darkside Q – are alu steerer forks stronger or weaker than carbon?

ie, a carbon fork with a bonded alu steerer against a full carbon fork.

which is stronger?

im building a Ti road bike with a view to it being as strong as possible with mimimum weight impact.
Im a heavy rider and did a couple seasons on a full carbon frame/fork, but still never felt comfortable on fast decents…I kept picturing mashing my face into the tarmac at 40mph, if the fork were to go ‘snap’.

Im curently thinking Easton EC70, presuming that ill have less to fear with an alu steerer, but is the bonded area a weaker stress point?

Any other recommendations for a fork up to £150 max?

I reckon carbon would be stronger, aswell as lighter.

Just get a steel fork if you’re worried?

I’m a lump, still 14 stone+ and ride a £67 ebay full carbon Columbus tusk fork. Not had any strength issues but it does seem to take a lot of the buzz out of the road. Not sure if that’s the fork or steerer or both.

Carbon steerer would have better fatigue life and the carbon/alu interface is a weak point on alu steerer forks.

I’m 105kg and the “cheap” all carbon fork on my P-X road bike has survived for 4 years now with some riding over a lot of really rough roads. I was concerned at first but thinking about it in a lot of ways a continuous fabrication of a single material (yes I am well aware that carbon is a composite thank you) should surely be “stronger” than a jointed item made of 2 (or 3 including the bonding agent) materials? Surely the weakest point (even it if is still massively strong) is where constructions are joined?

that’s kind of what i figured (weaker at bonding point), although, I guess all (most?) of them have passed stringent testing.

Im tempted to go with the full carbon PX again myself. Although, i’d like a slimmer profile ideally as its going on a skinnier tubed Ti frame (PX Ti Pro).

Is the Tusk the one that supposed to look better on a standard 1.1/8th headset, ie, not for inset?

Just get a steel fork if you’re worried?

tempting. any suggestions? Ideally something neo-retro. classic look but up to date too.

Carbon forks explode. BOOM! Fact.

Dunno who makes steel forks, but I just bought some for my genesis from SJS cycles. Steel touring fork its called. £30

Dunno whether the dims will be right for your frame though.

Steel forks if you are feeling flush!

You haven’t seen THIS then…

You haven’t seen THIS then…

thanks, now I no longer want to ride any bike..

seriously though, if alu were that weak, surely it wouldve been banned by now being that its used on millions of bikes worldwide?

seriously though, if alu were that weak, surely it wouldve been banned by now being that its used on millions of bikes worldwide?

No the bike industry covers up all the ‘incidents’ so they can use cheap materials for greater gain 😉

did a couple seasons on a full carbon frame/fork, but still never felt comfortable on fast decents

Is there any point trying to convince yourself?

im not convinced either way. what would you recommend?

im struggling to find many carbon options for standard 1.1/8th steerers (non intergrated).
Also hard to find any ‘modern’ looking steel forks

now if I had the nuts/funds: http://www.kocmo.de/en/products/?visit=3&cat=2&scat=3&id=100005

The pic of the trek is big G Hincapies’s init? It failed after he’d had a earlier heavy crash in the Paris roubaix.

The post above re alu steerers is interesting. I have some and also carbon Scotts…I guess I could convince myself either was dangerous, but I’m just going to ride them!

One of the issues with carbon steerers is they are much more likely to be damaged by hamfisted mechanic’s resulting in nasty failures. They can also have problems with lightweight stems which don’t wrap the steerer(2 bolt type), if the user overtightens one of the bolts it can crimp the tube.

That said i’m completely happy and have total comfidence in the carbon steerer on my madone, but i used a torque wrench and followed the installation instructions. Simples init.

A carbon fork killed this guy. Not that I’m trying to increase the OPs doubts.

http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2012/4/12/fork-failure-and-recalls.html

Nowt wrong with carbon forks… 😯

irc – Member
A carbon fork killed this guy. Not that I’m trying to increase the OPs doubts.

http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2012/4/12/fork-failure-and-recalls.html

er…:

Reader Comments (12)
I live in the area and regularly ride the stretch of road where Mr. Lanoue was found. The local reports have changed a bit and they are now reporting that the front wheel cane out of the fork.

http://news.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/2012/04/rehboth-police.html

And from the cervelo forum

Hello All,

There has been considerable speculation in the media the last few days about potential causes of this tragic accident. These include the fork, wheel separation, and collision with another vehicle. We have been in contact with the authorities involved in investigating this crash and are awaiting information from them. We do not have any confirmed details at this time that would shed more light on what happened Monday afternoon. It would be inappropriate for us to speculate on the incident, as we are sure everyone appreciates, as there is a police investigation underway to determine the cause of the accident.

