1" fork recommendations

I'm a 6'2 clydesdale, ranging from 205lbs-215lbs over the course of
the year. I'm riding a Reynolds Ouzo Pro with a 1" carbon steerer on a
59cm Litespeed. I think the head tube is 18cm, with another inch of
spacers above.

I'm finding it flexy during hard climbs when I'm really honking on the
bars. So I have a couple questions.

1. Any bigger guys have recommendations regarding 1" forks?
2. What's stronger/stiffer, a fork with a metal steerer bonded to
carbon blades, or a full carbon fork?

I'd kinda consider steel forks (I love the ones on my Paramount).

Scott Gordo wrote:

I'm a 6'2 clydesdale, ranging from 205lbs-215lbs over the course of
the year. I'm riding a Reynolds Ouzo Pro with a 1" carbon steerer on a
59cm Litespeed. I think the head tube is 18cm, with another inch of
spacers above.

I'm finding it flexy during hard climbs when I'm really honking on the
bars. So I have a couple questions.

1. Any bigger guys have recommendations regarding 1" forks?

Use a fork with a thick-walled steel steerer. This is one of the
places where the high modulus of steel comes through to your
advantage, because the component is so strictly limited in size.

2. What's stronger/stiffer, a fork with a metal steerer bonded to
carbon blades, or a full carbon fork?

In principle, it may be possible for carbon to be stiffer (the bulk
modulus of carbon fibers is very high), but in practice a steel steer
tube is stiffer. A carbon steerer may be stronger in bending, but a
steel one is stronger to stem clamping loads and is tougher and more
scratch- and notch-resistant.

Note that I specify steel. Aluminum is commonly used for steer tubes
on carbon forks, but it is a bad material for the job. A 1" steel
steer tube with a .058" wall thickness is stiffer than even a solid 1"
aluminum rod. Given that most steel steerers are much thicker than .
058" at the lower end where stresses concentrate, a steel steerer will
always be much stiffer than an aluminum one of the same diameter,
regardless of wall thickness.

My main issue with steel steer tubes (I weigh about 350 lbs.) is that
I can't generally use a good strong front brake on a bike that has one
without eventually bending the fork. I know this, so I compensate by
using caliper brakes and drum brakes that don't generate enough
braking force to mess things up. I own three road bikes, all of which
I ride regularly, that have ordinary '70s or '80s OEM steel forks.
They all work fine and tolerate as much "honking" as I care to give
them.

I'd kinda consider steel forks (I love the ones on my Paramount).

It's not a bad way to beef up your bike for a low dollar cost and a
small weight penalty. The fact that steel forks are very ductile and
will usually bend rather than break when things go seriously wrong is
a nice bonus. You can always have one custom made by a "status"
builder if you need bragging rights (no cost benefit there, though).

Chalo