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new front end - carbon fork ?'s
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, |
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#2
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new front end - carbon fork ?'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, |
#3
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new front end - carbon fork ?'s
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: BRBR 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? BRBR 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. BRBR 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? BRBR Nope- finally, with that much weight off the front end will i only be able to ride wheelies? BRBR 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" |
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