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Carbon Fork Fear

Old 11-25-19, 08:01 AM
  #1  
XLB
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Carbon Fork Fear

Hello!
I'm looking into buying a new bike but it's carbon fork scares me It's a TREK Checkpoint AL3 Sora Gravel Bike. I've tested one and really like the ride!
Only drawback is that I weigh 315lbs (142 kg) and Trek says the bike has a total max weight limit of 125 KG.
I've had a Nishiki Allroad (All aluminium) gravel bike and rode it without issues, only it ended up being too big for me.
Does anybody over 300lbs ride carbon? Any reported issues? Would love to hear from all of you nevertheless!
Thank you!

XLB
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Old 11-25-19, 10:27 AM
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It'll probably work just fine for a ten thousands miles, maybe a multiple of that. Don't plan on riding over curbs, or over logs or ditches, and you'll probably be fine.

But Trek's lawyers are risk averse and conservative (if their engineers were like that, the bike would weigh two pounds more and come without a weight limit). If you're worried about the weight limit, I think you'll want to go with a different brand.
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Old 11-25-19, 01:47 PM
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Thanks! Appreciate the reply!
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Old 11-25-19, 03:11 PM
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check out the steel Kona Rove, new models are modern 650 fatter tire layouts, couple yrs ago was 700 with 35s or something like that. Gravel marketing trend is leaning to 650 for more tire volume and same/less rolling resistance than 700 counter parts.

https://www.konaworld.com/rove_st.cfm
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Old 11-25-19, 04:03 PM
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FWIW: WoundUp makes a tandem rated carbon fork. It's rated at 400 pounds team weight, which is a lot more than rated "up to" 400 pounds. Available in canti & disc versions, it costs a bunch, but I got one & it is a great fork. Highly recommend.

Check out the clearance section of the WoundUp website. Occassionally really good forks show up half-off.
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Old 11-25-19, 07:13 PM
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I wouldn't hesitate *at* *all* about carbon anything at your weight. I have about 10k miles over 3 years on a full carbon Scott CR-10 and at my lightest clock 350 and a lot of those miles were heavier and there have been no problems with the frame. It is very stout while riding and there is no reason to not expect another 10k miles out of it. Remember that this Scott is really an older model race frame repurposed by them into an endurance type bike....e.g. it was designed around riders half our weight.

I just picked up a full carbon Jamis Renegade Expert and took my first gravel ride on it yesterday. Based on how it felt, I am also not remotely worried about frame or fork strength there either.

Wheels will be your weak point (or have been for me)

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Old 11-26-19, 10:51 AM
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Just as a reference, the heaviest I reached was 241. My bike has carbon seat stays and I had no problems at all. Don't know about forks, but I would imagine they would be able to hold as long as you are just riding normally.
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Old 11-27-19, 09:39 AM
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The Cannondale Topstone Sora is rated for 300 lbs and also has a Carbon fork if you want to give that a look?


Originally Posted by XLB
Hello!
I'm looking into buying a new bike but it's carbon fork scares me It's a TREK Checkpoint AL3 Sora Gravel Bike. I've tested one and really like the ride!
Only drawback is that I weigh 315lbs (142 kg) and Trek says the bike has a total max weight limit of 125 KG.
I've had a Nishiki Allroad (All aluminium) gravel bike and rode it without issues, only it ended up being too big for me.
Does anybody over 300lbs ride carbon? Any reported issues? Would love to hear from all of you nevertheless!
Thank you!

XLB
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Old 11-27-19, 02:03 PM
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Not a worry, ride it. I have 4 bikes now in the collection and 3 have carbon forks. All 3 have complete carbon fork, no alloy tube. Never had an issue. I was at 336 on my spesh allez and it ran great. Now under 300 but it wasn't even a concern from the shop. One Spesh, one Cannondale and my full carbon bike the Argon 18. Not one dealer even hesitated when I asked about my weight when asking about the fork or frame for that matter. They all said it will be no issue. FWIW my dealer is awesome and I trust them 100%. Been a great CS based dealer for me for a long time.
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Old 11-28-19, 07:06 AM
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Tested the Kona! Loved it! We will see if I can get a deal!
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Old 11-28-19, 07:07 AM
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Just wanted to thank everyone for replying! I really appreciate it!
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