new front end - carbon fork ?'s

[dookie]

i've ridden my 54cm scapin el-os for going on 10 years now, mostly with
great pleasure (except for the hills). on occasion however (loooong rides),
i'd suffer numbness and/or tingling in my hands despite cork tape, a 25mm
tire, and padded gloves (even gel for a while...too squishy). anyway, a
great deal just surfaced on an ouzo pro carbon fork, so i snapped it up. as
a result, the whole front end of the bike will change. here are my
questions:

if you believe they hype, this thing is going to feel like a suspension
fork. will it really make the ride that much more comfortable?

any idea what the rake on the original el-os unicrown fork is? i'm guessing
it's a fairly standard ~43mm. the new fork is 45mm, which i guess will add
to the comfort and stability, but slow the handling a bit. that's not a bad
thing in my mind, but will just 2mm really make a noticeable difference?

i will be replacing my salsa cromo quill stem and stronglight delta threaded
headset with threadless (anyone want the old gear?). the fork came with a
chorus aheadset (perfect, the rest of the bike is chorus ergo 8), so i'm set
there. what about the stem? i understand wedge-type clamps (eg: thomson)
are a no-no with carbon steerers. beyond that (and length of course), is
there anything i need to be concerned about? most mfg's only sell 1-1/8"
stems these days, but include shims for 1" steerers...this makes me a little
wary. should it? ritchey touts their 'angled steer clamp slot' as less
damaging to my soon-to-be carbon steerer. why is that better than a
straight-cut slot? their 'pro' seiries stem seems like a nice product at a
good price. anybody else i should consider?

finally, with that much weight off the front end will i only be able to ride
wheelies?

thanks much,

[Mike S.]

"dookie" > wrote in message
.com...
> i've ridden my 54cm scapin el-os for going on 10 years now, mostly with
> great pleasure (except for the hills). on occasion however (loooong
rides),
> i'd suffer numbness and/or tingling in my hands despite cork tape, a 25mm
> tire, and padded gloves (even gel for a while...too squishy). anyway, a
> great deal just surfaced on an ouzo pro carbon fork, so i snapped it up.
as
> a result, the whole front end of the bike will change. here are my
> questions:
>
> if you believe they hype, this thing is going to feel like a suspension
> fork. will it really make the ride that much more comfortable?.


I notice a little less "buzz" through my carbon forks than my steel 'cross
fork Except for an early Kinesis fork I've owned, the carbon forks all
seem about as stiff as my steel forks (and maybe stiffer, but since I don't
have a back to back comparison, I couldn't tell you for sure).

>
> any idea what the rake on the original el-os unicrown fork is? i'm
guessing
> it's a fairly standard ~43mm. the new fork is 45mm, which i guess will
add
> to the comfort and stability, but slow the handling a bit. that's not a
bad
> thing in my mind, but will just 2mm really make a noticeable difference?
>
> i will be replacing my salsa cromo quill stem and stronglight delta
threaded
> headset with threadless (anyone want the old gear?). the fork came with a
> chorus aheadset (perfect, the rest of the bike is chorus ergo 8), so i'm
set
> there. what about the stem? i understand wedge-type clamps (eg: thomson)
> are a no-no with carbon steerers. beyond that (and length of course), is
> there anything i need to be concerned about? most mfg's only sell 1-1/8"
> stems these days, but include shims for 1" steerers...this makes me a
little
> wary. should it?


No worries. I've done it for years. Just line up the slot in the shim with
the slot on your stem and you'll be OK.

ritchey touts their 'angled steer clamp slot' as less
> damaging to my soon-to-be carbon steerer. why is that better than a
> straight-cut slot? their 'pro' seiries stem seems like a nice product at
a
> good price. anybody else i should consider?

I think that the angled slot thing is a marketing gimmick, but I like the
stems I have (4 Pro stems and counting! Thanks Price Point!). I'm not an
engineer, so don't know for sure if it is or isn't important to have the
angled clamp. Any stem that doesn't have a pinch bolt will do fine, but I
like the Ritchey =/- 6 degree stems.
>
> finally, with that much weight off the front end will i only be able to
ride
> wheelies?
>

You MAY be able to ride only wheelies, but are you sure you really want to?
It'd make riding in a pack somewhat scary.


> thanks much,
>
>
>
>
>
>

[Qui si parla Campagnolo]

dookie-<< anyway, a
great deal just surfaced on an ouzo pro carbon fork, so i snapped it up. as
a result, the whole front end of the bike will change. here are my
questions: >><BR><BR>

<< if you believe they hype, this thing is going to feel like a suspension
fork. will it really make the ride that much more comfortable? >><BR><BR>

Nope. not over a well made steel fork..

<< any idea what the rake on the original el-os unicrown fork is? i'm guessing
it's a fairly standard ~43mm. the new fork is 45mm, which i guess will add
to the comfort and stability, but slow the handling a bit. >><BR><BR>

Doubt you will be able to tell 2mm difference...

<< most mfg's only sell 1-1/8"
stems these days, but include shims for 1" steerers...this makes me a little
wary. should it? >><BR><BR>

Nope-

<< finally, with that much weight off the front end will i only be able to ride
wheelies? >><BR><BR>

Nope but you'll be able to play the piano-
For your numbness, I would get a bike fit...

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"