Help Needed - Thinking of replacing forks

[uphillstruggler]

i thought i would try you guys first as my knowledge of this sort of thing is zilch.

i am thinking of changing my forks from the cro mo that came with the bike, giant rapid 4 2010 to carbon forks.

i was having a look round and came upon some on fleabay (where else?) but am a little bamboozled by the references to fork rake and the FK references

i know i need to check the steerer tube diameter etc and cut that down but was hoping for anyone with similar experiences to pipe up.

thanks in advance.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Quick question, why do you want to change?
Chro-mo is probably a bit heavier than cheap Carbon forks, but not much and also has quite nice forgiving ride properties and lasts forever.
You could put the money towards better wheels and tyres which would improve things considerably.
Just an alternative view!

 

[uphillstruggler]

Thanks fab, I am already on the lookout for the wheel upgrade and just wondered what peoples experiences and thoughts were.

 

[accountantpete]

Cro-mo is very heavy and can be harsh - I would go for the carbon forks.

The rake is the position of the drop outs in relation to an imaginary straight line extending down from the steerer (ie they are usually around 41mm ahead of the line ). Most forks have the same rake so it's no a real problem.

Used forks from e-Bay are a bit of a risk. Some have had knocks or worn carbon steerers from ill-fitting headsets - so you might enquire about these. Also, I think another big reason people sell their existing forks is because of the flex when out of the saddle especially if you are on the big side.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

+1. Personally I would avoid used carbon forks on the bay like a plague.

Replacing forks is not the easiest thing to do (although despite I said so myself since when is that a reason for not doing anything?), it is probably worthwhile to assess whether it is the most effective for what you want to achieve. Incidentally do you know whether your rear wheel has mtb (135mm) or road (130mm) hub?

 

[accountantpete]

Just thought of another e-Bay pitfall - always ask how old the forks are. I have seen some rather nice examples fetch quite a bit of money when a bit of research would have revealed that they were 7-8 years old.

 

[uphillstruggler]

Hello guys

The forks I noticed today were new from Hong Kong so would avoid the pitfalls (hopefully). It would mainly be a weight saving as even after long rides, I don't really suffer from road buzz.

Thanks for taking the time to give advice.

That's one of the reasons for this site being good, always someone willing to take the time to reply.

 

[jowwy]

I'm just going through the same job - bought my carbon forks brand new from planet x for £50 down from £100, they are better than the honk kong ones on ebay

should be with me tmrw and will reduce weight by nearly 900grammes, gotta be worth it.

 

[uphillstruggler]

Thanks for that, just been looking at the same ones.

Will check it all over tomorrow, and probably order with the model b's.

 

[e-rider]

I wouldn't buy from Hong Kong for several reasons BUT remember that any item with a value over £17 will have to pay import tax AND Royal Mail handling fees; which will quickly wipe out any potential savings in most cases.