Recommendation for a winter road fork

thelonerider
thelonerider Posts: 8
edited December 2020 in Road general
I like to run 28mm tyres on a wide (23mm) Hunt road wheel on my winter bike, with full guards...but the current 1 1/8" non-taper Columbus carbon fork is just too narrow at the top for the tyres to adequately clear given road muck etc. So I'm wondering whether anyone could recommend me an inexpensive fork more in tune with my needs...something reliable, with decent clearances and not too costly would be ideal for this one.

Comments

  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    Rim brakes?

    Most forks will only allow 25 mm and guards, otherwise yu need long drop brake calipers...
    left the forum March 2023
  • thelonerider
    thelonerider Posts: 8
    Yeah, rim brakes...I'm happy to update the front caliper if I have to as well. It's my bad weather and winter ride, and the rural roads where I live are not the best. At the moment i'm running a spare older narror wheel on the front just to get greater clearance between the fork blades and tyre sides.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    https://www.condorcycles.com/collections/forks/products/condor-pioggia-mudguard-compatible-carbon-fork

    Give them a ring and see when it will be back in stock
    left the forum March 2023
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    They have the steel one, which is a lump, but...

    https://www.condorcycles.com/collections/forks/products/condor-pioggia-steel-fork
    left the forum March 2023
  • thelonerider
    thelonerider Posts: 8
    Good suggestions there...I'll see what Condor have to say. That steel fork does look like a lump...twice the weight of my alloy summer bike fork...but I'm not against it if it gets the job done. Extra height too...not that I really need that on my wheel set up, as the height clearance is fine.
  • darkhairedlord
    darkhairedlord Posts: 7,180
    Put a 25mm tyre on the front. You can have a lower pressure than rear anyway so should be fine.
  • thelonerider
    thelonerider Posts: 8
    That’s a good suggestion too...currently I’ve gone the other way round and kept the 28mm tyre, but switched to an older narrow rim wheel. That works fine, but obviously doesn’t have as wide a tyre-road interface.
  • thecycleclinic
    thecycleclinic Posts: 395
    Well narrower rims make the tyre taller so the clearance problem is not height but width.

    I have alot of forks all clear a tyre 28mm wide so the tyre your usong maybe a 28mm but balloons to a wider width so pick a narrower 28mm tyre one that is actually 28mm wide.
    www.thecycleclinic.co.uk
  • thelonerider
    thelonerider Posts: 8
    edited December 2020
    That’s it exactly...the Continentals or Gatorskins I use all clear fine on an older style narrow rim, but the added circumference of a wide rim makes them effectively much more like a bigger tyre...so they’re some mm wider on the width when installed on the Hunts. The height clears my guards, so no issues there, and thus I don’t really want to go for longer forks unless I have to...but the width easily rubs the fork tangs at the sides of the apex. That’s why I was looking to see whether I could get a fork with a wider apex arch, or whether I stick with the narrow rim front wheel or a smaller tyre for ease.

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