Ritchey WCS Carbon Canti Cross fork vs. ENVE 2.0 Cyclo X

The spirit of Grav-lo-cross. No but seriously, cyclocross and gravel go here!

Moderator: Moderator Team

Post Reply
timoh
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 8:30 pm

by timoh

Hello,

I need a new non-tapered fork to my old Kona Jake the Snake. The bike came originally with Alpha Q CX20. Due to fore-aft flex in the fork and cantilever brakes I am suffering from terrible brake shudder.

I am about the change the fork and have the following options.

1) New Ritchey WCS Carbon Canti Cross fork
2) ENVE 2.0 Cyclo X fork

Any opinions?

According to this (http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/02/ ... ape_159970) the Enve fork has a slight tendency for shudder with cantilever brakes. Ritchey fork was updated recently but I cannot find any opinions on it.

Timo

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



User avatar
Stolichnaya
Posts: 2621
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2004 6:55 pm
Location: Vienna, AUT

by Stolichnaya

Shudder with canti brakes can come from many factors including cable length, hanger position, pad choice, pad alignment, rim/wheel and the fork itself. I have no experience with either of those forks, but the Ritchey should save you some money for sure and be weight competitive.
Not sure if you are willing to look beyond those two choices, but have you considered some of the really stout 4ZA / Ridley forks?
Wound Up's are a little porky, but have good marks for stiffness and durability.
Might be able to find those on FleaBay for a good price.

mattyNorm
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2015 12:29 pm

by mattyNorm

I have the same problem with the 4ZA fork on my Ridley 0/10 would not recommend this fork. I've swapped a few different front wheels, stems and I'm running a ti bar so I'm fairly confident with the fork being my issue. To be fair I'm running a flat bar set up with v-brakes but the shudder is so bad sometimes my hands feel like they're going to rattle off the bars!

timoh
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 8:30 pm

by timoh

Stolichnaya wrote:Shudder with canti brakes can come from many factors including cable length, hanger position, pad choice, pad alignment, rim/wheel and the fork itself. I have no experience with either of those forks, but the Ritchey should save you some money for sure and be weight competitive.
Not sure if you are willing to look beyond those two choices, but have you considered some of the really stout 4ZA / Ridley forks?
Wound Up's are a little porky, but have good marks for stiffness and durability.
Might be able to find those on FleaBay for a good price.


Yes it is true that there are many factors related to shuddering. I am trying to eliminate one of them with fork change as the Alpha Q fork I am using currently is very flexible in fore-aft direction at least when compared to my Enve road fork. I am able to get the Enve cross fork in reasonable price so the price difference between Ritchey and Enve is not significant.

Thanks for the hint related to 4ZA / Ridley and Wound Up forks.

mattyNorm wrote:I have the same problem with the 4ZA fork on my Ridley 0/10 would not recommend this fork.


Thanks for this also.

stormur
Posts: 1173
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2014 3:50 pm
Location: FIN

by stormur

Shudder/ chatter issue reasons :

1. Fork itself ( Cannondale syndrom :mrgreen: ) - doesn't matter what you will do , will chatter. No mercy.

2. Brakes : Some are known as more some less chattering ( Eurox chatter, Revox less, MUCH less; Avid Shorty are best in that matter ) . Mini V doesn't chatter ;)

3. Brake pads : more soft compound ( koolstop salmon ) more chattering. Sram "green" pads are less prone to, but also worst in cold. Shimano are relatively soft, slamon's softest. golden middle is Sram road ( black ) or Campagnolo road .

4. Brakepads alignment. pads MUST be as parallel to rim when touch it as possible. Pads must be aligned bit in on front ( bit means 1-2mm )

5. To long straddle. Most brake manufacturers advice is 3 cm, I would say as low as possible ( narrow arm set up helps ), I have about 2 ( tiny bit lower than fork )


6. to long cable between hanger and straddle hanger. issue with large/ very large frames with high headtube. Only solution is support ( vide Crux ) mounted or to fork ( if possible ) or as a crown ( replaces original bearing crown on fork )



A propos Ridley : had X-ride 2015 size 54 with canti . It doesn't chatter. It is possible to force it to, but it's not "common" . Revox brakes, Avis SU - tested. Ridleys have extremely low head tube...

Cant frames which do not chatter are usually : A. low head tube B. 1.5" lower bearing C. Massive fork. or D. Additonal hanger ( Specialized Crux ) .

Wilier Cento Uno do not chatter, same Ridley X-fire and BH Cross. All cannondales do ;) . All Easton forks do.
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.
Mark Twain


I can be wrong, and have plenty of examples for that ;)

FactoryMatt
Posts: 1014
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2015 4:35 am

by FactoryMatt

Ritchey is SOLID with TRP linear pull brakes at least. Great great fork.

SourceForce
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2016 11:03 pm

by SourceForce

I had same problem with terible front fork vibration on my CX bike.I was terified coz bike was new. After looking for solution i tried Breake Pads toe in. Your breake pads should not be parallel with the rim!!!!! u should do toe in. This video show how can u do it with Zipties (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4JejHiKFcE). I did toe in and my problem with vibrating fork is gonee !!!: TX GOD FOR YOUTUBE GOOGLE: !!!

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



timoh
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 8:30 pm

by timoh

stormur wrote:Shudder/ chatter issue reasons :

1. Fork itself ( Cannondale syndrom :mrgreen: ) - doesn't matter what you will do , will chatter. No mercy.

2. Brakes : Some are known as more some less chattering ( Eurox chatter, Revox less, MUCH less; Avid Shorty are best in that matter ) . Mini V doesn't chatter ;)

3. Brake pads : more soft compound ( koolstop salmon ) more chattering. Sram "green" pads are less prone to, but also worst in cold. Shimano are relatively soft, slamon's softest. golden middle is Sram road ( black ) or Campagnolo road .

4. Brakepads alignment. pads MUST be as parallel to rim when touch it as possible. Pads must be aligned bit in on front ( bit means 1-2mm )

5. To long straddle. Most brake manufacturers advice is 3 cm, I would say as low as possible ( narrow arm set up helps ), I have about 2 ( tiny bit lower than fork )


6. to long cable between hanger and straddle hanger. issue with large/ very large frames with high headtube. Only solution is support ( vide Crux ) mounted or to fork ( if possible ) or as a crown ( replaces original bearing crown on fork )



A propos Ridley : had X-ride 2015 size 54 with canti . It doesn't chatter. It is possible to force it to, but it's not "common" . Revox brakes, Avis SU - tested. Ridleys have extremely low head tube...

Cant frames which do not chatter are usually : A. low head tube B. 1.5" lower bearing C. Massive fork. or D. Additonal hanger ( Specialized Crux ) .

Wilier Cento Uno do not chatter, same Ridley X-fire and BH Cross. All cannondales do ;) . All Easton forks do.


Very good summary. My problem was 1. and 6. 6. was a bit difficult to solve as there was no hole in the fork for a hanger.

I tested the flex of the Alpha Q fork by moving the bike back and fort while breaking with the front brake. The fork was flexy. I ended up buying Enve and it is much stiffer.

Post Reply