Road carbon fork on a hybrid frame, fine for commuting ?

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LouisN
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by LouisN

I was actually building an old hybrid Peugeot steel frame as a commuter / winter bike.

I've been looking for an older 1" threadless, full carbon cyclocross fork, but they're very rare and cost a lot of dough.

So I figured, if I'm just using the bike for commuting, and early spring rides, might as well find an old road fork.

Will that make much difference, considering I won't be using tires larger than 28 mm on 700c wheels ?

What kind of front road brake will be fine for wet snow, and a little dirt, or mud ?

... Or... anybody installed some canti bosses on a road fork (I gues not, at least not anybody still alive to share experience... :lol: )...?

Louis :)

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elviento
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by elviento

Should not be a problem generally. Some forks don't have enough clearance for 28mm tires but some do. So make sure you check that.

Also the fork fork tends to have a lower crown that would steepen head angle a bit, so make sure you find a fork with a smaller rake to compensate.

In addition, I suppose the bike will have unmatching brakes? Not a problem per se, but there may be difference in braking power depending on what the frame uses.
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HillRPete
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by HillRPete

Good luck finding a 1" (full) carbon fork at a nice price. There's Colnagos on Ebay every now and then, but not always very favourably priced.

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maddog 2
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by maddog 2

+1 keep an eye on clearance.Touring forks might be an option (if you don't mind the weight) and potentially longer crown-to-axle length too.

A shorter fork will quicken the steering, as said, and lower the pedals a tad but otherwise should be fine.

If you want decent brakes then you could also consider going disc.

Depends what kind of commuter it's going to be really.

HillRPete
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by HillRPete

I should add that the 1" Colnagos will likely have problems clearing a true 28mm tyre. My Star fork just about takes a (nominally) 28mm Conti 4 Season, which is about 26mm on an R500 rim.

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asphaltdude
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by asphaltdude

Road forks have a lower axle-to-crown height than CX forks.

But the most important question that comes to mind is: why spend big $ on a CF fork for a gas pipe frame commuter bike? (nofi).
Just ride the thing as it is.
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LouisN
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by LouisN

After weighing the frame at 2484g ( :shock: ), I've came to the following conclusion:

Keep my $$$ for a better cross frameset when the time comes.

Now I'm finishing the "gas pipe" commuter bike build, and ride it like this.

I stripped the frame BTW, and saved 50g, guys :lol: Check out in the chat section for pics

Louis :)

jooo
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by jooo

If you're still looking for a cheap 1" fork with brake bosses, search for Dimension forks on eBay. You can get them for under $50 in a whole range of different configurations. They're pretty ugly but perfect for hack bikes.

HillRPete
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by HillRPete

I'm after a similar fork to build a nice bike for the significant other. The Dimension fork seems to be a fair deal, but over 1kg is quite something. Nashbar has one listed too, with both canti/disc sockets, but no stock apparently.

http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10 ... 000_200456

jooo
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by jooo

The 1" steerer dimension forks are below 1kg (claimed at least). One with brake bosses and a stated axle to crown of 403mm is 963g claimed.

HillRPete
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by HillRPete

Yeah not sure where I got the > 1000g figure from

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dimension-700c- ... 1087609154

Spec'd 773g, that's not bad at all for steel. At that price I'm considering to stock one :-)

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