Carbon for upgrade
 

From time to time I think about upgrading the heavy cro-mo fork on my Santana Sovereign to a carbon one. I see Santana has one now with mounts for Canti or V-Brakes which I would prefer. The main reasons I have not gone ahead is cost, safety concerns and perceived benefit. I feel really safe with the monster cro-mo fork and wonder if I should have any concerns about the carbon fork failing under stress. I also wonder if I will really notice the weight difference or improvement in ride quality.

Thanks

Have 19,000+ miles on our AlphaQ X-2 fork on our c/f Zona tandem. No problems.
Asides from weight difference you'll notice less road vibration through the bars.
If you plan hanging on to your Sovereign for a while it would be a good inve$tment.
Just our opinion/experience.
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

IMHO....

Having spent a lot of time and $$ over the past 10 years upgrading tandems (not to mention 35 or so fiddling around with single bikes) adding a carbon fork to a recreational / sport tandem is a performance placedbo... as are most of the other lower-weight, go-fast goodies.

Yes, a carbon fork will reduce the weight of your tandem by as much as pound and a half and it's that reduction in weight on the front wheel that, for the most part, plus some of the properties of the carbon that will yield some vibration dampening to smooth out the bumps in the road. Of course, reducing the PSI in your front tire by 5 lbs will also achieve some vibration dampening.

Ultimately, unless you're contesting the local time trials or crits and looking to shave off a few seconds from your best time, putting a carbon fork or go-fast goodies is nice way of updating a tandem to keep it fresh and more in line with new product. We (noting that I'm just as guilty as anyone else who doesn't race but who has outfitted their tandem with racing components) make these changes because we want to, because we can afford to, and because it makes us feel better about our tandems. Do I expect my carbon forks to last as long as the chromoly forks? Not really, which is why I've kept the chromoly forks that carbon forks have replaced for our oldest tandem and why I've also picked up a spare carbon fork that I found for a very attractive price "just in case" for our newest tandem.

By all means, of all the upgrades you can make, a carbon fork is one of the few that you'll actually "feel" when you heft your tandem and it may also make your tandem feel a bit more spry, never mind any aesthetic enhancement that might also be realized.

I have the Reynolds Carbon on our Santana with a Dura-Ace brakes front and rear.
Even if it is a placibo it looks cool and I feel very secure with this combo.

We like the alpha qx2 fork on our bike. The epoxy'd in sleeve to hold the star nut adds stiffness, and actually reduces weight, and provides some comfort that you haven't over torqued your stem and crushed your cf steerer.

I think part of the handling improvement between our Burley and our Co-Motion is the Alpha fork.

I find the ride less harsh on our aluminum Trek with a carbon fork. I've had the original steel fork, a Chucksbikes carbon fork, and a Reynolds Ouzo Pro fork on the bike. There is a definite improvement in the ride at the handlebars with these carbon forks. Shaving off a pound was just icing on the cake.

The lion's share of the handling differences comes from the increase in steering trail... which is substantial. Your Burley had/has about 1.9" of trail (~55mm fork rake), whereas your Robusta has somewhere around 2.3" of trail (44mm fork rake).

In the hierarchy of carbon tandem forks, the Alpha Q X2 is clearly the lightest, but as one might expect it's also the most compliant. The Wound-Up is quite a bit heavier but also much more stout and is nearly on par with a nice, lightweight chromoly tandem fork with respect to compliance. The Reynolds Ouzo Pro Tandem falls somewhere between the two on weight and compliance.

Research has shown that the more expensive the placebo (or the item it replaces), the more likely it is to work. So whatever you do, make sure you spend a lot of money on it.

Cheers!

We made the change and are quite happy.

I'll note that the CF fork on the new Santanas is (in relation to half bike forks) also a monster.

I have the Reynolds Carbon on our Santana with a Dura-Ace brakes front and rear.
Even if it is a placibo it looks cool and I feel very secure with this combo.

How do the Dura-Ace brakes compare to V-Brakes or Cantilevers?
I have not been happy with V-Brakes, they squeal, they grab and the levers feel mushy.
I prefer the Dura Ace brakes on my half bike.

I've never had V-brakes so no comparison there. I do have D/a brakes on my single and they are just as smooth and seem to stop the tandem just as well though I haven't been on any mountain descents yet.

Would a Alpha Q CX cyclocross fork work on a Burly Rumba? I would like to keep my v brakes.

How do the Dura-Ace brakes compare to V-Brakes or Cantilevers?

Under some extreme conditions, I have found that v-brakes have just a little more stopping power however this is due to the longer brake pads with more surface area and not the mechanism. Years ago I managed to install V-brake pads on a road bike my employer was attempting to use as a cyclocross bike. With the standard pad, he could not lock up the wheel on a steep offroad descent, but with the V-brake pad, they performed equally as well as having a complete v-brake.

I recently switched to a Dura-Ace caliper and have considered the possibility of running a v-brake pad if needed, however this has not been necessary, even with a descent down Kaiser Pass.

I have the Santana fork with a 1 1/4" steerer that I'd be happy to get rid of since switching to the Reynolds fork however I have the small Santana frame, so the fork is unlikely to fit on anything larger.

I replaced a heavy steel fork with a tandem - rated carbon fork sold by Chucks Bikes ( www.chucksbikes.com ). It has canti / v-brake mounts. I think it was made by Aprebic of Taiwan, and these forks were used by Santana for a while. No issues so far, and it helped me shave about 2 lbs off the tandem weight.

You might want to consider sticking to a tandem fork, not just a tandem rated fork. We experienced a failure, crash with the CX cyclocross fork while riding 15 mph which resulted in extensive injury to me, the stoker. While the CX is tandem rated, the V Brakes exert stress to the fork which can cause the fork to collapse.

Was it the CX or the Burley-specifc CX fork? I don't recall that the standard CX was 'tandem rated' but, then again, I'm not sure what they did to enhance it for Burley's use.

Could you give us additional information on what happened to the fork and the bike? Was this one of the catastrophic failures of carbon fiber that we hear so much about?

The CX Cyclocross Fork, not the Burley specific fork is tandem rated, and so after an extension discussion with a Alpha Q tech who said that while it is not a tandem fork it is tandem rated. All that really means is that the CX undergoes the same testing used for their tandem fork. We thought that in itself assured us the CX was a safe bet so we went ahead and purchased the fork. After just less than a year while approaching a stop light a 15 mph we experienced what you called a catastrophic failure of the carbon fiber fork. It collapsed into the titanium downtube and hurled the stoker up over the front onto the pavement. We contacted Alpha Q who was quick to make things right by paying for the repair to the downtube and damages for injuries the stoker sustained. While they did send us a new fork we opted to go with the Wound Up Tandem Fork and will advise anyone who inquires to steer clear of tandem rated forks.

Bert H.????

Did it fail at the baseplate/crown area, the canti brake bosses, or somewhere else along the fork leg?

I swapped the stock fork with a Bontrager carbon fork on our Trek and have been very pleased. Riding is improved, if slightly, but braking is 100% better. We went from Avid canti's with a brake booster to a Shimano deep reach caliper. The Shimano road brake is much better in feel and control. Wheels and Sprokets had a killer deal on the fork, but the brakes were about $100.