Carbon steerer & crowns, fragile or not ?

[Psycolist]

Opinions please on the use of carbon fibre on fork steerers & crowns I have the chance of a pair of Rockshox Sid suspension forks, very high end, uber light, remote lock out and something called 'black box technology' with a carbon fibre crown and steerer. Now these are FAR and AWAY beyond the level of equipment I would normally consider having on my MTB. I ride bridleways, farm and woodland trails and footpaths, no competitive riding, just for pleasure. Never having any knowledge or experience of CF, I am concerned about their strength and longevity . They are offered to me at an affordable price, way below what they would fetch on the open market, so I am very tempted, but I worry that they will fail on me while riding. Any advice about what I should look for in terms of stress or damage and overall opinions about the use of carbon will be eagerly received. Thanks in advance.

 

[Drago]

Its fine if treated properly. If you can guaranteed that the CF has been treated properly then there is nothing to worry about.

 

[Citius]

Why do you think a high-end fork designed for racing would fail on you when you ride bridleways and footpaths?

 

[lpretro1]

Those forks are total overkill for the sort of riding you say you do! What bike are you fitting them on? Unless it is a high-end bike it is just not worth it.

 

[Drago]

And if want to know the provenance. A lot of stolen high end bikes get broken and sold as parts.

 

[Psycolist]

Yeah , I appreciate that its completely over the top for my bike, but my real question was buried in my lengthy blurb. What can I look at or inspect on this material to check that its still in good condition. I guess its the fear of the unknown leading me to post this thread. Like I said, CF is not anything I have any knowledge or experience of. If a metal is damaged, its pretty easy to see. What can I look for on CF ?

 

[Psycolist]

Provenance is not an issue. A family friends son is well into his CX, Dad owes me a favour or two and offered me these forks at a knock down price to square things with me. The use, the origin and why I want them is all taken care of, all I need to know is how I can tell if they are still in good condition and not likely to collapse on me while riding, please.

 

[accountantpete]

The carbon bits on top-end stuff will be really good quality with plenty of margin for safety designed in.

You therefore just need to check for damage from use - usually the steerer as this is a conduit for forces from the forks to the headtube and back.

Check wear around the area where the headset connects - crown race at the bottom and 2/3rds up for the upper headset race.

 

[Psycolist]

Cheers fella, that's the sort of info I was hoping for. Many thanks.

 

[Psycolist]

I got to see the forks for the 1st time today. The CF is looking fine, better than fine actually. The stantions how ever are a different fish kettle. the chrome is missing on a small area right up against the crown, and there are several, what look like stone chips, further down, but still not in the area that would enter the leg. My buddy has said I can try them before deciding, very fair I think. Looking forward to the weekend.