Road carbon forks- any that are recognised as great/comfy but wont be expensive?

Any particular make or brand that are seen as great for their price?

Carbon with alu steerer is fine

Not sure about difference between brands but i went from alu steerer to full carbon and the improvement in comfort was quite dramatic.

I thought alu due to cost? Happy with either- Looked at Easton carbon and its still £200 (without central drill hole for brakes which I need).

Did you break yours already? What’s wrong with a pair of PX forks?

The slabsided things? The bike is nervous in cross winds. I want to change them. I’ve already fitted a longer/slammed stem. The (cheap) PX ones just seem to blow sideways very easily.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/kinesis-dc21-carbon-road-fork/rp-prod93594

Use the 10% off code and they’re £130ish

Loads of second hand ones on eBay for £40-ish

The bike is nervous in cross winds

not a chance that the fork’s to blame IMO, unless it’s a ridiculous shape – I bet the actual “extra” area is minimal as a proportion even of the front half of the bike, never mind the whole package of bike + you. It’s also pretty much “on” the axis of rotation of the headset so you have it right under control.

What wheels are you using ?

It’s also pretty much “on” the axis of rotation of the headset so you have it right under control.

This. If you think about it hora, the forks being in the centre of the wheel must make any effect of side winds on wide forks extremely minimal.

The wheels are FSA 30 Team’s

Have a look at ribble … either the csn or columbus are good.

Flyxii ones from Aliexpress. Been off road, raced and crashed with mine without issue.

The bikerider is nervous in cross winds

fixed that 🙄

Rather than the forks, I’d be looking to reduce the aerodynamic profile of any loose bulk in the space between the headset and seattube.

Fill the frame with leadshot, OP. Should settle it down in high winds.

I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong in crosswinds/descending? I’m not ‘over the back’ like on a mountain bike. I’m well over the front to weight the front. I’m also a tubby **** so when the gust comes- its 😯 sideways which I don’t ‘get’/understand. The wheel spokes are bladed- maybe on their own not a bad thing. Maybe bladed spokes combined with the square/flat haunches of the forks are a bad-mix?

I’m itching to get upgrading anyway 😀

Anyone seen any Shimano 6800 normal-tube Ultegra wheels anywhere cheap?

Looked at Easton carbon and its still £200 (without central drill hole for brakes which I need).

They must have, unless they’re disc forks or for direct mount road brakes, there’s no other way to mount a caliper brake.

The forks are definitely not the issue, you’d be wasting your money IMO. Bladed spokes aren’t contributing either!

Je James

#takethespokiedokiesoff 😆

I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong in crosswinds/descending? I’m not ‘over the back’ like on a mountain bike. I’m well over the front to weight the front. I’m also a tubby **** so when the gust comes- its sideways which I don’t ‘get’/understand. The wheel spokes are bladed- maybe on their own not a bad thing. Maybe bladed spokes combined with the square/flat haunches of the forks are a bad-mix?

None of the above probably.Every road bike I’ve had be it £400 or £4000 can feel a bit nervous decending if the cross wind is strong enough. Its just something you have to get used to. Upgrade all you like it’s great fun, but I doubt it will sort you’re problem out ( if it is a problem).

FWIW Hora I get a bit spooked in the wind myself, especially descending.

That’s one of the reasons I’m not at all interested in deep-section rims.

Maybe swap bikes with someone else on a windy day to get a reference point, if its preying on your mind?

It was really windy yesterday so maybe wait for a day that just a bit windy and see how it goes

The changing the forks thing is causing Deja Vu

You’re going faster, so any sideways push is exaggerated compared to on a mtb – you’ve gone futher by the time you react.

Depending where you ride the roads may be more exposed, so there’s “more” wind to experience.

relax; everybody drifts a bit in the wind

hora – Member
I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong in crosswinds/descending? I’m not ‘over the back’ like on a mountain bike. I’m well over the front to weight the front.

