[before anyone says anything I work in a bike shop, have done for 13 years and I know that Fire and carbon fiber shouldn’t go hand in hand.]

Just bought a set of RC31’s off of ebay for not a lot of money pretty much just for the XTR V brake that was included, Now I was going to put the fork straight back on the bay and re coup some of the cost of the brake however after some thought i am in 2 minds, So Singletrack engineers, Carbon fibre and fire, whats your thoughts?

Link to item with pics. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pace-RC31-carbon-forkes-/321077758025?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item4ac1b9c849&nma=true&si=W1n%252Fo0Kd%252BrJnxgxjznYDgV7DhmQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Dodgy, is my gut reaction TBH.

sell them to the bloke on here yesterday who’d snapped a dropout on his RC41’s – he can take the bits he needs.

My guess would be if they are properly discouloured it would suggest that they got properly hot not just a bit of smoke so I wouldn’t risk it their is no way of knowing how hot they got and how much it has effectethe epoxy of the carbon fibre or the adhesive used to glue the drop out on etc.

they snap bin em or sell the on, spares or repair

There is plenty of glue visable in the bottom of the legs [top caps melted] around the drop outs and apart from smelling a bit smokey the inside of left leg is visably the same as right. They are on the commute bike and ready for a tentative ride home tonight……. Full report to follow……

My first thought was a 15cm steerer sounds realllllly short.

its 16cm, just long enough without spacers but the fork is longer than the one it replaces,

Carbon fibre reinforced composites do not need to see a flame to experience degradation, just elevated temperature.

The carbon fibres themselves will start to degrade at around 400 degrees, the resin in these forks probably much sooner.

The fact that there is some visible trace of the fire on these forks strongly suggests that they are fu*ked. Using them in my opinion would be extremely risky.

The metallic parts on these forks may also have experienced changes due to their exposure to heat that could adversely affect their structural integrity.

My opinion is that you probably should not sell these forks to some unsuspecting individual, and probably better to take them out of circulation.

Road home and back to work no worries, stiff as anything and very comfy,

TWOSO is my thoughts,

{they will only snap once}

Sounds like a definite recipe for disaster IMO

Broken forks hurt your face

When composites go, then fail catastrophically

Why risk your face & teeth?

Why do people always ask ‘will I die’ and then when everyone says ‘it’s quite likely’ they go ‘Nah! It’ll be ok’.

I didnt ask will I die I asked whats your opinion…….lol

And if you had seen my face you would know its not worth saving 😛

No way worth risking it for you or for anyone else!

having seen the ebay advert I would say they need the drop outs cutting off (to stop them being used) and bin them. Or someone might be able to use them to make some kind of bike sculpture/truing jig/DIY frame jig etc. But I would still drill some big holes somewhere to stop them being used.

Looks like they have been sold?