so I know this is a frequent topic, but I searched and couldn't find something pertaining to my case - I was run off the road yesterday, and ended up with - fortunately - superficial injury. my bike seems to be in good shape too - but having heard about it, I am concerned with failure of my fork after the crash. I can't see any damage, though, and most of what I've read seems to refer to visible damage on the fork. so, even though there is none, should I be concerned?

thanks!

im sure Look or whoever makes your fork would love it if you replaced your fork with every crash. But carbon fiber is not all th at weak, so your probably okay. If you cant see any damage ontop of it, ride along.

You'll want to inspect that once, then inspect it again, then look over it again, take a beer, then come back to it again.

You do not want to miss any telltale signs of a fork being compromised, repeat do not.

Should take it out of the bike and check it over. Then ride on it if it looks ok. You can keep a lookout for cracks that will probobly form on the back side of the fork or up by where the brake calipers attach.

If it doesn't look damaged it probably isn't. If there is play in the headset then take it to a bike store.

Unfortunately the myth that Carbon is weak is more than likely due to F1 cars which fall apart when they crash. The reason being is that F1 cars are built to be light and fast, not strong and durable.

Carbon is a lot stronger than people think.

CHEERS.

Mark

Carbon is extremely strong in some ways, extremely weak in others. They are able to design around that but it is still very brittle.

I don't know if this will work on carbon fibre but this technique worked for me on an aluminum frame that I suspected was cracked. It's called poor mans magnaflux: pour oil over the suspect part, wipe it off as best you can with a rag, then dredge with flour. Any oil held in a fine crack will be drawn out and stain the flour. A magnifying glass helps as well.

Nice tip, filed in mental rolodex.