First ride on the new fork this lunchtime, 11 miles of typical CX stuff (muddy banks, grassy parks, woody singletrack, dismounts and hurdling benches) with some colleagues.
Aesthetics:
Visually it’s a different profile, higher aspect ratio bladed sections, straighter blades and with wider shoulders (so more mud clearance, the old one looked marginal for clagy mud and 40mm tyres, this one easily has another 5mm all round so a 47 or 50 might even fit).
The gloss has grown on me, I think perhaps the old matte one was looking a bit tired but the new one looks really smart. I’ve cut some circles of gorilla tape to seal the mudguard holes for now.
It actually makes the whole bike look a lot more modern, which is great for a 5 year old bike! Matches the new novatec hubs I’d got too.
Ride:
The fork feels different, can’t put my finger on it, maybe more vibration damping due to having a carbon steerer? If it’s different it’s certainly not in a bad way. Gave it a bit of a pounding through the woods, plenty of heavy braking and on some off camber banks and not a hint of twist or flutter.