Paying loads of money for carbon forks – yay or nay?

I’ve got a 2019 Brother Big Bro which is great. It comes with stock steel forks, but recently I put on some FOX 29. I’m a bit bored and looking at carbon forks, which Brother make and look very attractive, and are only 600g, which would take quite a lot off my front end.

I’m also planning a longish gravel trip, hence might be able to justify 350 quid, but I also need a new groupset at some point and definitely new brakes and money isn’t unlimited. I’m defo fitting the steel forks for the trip, but should I be considering carbon, apart from looking nice, are they worth it?

I have been drinking, but

Obviously a carbon form is light. But i think for comfort steel can be as good or better. Brother cycles sell their steel gravel fork as the option with better “damping”. I’m also fairly sure that my steel surly straggler fork is better than the very cheap carbon fork it replaced

However i think this might not apply to a tapered steel fork.

Funny, I was having exact same dilemma, a set of £300 carbon Ritchey CX forks at 450g, or some £150 Surly Cross-check forks at 1kg…

@ampthill what do you mean by tapered steel forks, tapered steerer or tapered legs? The Surly forks have a curved rake so presumably are pretty forgiving?

I’d go groupset and brakes before I went fork if money’s tight. My experience of carbon forks and bars has been ‘meh’, followed by ‘What’s that clicking noise?’

@13thfloormonk

Tapered as in steerer. Like the forks on say a cotic cascade. Starting with a wider head they seem to often have stiff looking legs

My straggler fork is in a tapered head tube. Its a chunk of weight. But I’m pretty sure that it’s helping with comfort

My main motivation is needing more spacers than are recommended on a carbon steerer

What Del said plus can’t beat good set of steelys

The previous version of the Brother fork was the same as the two other versions – Selcof at Planet X and the Sonder Pathfinder at Alpkit….

Iv had carbons (some x-lite things from Planet x) and the brother steels and other than the carbons looking cooler and being lighter found very little difference. Steel usually cheaper especially if you want bosses for cages etc.  I sat on the train this morning opposite a bloke with some Lauf forks and I’m now kinda curious. Looked a lot less odd in the flesh than I expected (not cheap mind!)

Nay. AliExpress jobbies, 8 yrs in and no probs on my rigid single speed.

Brother cycles sell their steel gravel fork as the option with better “damping”.

More flex maybe but not more damping, carbon damps vibrations more than steel. But the flex is really what matters, the material damping is a fairly subtle thing.

Carbon saves weight over steel but that’s generally about it ime. The main problem with steel disc brake forks seems to be passing the ISO tests at a lower (say 1kg or less) weight. Realistically a non-ISO steel fork could be made lighter and be safe in use (as some custom built forks are) but the tests could kill it. The tests just favour carbon forks.

Having said that I don’t think +/- 500-600g on the steel fork makes any meaningful difference to non-racers as long as the fork has the right flex characteristics, which again can be hard to get right with disc brake forces and the tests required. Fair to say that as much as I prefer the peace of mind and relative safety of a steel fork, there’s a wider range of good to bad in steel. With carbon it’s more about a safe source with good QC and being careful with the steerer tubes in use.

I wouldn’t say that steel=more comfort to be honest. As with bike frames, any material can be made to feel comfortable or uncomfortable. I’ve used steel forks on a few rigid mtb over the past few years (Surly Krampus fork, Kona Unit/P2 fork, both straight steerers), and i’ve found those examples to be less forgiving and less comfortable than the carbon fork I have. This will all depend on the fork though, and the headline fork weight tends to be an incentive. I have an exotic monocoque 29er fork, and it’s not that light at all (about 800g), but it is markedly more comfortable because it does flex noticeably (in the right way), and combined with the vibration damping quality of carbon, it’s a nice comfortable fork. Obviously front tyre size/pressure needs to complement this.

There are quite a few manufacturers who are branding open mould carbon forks as their own, and I think it’s the same with Brother cycles. As mentioned above, there are a fair few identical forks at various price points, and £350 seems quite a bit to be honest. If you go down the generic route, then at least get one at a decent price like these from Banana Industries (Olsen badged open mould jobbie): https://www.bananaindustries.co.uk/products/fugazzi-mountain-klone-carbon-boost-fork-15mm-axle?_pos=3&_sid=63d2fa6f3&_ss=r

Stealth as: I’ve got some Genesis carbon rigids available from my Tarn hard tail that I haven’t used for ages, great condition with the headset preload bung.

I had some ‘Toseek’ branded carbon forks on a rigid MTB. They were fine. About £60 on Ebay.

but I also need a new groupset at some point and definitely new brakes and money isn’t unlimited.

I think you’d get more value from these than a carbon fork.

I’ve had two pairs of enve MTN fork and a cheap pair in between. It takes shocks and bumps really well

The Enve is a better riding fork in my experience with some nice features.It takes shocks and bumps really well.

Import from USA. UK price was extreme at one point. Just checked it’s 700 quid now. Jesus.

If the GBP/USD improves it might be worth it.

Carbon forks all the way. Steel might have more flex but the amount they flex depends kn yiur weight. If you’re heavy, a steel fork might feel better and the extra weight of the fork will be negligible. If your light, you probbaly wont notice any flex (I didnt) but wouod benefit from the lighter carbon fork.

Funnily enough, I have the exact same dilemma ATM. Finding my rigid steel mountain bike (Genesis Longitude) a bit heavy and uninspiring, so was looking for a carbon fork to save a bit of weight whilst adding some comfort too. I think the fork is probably quite heavy (haven’t weighed it, but must be at least a kg) and inflexible for a steel fork. Rigid carbon forks I’ve had in the past felt nicer.

The difficulty is fiding a straight steerer replacement, particularly since I need a longish steerer. Any nice, light, flexy steel forks with a straight steerer for reasonable money out there? Moon on a stick? Oh and 3″ tyre clearance ?

@Stevelol is that a Tarn fork tapered steerer?

Yep!

The comfiest forks I’ve had (both steel and carbon) stuttered lots when braking… I don’t think material is at the heart of the compromises that have to made when building/designing rigid forks (assuming you’ve already ruled out aluminum).