Carbon Road Forks for Older Bicycles

I mangled the front fork of my old Lotus Challenger SX the other day.
My first local bike shop told me that it was a write off with a bent
front fork and tried to get me to buy a new road bike. At the
suggestion of this group, I went to another Bike Shop and they said
that they could, in fact, order a new Carbon Steel Front Fork. They
said it would take about a week to 10 days to have it delivered. That
was more than 2 months ago.... and they still do not have it. (Its a
Dimension Hi-ten replacement fork with a 250mm steering tube...) They
claim that they have tried many sources and they all say it is on back
order....

Does anyone have any other ideas. My broken ribs have pretty much
heeled from the accident and it is driving me crazy to have my bicycle
still on the shelf (so to speak). My "replacement" is a Ross, and
quite honestly, its pretty much a pig......

Broken Bicyclist wrote:
I mangled the front fork of my old Lotus Challenger SX the other day.

Instead of high-carbon, splurge and get carbon fiber!

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?s...142&PID=484346

I'm happy with mine... but if you crash it will likely break instead of
bending... or not.

Ron Ruff wrote:
Broken Bicyclist wrote:
I mangled the front fork of my old Lotus Challenger SX the other day.

Instead of high-carbon, splurge and get carbon fiber!

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?s...142&PID=484346

I'm happy with mine... but if you crash it will likely break instead of
bending... or not.

Totally agree with this, a hundred bucks and you lose a pound off the
front and get a more compliant ride, what's not to like?

"Broken Bicyclist" wrote in
ups.com:

I mangled the front fork of my old Lotus Challenger SX the other day.
My first local bike shop told me that it was a write off with a bent
front fork and tried to get me to buy a new road bike. At the
suggestion of this group, I went to another Bike Shop and they said
that they could, in fact, order a new Carbon Steel Front Fork. They
said it would take about a week to 10 days to have it delivered. That
was more than 2 months ago.... and they still do not have it. (Its a
Dimension Hi-ten replacement fork with a 250mm steering tube...) They
claim that they have tried many sources and they all say it is on back
order....

Does anyone have any other ideas. My broken ribs have pretty much
heeled from the accident and it is driving me crazy to have my bicycle
still on the shelf (so to speak). My "replacement" is a Ross, and
quite honestly, its pretty much a pig......


Tange makes a decent chromed cro-mo fork that airbomb.com has for about
$40, but the longest threaded one they have is 230mm. Would that be long
enough? They also have a 300mm threadless, which would require a new
headset & stem. Your Lotus frame is Tange cro-mo, so that would be a more
appropriate fork than the carbon (steel or fiber).

http://store.airbomb.com/Items.asp?Cc=601%2DT%2D416

Broken Bicyclist wrote:
I mangled the front fork of my old Lotus Challenger SX the other day.
My first local bike shop told me that it was a write off with a bent
front fork and tried to get me to buy a new road bike.


Dum-ass bike shop.

At the
suggestion of this group, I went to another Bike Shop and they said
that they could, in fact, order a new Carbon Steel Front Fork. They
said it would take about a week to 10 days to have it delivered. That
was more than 2 months ago.... and they still do not have it. (Its a
Dimension Hi-ten replacement fork with a 250mm steering tube...) They
claim that they have tried many sources and they all say it is on back
order....

Does anyone have any other ideas. My broken ribs have pretty much
heeled from the accident and it is driving me crazy to have my bicycle
still on the shelf (so to speak). My "replacement" is a Ross, and
quite honestly, its pretty much a pig......


Profile makes a 1 inch threaded carbon fork or by switching headset and
stem, get any 1 inch threadless fork.

maxo wrote:


Totally agree with this, a hundred bucks and you lose a pound off the
front and get a more compliant ride, what's not to like?

Unless the steel fork is 2 pounds(which it is not), no carbon fork for
$100 will be 454 grams lighter. If the steel fork is 1.5 pounds, the
$100 carbon fork will be about 1.25 pounds or more. As for 'more
compliant ride', that is hugely subjective. My steel Merckx MXLeader
fork, a big beefy Max tubed thing, weighed 1.5 pounds and rides like a
dream, as good as or better than any carbon fork.