That’s what road bikes tend to do. If you tense up it feels worse. If you stay low it feels better, but that ime, is is kind of how it is. Watch out for things like gate openings in walls where there’s a sidewind cos you’re more likely to cop a sudden gust, but as above, you need to relax on the bike, accept that it’ll move around a bit and get on with it. If you tense up, it’ll feel worse.

could you put a slackset on a road bike? not saying I would do such a thing, just thinking about what we do to prevent our MTBs being twitchy at speed and throwing it out there

You can buy forks with different rakes which is somewhat neater and would have a similar effect on the steering. I guess you could fit a slackset if your headtube layout allows it, but to be honest, I think it seems like overkill and I suspect the bike would still feel lairy in a sidewind. I used to get quite freaked by gusty winds from the side, but I think you just get used to it.

You’re going faster, so any sideways push is exaggerated compared to on a mtb

on a bike that is lighter and has thinner higher pressure tyres (less rolling resistance “sideways” as well as in the direction of rotation).

Its not your forks, its normal and youre not used to it.

What about a dropper post while your at it… 😉

I think what your sensing is just the overall difference between a big wallowy mtb, with a relatively huge contact patch, compared to a much lighter racing type bike. They are poles apart on a road at speed. Try riding just the road bike for a while & it will feel normal.

I’ve done some daft stuff on mtb/BMX over the centuries, but going down hill on a road bikes frightens the living daylights out of me. Seriously. 😕

scaredypants – Member
You’re going faster, so any sideways push is exaggerated compared to on a mtb – you’ve gone futher by the time you react.

No, it’s actually the opposite. The slower you go the worse the wind affects you. It’s a vectors thing, I remember it from motorbiking.

Imagine you are moving ahead at 5 m/s and the wind is from the side at 1 m/s.
In 1 second you have moved forward 5 metres and to the side by 1 metre. Your angle of deflection is 11.3 degrees

But if you’d slowed down to 3 m/s because of the wind, you are still blown 1 metre to the side in that second, but have only traveled forward 3 metres. Your angle of deflection is now 18.4 degrees

Ride on really windy days like today. Then the slightly windy days will seem like nothing.

if you happen to email me I might happen to have a set of the Kinesis forks with a carbon steerer up for sale this very week… 😉

You’ve brought a racing bike. It’s going to feel light, stiff and skittish. Sounds like you really wanted a tourer.

mrblobby – Member 
You’ve brought a racing bike. It’s going to feel light, stiff and skittish. Sounds like you really wanted a tourer fatbike.

FTFY 😉

Get some decent tyres, which will help you to feel more confident leaning the bike to counteract the wind. I’ve been using Michelin Pro 3s and Pro 4s for years now and thought they were good until I tried Veloflex Open Corsas (two for £52 from Ribble) which are so mind-blowingly good that I will never go back to another tyre. They have improved my descending and cornering confidence massively and they ride like a dream with their 320 tpi carcass. I’m going to try them with latex inners next.

Pretty sure wheels are more responsible for crosswind shenanigans than forks, used to get it on my skinny tubed steel frame/forked commuter, I later switched to shallower rims* and it was less of an issue, still occasionally “caught” tho, par for the course.

If comfort is an issue pay for a bike fitting instead of spaffing cash on parts.

*when originals were worn out

I’d say just get used to it. I have a mate who told me a couple of months ago that road bikes were “shit” because they were too twitchy. This after a couple of rides after years of MTB. It’s just what you’re used to.

Why do you have problems with bikes that nobody else does?

Hora I think you have the same bike as me? It doesn’t feel especially twitchy to me and I weigh 10.5st and was getting blown all over the shop just now.

Why do you have problems with bikes that nobody else does?

Lol

Have you tried riding at 45 degrees to the direction of the wind? Common in the pro peloton hence why you often see them strung out across the road on the flat bits. Also, maybe swap your bottle for a camelbac as bottles are well know for being ‘sail like’.

You could also try one of those forks with the brake on the rear but don’t for gods sake use a disc brake – it’ll be like having a sail on the front.

Otherwise full Lycra, but not the waterproof stuff because it’ll trap the wind…