinelli stem I was about to ebay... I'f you're interested send me a personal message.

trigger

Will go measure some things and figure a ballpark for my stem. Thanks.

Ok, next question. I've ridden friends bikes with drops, so I can handle that bar type, but I've never owned a bike with drop bars before. How do I determine bar width? I've heard as wide as your shoulders, I've heard wider than that (but not by how much)?

OH YEAH - I'm running campy on this bike, and the cables are routed under the bar tape yes / no? Does this require me to look for anything specific in a set of bars?

Thank you all for your patience with all my newbie / ignorant questions. I really appreciate it!

hhabca

IMHO different tires and bar tape will make a bigger difference in road feel - the tires contact the road, and the bars contact your hands. The fork sits in the middle, looking like it's bending and absorbing road shock in the fork blades, when in fact it is bending mostly at the steering tube, near the lower bearing (where the maximum bending loads are) - close to where many carbon forks are bonded to the steerer tube. I'd stick with the original steel fork.

Also, I think putting in a 'generic' fork would change the handling characterictics unless the replacement has the identical trail measurement.

If you really want threadless and are not concerned about weight too much, maybe a custom builder could make a threadless steel fork that would exactly match the original? I wouldn't be surprised if that costs about the same as a decent carbon fork.

(OK, that makes me think why not contact Marinoni and ask if have any 1 inch threadless steel forks floating around, for sale...)

trigger

Now that is not a bad idea.

Failing that, I'm just going to stick with what I've got. As you said, I can mess with tires and bars / gel inserts / tape / gloves etc as I go along.

cyclotoine

some people say you should be able to fit your shoulders between the drops.... but thinking changes over time.... Most people today use 44cm bars... 44cm cinellis are harder to find (measured center to center in the drops) 42 are much more common and I think cuda2k has some he is trying to get rid of (unless he already had)... cable grooves in the bars are convenient but not necessary.

divineAndbright

As noted the fork switch ain't gonna make the ride smoother unless your fork was aluminum.
It will make your bike lighter however (if its a quality fork), especially if you get a full carbon one with carbon steer tube, the threadless stem will be lighter too, you'll probably knock a pound off the bike.. unless you're a weight weenie that ain't gonna mean much though I guess. Newer forks tend to have less rake also, so the bike will probably liven up a bit more.


I'd go with the shoulder rule too regarding bars, I tried out 44cm bars before and they are no good for me, especially on rides 3 hours and up, I'd get aches where I wouldn't before with 42s.

bigbossman 

What he said^^.

I have thousands of miles on steel/steel, CF/CF, and Aluminum/CF frame/fork combos. The principal difference between a steel and a CF fork is weight. They feel about the same re: "road-buzz", and are really helpful on an aluminum framed bike. And ditto for the rake thing - a "vintage" steel fork is generally a very comfortable riding and steering bike. CF is as well, but the straighter forks that are in vogue tend to handle differently than you might be used to. Not bad, just a little different. I happen to like 'em, but I like my steel one, too.

Bar width is a personal choice - I like the 44cm, but I have fairly broad shoulders. I ride with a fellow BF member that prefers 46cm bars on his bike. In the old days, I rode 40cm, like most everyone else.

T-Mar

Dumb question maybe, but do you wear cycling gloves? I 'm surprised at how many people do not. They make a big difference in comfort and the "buzz". And if you ever have a crash, they save the palms.

The big drawback with the threadless system is the lack of stem height adjustment. So start off by using as long a steering column as possible and using spacers between the haeadset and stem. Gradually move the spacers, one at time, form under the stem, to on top, lowering the stem until you find the height you like. Only when you are 100% certain on the height, should you cut the column to length. In fact, I'd advise leaving it a bit long and running a couple spacers on top of the stem. That way, when you get a bit older and your back is a bit less flexible, you'll have the option of raising the stem a bit.

If you want to run a threadless stem for the greater variety, yet keep the current fork and headset, adapters are available. They look like a quill stem without the extension and allow the option of raising and lowering the stem as the stem is no longer provides the preload for the headsret bearing. Cost is about $10-$12 at your LBS.