Im planning on getting a carbon fork when my taxes come in. My question is what if any would be the most reliable to deal with street riding as well as lightness?

Er, what bike will you be using the fork with? Reynolds has a good reputation. True Temper Alpha Q forks are very good too. Advanced composites Wound-Up are nice too.

Reynolds forks: 372mm crown to axle length, 1"-1 1/8" steerers, 37.5mm - 50mm rake

True Temper: 374mm crown to axle length, 1" - 1 1/8" steerers, 38mm - 50mm rake

Advanced Comp: 366mm crown to axle length, 1" - 1 1/8" steerers, 35mm - 48mm rake

Measure your current fork for both length and rake. Figure out your head tube angle. Use this site to figure out trail.

Read this page to understand the effects of switching out your current fork with a carbon fork.

Pick one of the above forks that doesn't affect steering in a negative way.

Personally, I use TT Alpha Q forks. Love 'em.

The Columbus forks are nice too. My road bike has a Columbus Tusk Road fork and love it. My fixie has an EVO Carbon fork. Its not so light for carbon but has been perfect for 3 full years of 4season commuting (100+miles per week).

Cheers

05 bianchi pista

Ok, the 2005 pista has a 74/74.5 degree head tube angle, one inch threadless headset, and 28mm of fork rake. (When you get the chance, measure the top of the crown to center of the axle of the fork.) I will assume its ~368mm.

Using one of the standard carbon forks like reynolds or TT will raise your front end just bit and slacken your angles. Using the Advanced composite fork might lower your front end and steepen your angles. Maybe not enough for you to notice, but then again maybe so.

Your fork rake is 28mm. I would try to get as close to this as possible.

Going with a carbon fork with a rake of 40mm or more will cause your bike to be way too twitchy. Most available carbon forks come in rakes of 44, 45mm. Depending on the height of the fork and how its affect your head tube angle, your end result trail might go as low as 5.0cms or lower. This is dangerous territory.

Your current trail is 6.6-6.9cm, depending on what size frame you ride. A very stable ride.

Then there is the problem of your 1" threadless steerer. Most manufacturers of carbon forks will only have forks with rakes in the 45mm range with 1" steerers. The wider range of forks come in 1 1/8" steerers.

This leaves your with one good safe option: the Advance Composites fork in 1" steerer with 35mm of rake.

Because of the height of the fork, it should not affect head angles too much, if at all. It will give you more neutral handling, 5.9-6.2cm of trail, and you will be able to run a front brake confidently.

The fork is $295 retail for a steel steerer. $375 for a carbon steerer. These forks are a little heavier than some of the other carbon forks. Btw 470gms-510gms.

I have a Wound Up on two of my bikes. Habanero Ti Team Pro and my converted Slingshot. Absolutely love teh ride of the fork and the performance. The Slingshot has a steel steerer while the Habby has the carbon. As Jose R points out, they are not the lightest of the bunch, but they are real close. The Alpha Q requires a sleeve insert in the carbon steerer which brings the weight up by about 50 grams, while the Wound Up does not require that same insert.

I love the looks of the Wound Up and the Alpha Q, but my nod goes to the Wound Up in the looks department due to the polished crown and cammo carbon legs.

Word up Wound Up.

Glad to hear you guys recomend the wound up, thats what I was thinking as my final choice. I figure that combined with some bull horns would prolly drop some weight off the bike.

Yeah it's awesome. You just have to be prepared to part with an enormous chunk of change.

I have Alpha Qs...love 'em. Reynolds is a bit more solid, but heavier. Alpha Q seems to handle better.

Listen to Jose R about the technical aspect. You have to understand what you're doing there or you'll screw it up.

the colnago
any day.. it comes in 1" too.. and it has very good manners i love it, but on a track bike? ride a track fork. me tinks..
or make a conversion bike as a commuter, and ride your track bike for special occasions, or..? just ride.