I'm looking for a light, stiff carbon fork with track offset for a Leader 721tr frame I just bought, and am looking at the Leader I806TR V2 fork as one possibility. It is recommended by Leader for this frame and seems to be reasonably priced for a full carbon fork. Has anyone used one of these and have any opinions as to quality, performance and durability. I'll be riding the bike normally (no tricking) on the road and track. Thanks - TT

Funny... leader recommends all their track bikes this fork...

Anyways, I did ride my friends bike over at san diego for awhile after my vigorelli in my trico ironcase got lost and taken to atlanta (I mean seriously!!!); they sent it back to my house in the bay area. It was the 735 (the leader with the lobster claw track ends) and that fork, he didn't ride it much sadly; so I guess my aggressive riding style broke it in for him?
In my opinion I found the fork to be very stiff and strong, even on steep climbs, not to mention it had great shock dampening (he had b43's laced to DA high flange). Looks do deceive, the fork is super light, lighter than it looks. Quality is amazing aswell; but the price tag is not that appealing to me in my opinion; but I did tell him to give me a call before he sells the bike. To sum it up, I would definitely bid on this fork if one came up on coghouse.

Yeah, and Mike from BD will ramble on and on about how good their customer service is.

I haven't ridden on mine yet so I can't give a review of ride/stiffness but I'm impressed by the construction and overall quality. Also, as happy said, it's lighter than it looks.

Thanks for the input. Right now there don't seem to be any sales or auctions for this fork, but I'm in no great rush to get one and can bide my time to see if one becomes available at a discount. I definitely want to get the weight off on this build, hopefully under 17 lbs w/o resorting to a lot of expensive lightweight parts. The VISP weighs nearly 20 lbs w/o its toolbag, despite having fairly lightweight tubular rims and tires. The Leader frame weighs 1/2 lbs less than the VISP (3.75 lbs .vs. 4.25 lbs) and I'm hoping the carbon fork will knock off another pound. The VISP also has the added weight of the TT bars, so I think the under 17 lbs goal is doable.

You can always get the forte bladed fork over at performance like how I did; to be a temporary place holder for the leader fork.... and when you do get the leader fork, you can always swap it over to the VISP (which can sure use it I bet) or even your pista concept...... but I digressed

The Forte fork looks kinda wimpy, what do you think? Also, do you know what the offset is? I want track offset like < 35mm or so. Do you know what it is for the Leader fork? About 30mm would be ideal I think.

I have not even installed my forte fork yet, it's still in my socal flat; but it does feel and look solid, it's made by kinesis, I have ridden kinesis carbon forks before and you can't go wrong with a kinesis fork.

Anyways what you wouldn't know is the fork crown is solid aluminium. I have the curved version of the fork (by kinesis) that's been stripped of paint if you want to see how the fork crown attaches to the carbon legs.

I read some reviews on the Forte fork, and they said that it was stiff and did a good job of vibration dampening, but that it's not particularly light. Also, it's designed to work with non-integrated headsets, which means the fork crown won't match the headtube size and won't look good even though it will be functional. It's probably a better choice for a steel road frame with a smaller headtube. At $80, it's certainly a good deal, but I don't think I'd really want it and will instead save that money towards the Leader carbon fork or something else that is comparable. Thanks anyway for the suggestion and heads up.

There's also this BI carbon fork for $90.

Though, it has 40mm offset.

That and the Leader fork are most likely worlds apart. The Leader fork is full carbon, BTW.

I also had a chance to have a good look at the Leader I80TR and it was way over my price range.

That BI fork could be an alternative until there's one for cheap.

Yeah...the I806TR is pricey, I'll give you that.

Pricey, but it is ridiculously light and IMO, good looking.

bleedingapple has (had?) one on his raw 722, he might be able to give you, or us, a review.

i saw a full carbon leader going on CL for 225. I really wish I had the money for it. Would have been a dream.

Agreed.

He's got the S805 carbon/steel fork.

Yeah, I saw that too on the LA CL, and it included a Cane Creek headset. A little too far a drive for me from Texas. The listing has expired btw.

Wow I had a brain fart back there; I totally forgot to mention that^ part in my previous post... but hey I'm building this bike up as a campus beater pretty much; I got the fork NIB off ebay for $40 shipped.

It won't look that bad or noticeable anyway.... especially with a smaller leader frame like mine.


~~~~~~~~Speaking of the leader fork there was one that popped up on san diego CL for $180 last week.... but I didn't need it. Coincidence would also have it that the ad also had the forte fork I mentioned for sale as well. The latter costing 3 times as much.

Oh...




...right, I totally knew that.

And then there's this.

How the hell do you not list the weight of carbon fiber performance oriented bike parts?

IMO, it's only worth it if it weighs less (in grams) than it costs (in dollars)....

Am I the only one who hates the look of those Origin 8 110/130 bcd chainrings, especially on a 130 bcd crank?

I hate it too.

I saw an eBay listing with a Campy crankset with an Origin8 135/144 chainring...

YUCK.

Sacrilege!

That's a great deal, but 43mm offset and curved legs kills it for me. Also, alloy crown makes it not as light as all carbon.

No. I can't stand them.