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Carbon fork replacement -- $60 ebay new forks?

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Carbon fork replacement -- $60 ebay new forks?

Old 08-27-20, 11:33 AM
  #1  
commutr4life
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Carbon fork replacement -- $60 ebay new forks?

So my girlfriend's bike fell off the trunk carrier while in motion and the fork on her Specialized road bike is destroyed. I'm looking for a replacement carbon fork and I came across these ec90 forks on ebay for $60.

https://www.ebay.com/i/392833672585?...r=661726700596

And this "ec90" fork for $65 which I assume are knockoffs of Easton ec90.

https://www.ebay.com/i/173873219348?...DefaultOrganic

Does anyone have any experience with these? We mostly do weekend rides for a few hours at a time and some longer full day rides so I don't need anything high end, but I don't want to mess with a sketchy fork either. I'd like to avoid spending $200 on a Ritchey comp or similar if possible.

What do folks think about these ebay forks? Thanks in advance!
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Old 08-27-20, 11:49 AM
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Why be vindictive? Just tell her it's over....
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Old 08-27-20, 12:03 PM
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The vast majority of forks these days are made in east Asia. Taiwan has a rep for higher quality manufacturing, ie they seem
to care about their rep more than innominata mainland sources. There is also this https://www.ebay.com/itm/IDEAL-JJ10-...4383.l4275.c10
which is 'shipped' from Taiwan, but not clearly made there, probably mainland chinese at that price. Many items on a bike are
not particularly critical, but stem, bars and especially forks are, as failures there can result in very serious injury. Your decision
of course but basically you have NO recourse in case of problems. Innominata fork 'may' futz with Specialized warranty if that
is still in effect, dunnoh just raising the ?.
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Old 08-27-20, 12:51 PM
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Originally Posted by sch
The vast majority of forks these days are made in east Asia. Taiwan has a rep for higher quality manufacturing, ie they seem
to care about their rep more than innominata mainland sources. There is also this https://www.ebay.com/itm/IDEAL-JJ10-...4383.l4275.c10
which is 'shipped' from Taiwan, but not clearly made there, probably mainland chinese at that price. Many items on a bike are
not particularly critical, but stem, bars and especially forks are, as failures there can result in very serious injury. Your decision
of course but basically you have NO recourse in case of problems. Innominata fork 'may' futz with Specialized warranty if that
is still in effect, dunnoh just raising the ?.
A few years ago I bought Nashbar-branded carbon forks that look like the ones in your link. They don't actually say Nashbar anywhere, they were just sold as "Nashbar carbon road fork". Anyway, I've had one set for 6 years and the other for 5 and they've been just fine.
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Old 08-27-20, 01:14 PM
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Ebay EC90 fork

Cheap ebay carbon is hated by a lot of people more than willing to share the horror stories.
I posted some fork related questions deliberately not mentioning my choice of the EC90. Some saw through my ruse, avoided my questions and posted hate ebay carbon comments anyway.

I needed a short rake carbon fork for a track bike I converted to road use.
I had to replace the fork due to the original having such a short reach the brakes (Shimano 105) would not fit.
It's commuter for me and I didn't want to spend a bunch on the replacement fork and I wanted carbon.

I purchased the ebay EC90.
First thing I didn't like was that it shipped in a bag with limited padding and nothing between the forks to stop crushing.
I inspected them and nothing seemed damaged, so I continued with my install.
The diameter of the steerer where the head race fits was slightly oversize. I gently removed the carbon molding seam from the fork and some material from the inside diameter of race itself to make it fit.
I cut the steerer to length using hose clamps as a cutting guide and a fine tooth hacksaw blade. For a one time thing, no special carbon blade required. But the blade is toast at the end. OH... and the dust is very bad for you.
Learnt how to install the expanding plug and where to position the stem in regards to the plug placement. <that gets blamed for many a fork failure.
With the fork now on the bike it came time for brakes. The hole in the fork for the brake has two diameters for the brake retaining nut to pass through.
The larger diameter stopped a couple of mm short of where I needed it to be. I very gently cleaned up the hole to get the extra length.
Worse still the brake mounting hole through the fork was angled 5 degrees downwards at the front. This angled the brake assembly downwards and made the brake pads hit the fork. I had to produce a wedge washer and open the hole a little to force the brake pads to clear.
Yet still I pushed on.
I now have a hundred+ miles on this bike. I did strip out the fork at 75 miles and inspected it for signs of stress, nothing found, reassembled.
I'm 6'1" and 200 Lbs and I continue to ride this bike. I have had no further issues with the fork....yet...fingers crossed.

I find myself unable to recommend purchase of the EC90 fork. Price is right, but the time and effort required to make up for poor construction/QC are considerable.
Also take note of the rake on the EC90 fork, it is quite short for a road bike.

If I had to do it over, I'd buy an alternate item.

