Looking to upgrade my fork...
 

on a Motobecane Messenger. I love the bike, but I bought it knowing it wasn't exactly what I wanted, so
I'm looking for something along the lines of this:

Fuji Track Pro Fork

http://i24.ebayimg.com/04/i/001/14/61/d4b6_1.JPG

Is carbon a noticeable (& worthwhile) difference?
I really like the aesthetics of the bladed forks (and we all know the role aesthetics play when upgrading our bicycles) but I guess what I'm not sure about is the price I should expect to pay for a carbon fork and whether or not upgrading to carbon is even necessary.

I live in NE Ohio and our road quality is less than stellar.

Any suggestions on price-range, or particular forks, carbon or not?

carbon is a better ride than aluminum that's forsure =\

is it noticeable vs a steel fork? probably not.... should it be lighter....shoudl be

a axis forte road carbon fork from performance is around 100 bucks

Keep in mind as well that that fork has a wider crown to it so that it fits in ascetically with an integrated headset. Like instead of the top of the fork tapering all the way to the 1" 1/8th steerer, it leaves a wider area at the top, since on the Track Pro it came on the head tube itself is wider. This makes no difference functionally, but since you have a standard headset, there might be a weird little ridge at the top of the fork. I only mention it since you brought up the ascetic aspect.

Also, what size frame is yours? The fork you're looking at has a 43mm rake, and will change the handling of your bike if it's not similar to your current one. Check here to compare: http://motobecane.com/msg_geometry.html

Finally, there might not be a brake hole on that fork, ask the seller to be sure.

Personally I think big bladed forks look kind of weird with thin steel tubed bikes (although I have an aero renyolds fork with my OS steel frame, and that looks fine), I'd look towards a nashbar or similar cheap more standard fork...

P.S. - Were you at the last Akron CM ride? I stopped by for a second before it started, but had to leave, and I thought I saw a Messenger on the bike rack. Hope to see you around later.

I'd go for the nashbar fork. 1" threadless with aluminum steerer for under 100. Probably similar rake. That FTP fork is going to look horrible on a steel frame.

wow thanks for all the info. definitely shows i have a lot to learn.
and yah, i was at the CM ride. you're the guy who set up the akron alley cat earlier this year, right?
are you gonna come tomorrow?

regarding 'integrated' fork crowns: some headsets, like the cane creek S2, have a larger bearing housing (it's sealed), that's shaped in such a way that it doesn't look awkward with an integrated-crown fork. personally i think it's more attractive if you don't have a rounded-type headset like a king or tange.