On 24 Aug 2005 21:42:56 -0700, "Broken Bicyclist"
wrote:

I mangled the front fork of my old Lotus Challenger SX the other day.
My first local bike shop told me that it was a write off with a bent
front fork and tried to get me to buy a new road bike. At the
suggestion of this group, I went to another Bike Shop and they said
that they could, in fact, order a new Carbon Steel Front Fork. They
said it would take about a week to 10 days to have it delivered. That
was more than 2 months ago.... and they still do not have it. (Its a
Dimension Hi-ten replacement fork with a 250mm steering tube...) They
claim that they have tried many sources and they all say it is on back
order....

Does anyone have any other ideas. My broken ribs have pretty much
heeled from the accident and it is driving me crazy to have my bicycle
still on the shelf (so to speak). My "replacement" is a Ross, and
quite honestly, its pretty much a pig......

Call them, cancel the order for that crap fork. And, yet again, find a good bike
shop. These guys are little better than the first one. You can buy forks pretty
much anywhere. You can get another threaded fork and use your old stem and
headset if it isn't worn or corroded or go threadless with new hardware.

Ron

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
maxo wrote:


Totally agree with this, a hundred bucks and you lose a pound off the
front and get a more compliant ride, what's not to like?

Unless the steel fork is 2 pounds(which it is not), no carbon fork for
$100 will be 454 grams lighter. If the steel fork is 1.5 pounds, the
$100 carbon fork will be about 1.25 pounds or more. As for 'more
compliant ride', that is hugely subjective. My steel Merckx MXLeader
fork, a big beefy Max tubed thing, weighed 1.5 pounds and rides like a
dream, as good as or better than any carbon fork.

The QBP Dimension steel fork mentioned by the original writer will be 2
pounds. QBP Dimension stuff is made in Taiwan or China. I bought a
Nashbar Chinese made threaded steel fork for a fixed gear a few years
ago. Weighed 2 pounds. The steel steerer carbon forks now days weigh
about 500 grams. About 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound lighter than a steel
fork. My Waterford 1200 Reynolds 531 threaded fork for a 58cm frame
weighs 1.5 pounds.

Here are two options from Performance for 1" threadless carbon forks,
stem, headset, spacers. $190 for the all carbon 370 gram model or $150
for the 480 gram steel steerer model. I have the all carbon model and
its fine. 3000 to 4000 miles of use. A friend has the steel steerer
model he is going to use on his boy's bike. Performance has various
coupon codes for 20% off and free shipping going on. Look on the
internet for the codes.

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...TOKEN=91606042

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...TOKEN=91606042

I'm somewhat surprised QBP manages to stay in business. If a bike shop
cannot order a simple fork from their parts supplier and have it in
less than two months, it is pathetic. I love mail order and the
internet for bike parts buying.

How does one find a "good" bike shop. I do not live in Boston and
cannot use Sheldon Brown....
(Chicago)

In article . com,
says...
I mangled the front fork of my old Lotus Challenger SX the other day.
My first local bike shop told me that it was a write off with a bent
front fork and tried to get me to buy a new road bike. At the
suggestion of this group, I went to another Bike Shop and they said
that they could, in fact, order a new Carbon Steel Front Fork. They
said it would take about a week to 10 days to have it delivered. That
was more than 2 months ago.... and they still do not have it. (Its a
Dimension Hi-ten replacement fork with a 250mm steering tube...) They
claim that they have tried many sources and they all say it is on back
order....
Does anyone have any other ideas. My broken ribs have pretty much
heeled from the accident and it is driving me crazy to have my bicycle
still on the shelf (so to speak). My "replacement" is a Ross, and
quite honestly, its pretty much a pig......

Try rec.bicycles.marketplace . I'm sure there are many folks with steel forks
sitting in the corner after an upgrade to carbon. Should be cheap too. A nice
chromoly will also weigh less than a high tensile steel fork.
------------
Alex