Fork, Aluminum or Carbon/advice?

BikeRyder

Not trying to kick a dead horse, just looking for quick confirmation.

Is a carbon fork going to transfer far less vibration on a short commute to work with one stretch of rough road on a roughly 4 mile one way commute?

The reason I ask, I have 2 road bikes, an old cannondale 1989 SR800 that is flawless in operation and terribly fun to ride. It is rough as hell though but now that I have convinced myself beyond the newbie approach to tire pressure, I have lowered air pressure and it has made a dramatic difference. Its still rough as hell but tolerable. My other is a 2006 specialized allez triple. Its just a few pounds heavier than the cannondale but not enough for me to complain about and 100% smoother and more relaxing of a ride. It has a triple chainring which I actually need on a terribly steep stretch of road. The allez has more options to upgrade because of the 1 1/8 steerer. Other than the allez being that really obtrusive red that I'm not really all that fond of I really like the allez. But, if i take a bike off the wall to ride, I grab the cannondale. The cannondale is bone stock with 105 and 600 components, downtube shifters, 1 inch threaded steerer, and single pivot brakes. They all work great and all components are easily upgradable except for the stem which i feel I need to shorten. I could easily go with the quill to threadless stem adapter because truthfully i have no issue with my headset being threaded and I feel i am running out of time for being able to get a 1 inch threaded carbon fork and not sure if i need to get one soon or not before all stores start discontinuing them..

I guess my post should be titled, which bike should I keep? The red allez that works great, or the nostalgic sr800 that works great. neither are terribly valuable so its not a money issue its an issue of wall space. I dont need 2 road bikes. I heard a toy collector once say "The idea isnt to own all the toys in the world, its to have played with all the toys in the world." Since that statement I have decided to thin out my heard of bikes and pass my rides onto some deserving person who wants to ride with me. I know the red allez has more opportunities for upgradibility due to the front end and read dropouts being able to handle more gears but I am fine with the 7 speed cannondale id honestly put a triple on the front to manage the steep hills of my town, but I sure love that Dale. appearance, the cannondale has zero paint on it, its bare aluminum. Its beautifully ugly and plain. the Allez is bold and bright red, rides like a dream, but thats not my style but i can totally see past it.

Advice please, what would you do? keep the allez or put brifters and a 3 speed chainring on the Cannondale and have a slightly lighter bike that's generally the same? the allez is a compact frame the Dale is an old school non-compact.

singleton

I can't read all that - but I currently own three 'dales.... Need I say more?

N0bodyOfTheGoat

I thought in theory, carbon dampens road buzz.

But I cannot test out the theory in a fair manor, my Felt's carbon fork has 23mm tyres and my Wazoo's cromo fork has ~4" tyres on it!;)

Bobbinogs

NitrousOxide wrote:

I thought in theory, carbon dampens road buzz.

Well, sort of IME. Some carbon does and some carbon doesn't. A much bigger difference is achieved with decent supple tyres that are wide, run on wide rimmed wheels and run at the appropriate pressure. OP, you may want to consider tubeless as an option.

BikeRyder

thanks for the responses, I dont know why i'm so hooked on wanting 1 1/8 threadless. I figure if I get my sizing dialed in, I'll never need to change it, unless of course I shrink dramatically as I'm fairly certain I'm finished growing at 35 years old. Also, road buzz, i never noticed it until I got a set of slicks and then those slicks made that road buzz highly annoying. I swapped to slightly patterned tires and the road buzz sound was eliminated. If you're talking about the feeling of the mild but constant vibration as road buzz, well that's a bonus to get rid of that too. I had a motorcycles, CL360 where at 60 mph the motor buzz made my feet go numb. So if that minor road vibration resonates through an aluminum fork, I could see my hands going number over several miles being a real issue. I will primarily be commuting on whichever bike but the commute isnt that far. I may get into club rides but i'm truly not sure, i usually just grab a buddy and head out for a morning. I dont know, I dont want to get rid of either BUT one needs to go.

sungod

it's not the material it's the design/construction, wheels can make a big difference too

but if you simply want to reduce buzz for commuting, fit fatter (slick) tyres so you can run at lower pressure, sorted

secretsqizz

I swear to god, if anyone else on the ROAD forum writes the word Brifters once again, I'll swing for them..
STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YOu SMEGHEAD

sungod

^^^this

BikeRyder

I guess I should have added the wheels are Mavic Open 4CD, apparently a decent wheel according to some of my research. And, as far as fork design, Its cannondales first aluminum fork I think, fork rake of 1.5, on their criterium frame.