We take our commitment to engineer the best and safest products possible very seriously. At this point we need to respect the process that is underway, and we will support this effort in whatever way possible. Our thoughts continue to be with Mr. Lanoue’s family and friends.

er…:

Reader Comments (12)
I live in the area and regularly ride the stretch of road where Mr. Lanoue was found. The local reports have changed a bit and they are now reporting that the front wheel cane out of the fork.
http://news.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/2012/04/rehboth-police.html

er…

Gary is my brother in law. Favorite brother in law, actually.
Providence Journal has their story incorrect and they are (allegedly) going to update it.

Fork broke at the top where it goes into the frame. Wheel didn’t come off the fork. (?) I’m no cyclist myself, but was at the hospital. The police are not cyclists – but knew by the look of the bike it wasn’t something found at the local department store, and did research and emailed the manufacturer before the detective came to the hospital.

my mind’s been made up, im going for a steel or ti fork.

this fatty aint risking nothin

The SJS ones seem ok. Just like a surly but cheaper. Pretty heavy though. I got em cos they were cheap and I needed something asap. Probably replace with carbons when I get round to it. Plus the rake and a2c height was perfect for my frame

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/700c-1-1-8-INCH-AHEAD-CR-MO-STEEL-TOURING-FORK-15589-/180708766519?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item2a1314f337

im sorely tempted by something super tasty like one from these guys:

http://www.blacksheepbikes.com/

or this:

http://reviews.roadbikereview.com/dean-ti-exogrid-road-bike/img_0297070

How about Bob Jackson custom steel?

i had a look but they seem a bit too classic/lugged for my taste

So are we all using alu steerer forks for mountain biking then?

Whoooo. This is exactly why I went for some big arse over engineered hope v2’s instead of some formulas which always seem to fall apart, as things that stop your face from planting the ground should be strong as opposed to light.

Columbus Minimal.

Carbon forks are as tough as old boots look at all the crossers out there.

Ive been contacted back by IF, DEAN & Burls.. it’s hard to resist.

Dean can custom the tubing used in their Ti fork , to suit rider weight/feel etc.
IF can do pretty much anything in steel (only $100 less than a Ti DEAN though)
Burls can have a Russian built fork made, with possibly two choices of blade profile (a CX version blade may be better suited to my weight) for £330

There is still the option of a decent carbon fork, perhaps like the Columbus Minimal suggested above, or even an Easton EC70.

Justin at Burl’s told me he’s seen addicent damaged steel frames that have folded under the down tube after impact, but the carbon fork remained totally intact.
It’s hard to argue against carbon in a situation like that.

It’s not just about the material though, not all carbon forks are identical…nor all steel frames.

considering it was one of his own steel frames that was damaged, fitted with (in his words) ”a cheap carbon fork” , i’d say it’s worthy of consideration at least.

Of course, I don’t have the option of trying every frame and fork on the market, but I do have a Ti frame in hand, and I can make a hopefully wise choice on choosing a manufacturer for a fork that has far exceeded standard strength tests.
If there is a bulletproof fork out there in carbon, id like to hear about it.

Otherwise I may go for the pimped out option and choose custom.

For the money they are quoting for custom Ti, I would get a good carbon fork like the Enve 2.0.

The stark reality is that you are much more likely to die be injured on the road due to motorists than fork failure.

It’s not just about the material though, not all carbon forks are identical…nor all steel frames.

+1!

Its a stupid question. You could make a strong or weak fork out of any material.

so tell me which ones to go for then, stoopid

Among us all we are probably riding various forks made of all materials…I don’t think any of us has reported a first-hand breakage…even if we had, it would likely be statisitcally insignificant.

In short, how are we supposed to know? (stoopid).

OP. It depends! I had an Alan alu steerer fork years ago and it was the wobbliest scariest fork ever made. However build a fork with a super strong Alu steerer it should be OK. I have some very nice 531 forks made by Dave Yates which ride beautifully but weigh alot too.

Best though is a full carbon fork. Good ones are super strong, especially in 1 1/8 to 1 1/2 tapered format.

I’ve seen loads of pics of failed ti forks on the web.( Russian and Chinese stuff mostly)
It really put me off buying some , plus the amount of failed ti frames in random areas just put me right off them too.
Carbon all the way for me..