Rush wrote:Enve forks are stiff enough at 1 1/8". A reputable frame builder has told me that the only reason the industry is moving towards carbon tapered steerers is that they are cheaper to make than straight steerers.
The longer I've been in the industry, I've started to realize that framebuilders more than any other segment of manufacturers have serious axes to grind with the rest of the cycling industry. While a good framebuilder can make all of their bikes handle adequately stiff, they primarily do this from artisinal know-how and relatively unlimited labor-budgets, whereas mass produced components achieve their goals through nearly unlimited R+D budgets.
In the eyes of some framebuilders, all new standards are driven wholly by profitability, while in the eyes of some engineers, a custom one-off bicycle is an anachronism. The truth is typically in the middle.
Moral: never completely trust a framebuilder that would lead you to believe that a new standard is without merit. Never trust an engineering firm that would lead you to believe a new standard is groundbreaking (cough, bb90, cough, overdrive 2, cough bbright, cough cough).