Secretsqueeze-And sorry for the improper nomenclature, STI shifters and thank you so much for your helpful and useful comment.

simon_masterson

sungod wrote:

it's not the material it's the design/construction, wheels can make a big difference too

but if you simply want to reduce buzz for commuting, fit fatter (slick) tyres so you can run at lower pressure, sorted

This. Some forks are more comfortable than others, more by design than material. This is incredibly overhyped - I can't say I've ever noticed a remarkable difference in comfort between carbon and steel forks, for example, and I wouldn't say that the aero carbon fork I have on my fixed TT machine is particularly comfortable; any more so than the aero seatpost, but if I were concerned about that, I probably wouldn't run 19-20mm tyres on it.

BikeRyder

Well, these are the words im looking for. Im just not going to be worried about going carbon, my bike is plenty light enough to worry about a few less grams. I will look into tires a bit more. I have 25's on there now but definitely over inflated, i will drop the psi and check the tpi, but im betting theyre 60. I have heard some arguements about 23's bumped up to 25's being a nice improvement to ride quality but then some negatives about going to 28's, if you can get them to fit that is.

ayjaycee

Just be warned that low tyre pressure and rough roads are an invitation to punctures. From what you have said, I really doubt that anything would help to smooth the ride of the Cannondale that much and, frankly, it doesn't matter what the sentimental attachment is, if it's that rough, it just ain't worth riding for any length of time. It might be heresy but if money really isn't an issue, you might start thinking about treating yourself to another (modern) bike and passing on both Cannondale and Specialized.

BikeRyder

Leave it to someone else to state the obvious. You're right ayjaycee, if i plan on riding for any length of time comfort and enjoyment far outweighs misery. Both should get passed on and I spoil myself with a sweet ride.

simon_masterson

BikeRyder wrote:

Well, these are the words im looking for. Im just not going to be worried about going carbon, my bike is plenty light enough to worry about a few less grams. I will look into tires a bit more. I have 25's on there now but definitely over inflated, i will drop the psi and check the tpi, but im betting theyre 60. I have heard some arguements about 23's bumped up to 25's being a nice improvement to ride quality but then some negatives about going to 28's, if you can get them to fit that is.

Go for 28s if they will fit. There are very few drawbacks to using larger tyres.

keezx

BikeRyder wrote:

I guess I should have added the wheels are Mavic Open 4CD, apparently a decent wheel according to some of my research.

Good rims in there time (20 years ago) but far too narrow for current ideas about wheels.
Limits the possibility to lower the pressure for more ride comfort. (sloppy in the corners and snake bites)

Anonymous

NitrousOxide wrote:

my Wazoo's cromo fork has ~4" tyres on it!;)

4". Is that semi-fat? 8)

Its a cromo fork anyway, so even if your not that fat tyre's went on a diet, how would that give any help re the buzz of aluminum ones?

fenix

There's got to be another place to keep a second bike. You've not thought hard enough. Hang one up? Mates garage? Under the bed?

debeli

What a splendid dilemma to face!

My gut feeling - and my considered reply - is that you should go for the one that you reach for instinctively.

A good frame is almost everything. It sems that the bike you reach for instinctively has a good frame.

I am one of those battered, old cyclists who's ridden steel, alloy and the newer plastic stuff.

I am sensitive (on climbs) to weight, but cannot say that I feel much difference between one fork material and another.

To my mind, the critical area where 'road buzz' is addressed is in front-tyre pressure. That aside, you might think in terms of doubling the tape - I never have, but I've heard people speak well of it - or getting gloves with more padding.

In my (lengthy but unspectacular) experience, all these minor annoyances like buzz and rattle are greatly diminished if the whole shooting match is in good order: Spokes tight, wheels straight, bearings spinning quietly and smoothly, steering tight but in a loose way, nothing rattling.

If you must go down to one, stick with the one you reach for first.