All the best

Barry
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Old 08-27-20, 01:49 PM
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I've bought Chinese carbon bars cos they where cheap enough to take the chance. After a good inspection I am perfectly happy with them.
​​​​​​I bought Columbus carbon forks for 200e and to be honest I would probably get the Chinese ones if I was doing it again.
But if you are going to be worried about them failing you can't buy them because you won't be able to let her ride the bike in good conscience.
There is always going to be some doubt with any new part till you have got some miles on it.
What does she think?
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Old 08-27-20, 02:15 PM
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Which China ?

ROC, Taiwan , or PRC Beijing, Shanghai?
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Old 08-27-20, 02:52 PM
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How old is tour wife's bike? Most road bikes built in the last 10 years require a tapered steer tube. The forks in those links have straight steer tubes
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Old 08-27-20, 04:01 PM
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Just get a good fork for it. Carbon forks cost money, they just do. If you see something that is super cheap you should be worried about sketchiness, I would. Especially if they are trying to lure you in with fake logos or a similar name to an already existing and potentially high quality product. Is eBay or Alibaba (and his 40 thieves) a bike shop, if your answer is yes then seek medical attention, if no you are correct and you have to now ask yourself do I want to purchase a bicycle fork from someone who is not a bike shop and doesn't know bikes?

Also if you are regularly transporting bikes you should get a hitch on your car so you can get a hitch rack and carry them in a bit more security potentially (granted there are plenty of cheap hitch racks and plenty of less then ideal designs).

Whisky Parts Co. makes some reasonably priced full carbon forks and I have one and am quite satisfied with it. Ritchey also makes some alloy steerer tube versions that are reasonably priced and would work nicely if your goal is money saving.
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Old 08-27-20, 04:46 PM
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I actually looked at Nashbar before posting my first reply above. In their current manifestation however the offerings
are restricted and no cheap CF. I also had a $110 (IIRC, ~16yr old price) fork CF innominata from Nashbar that I
put on my now defunct Teledyne Titan. Worked fine for the ~18K miles I put on the bike til the R chain stay came
apart 12 yrs later and the frame was retired.
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Old 08-27-20, 06:00 PM
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As mentioned in post #8 , a fork is not always the right fork. There are different specs out there and Specialized has never been shy about proprietary stuff.
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Old 08-27-20, 06:15 PM
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I would definitely check crown race size for your bike and also try to match rake.

A fork failure easily causes serious injury or death, so personally I'd avoid the cheapest stuff and especially knockoffs. I might buy directly from China or Taiwan, but only from a company with some reputation. Maybe Dengfu?
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Old 08-27-20, 07:16 PM
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I have two Litespeed road bikes that came with Easton EC90SLX all-carbon forks. I purchased them in 2006 and both are still going strong with 54,000 and 51,000 miles respectively. They are very well made and the front brakes lined up perfectly. Obviously they were made in Asia but Easton insisted on and got excellent QC. It's a shame Easton no longer supplies carbon forks under their brand name and that someone co-opted the model name.

BTW, if you buy decent fine tooth (32 tpi) hacksaw blades, cutting one steerer will not dull it appreciably. Also, it's a myth that the carbon saw dust is highly toxic. It's not. Don't stick your nose right down on it as you are cutting but great precautions to avoid the dust aren't required.
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Old 08-28-20, 08:32 AM
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Originally Posted by HillRider
I have two Litespeed road bikes that came with Easton EC90SLX all-carbon forks. I purchased them in 2006 and both are still going strong with 54,000 and 51,000 miles respectively. They are very well made and the front brakes lined up perfectly. Obviously they were made in Asia but Easton insisted on and got excellent QC. It's a shame Easton no longer supplies carbon forks under their brand name and that someone co-opted the model name.

BTW, if you buy decent fine tooth (32 tpi) hacksaw blades, cutting one steerer will not dull it appreciably. Also, it's a myth that the carbon saw dust is highly toxic. It's not. Don't stick your nose right down on it as you are cutting but great precautions to avoid the dust aren't required.
using a regular hacksaw blade works fine with CF - just cut slowly and don’t force it. Last CF steerer I cut, I did it outside and wet everything down with a hose at the beginning and periodically thereafter, to keep dust down
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Old 08-28-20, 09:10 AM
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I bought a Hylix carbon fork from Asia on eBay for about $90 when I was having trouble finding something for a 1" road frame.

The fork seemed well made. It was light and strong, with carbon dropouts and a carbon steerer. It had no issues I needed to clean up. In riding it a few hundred miles, including several rough trail miles, it presented no issues. I decided to replace it because I did not like its design -- the dropouts had a ridge all the way around the edge, not just lawyer tabs that are easy to file off, and it took a proprietary headset that Hylix also sells.

Some of the oversees manufacturers are probably just selling their carbon products at about the same prices they sell them to their big corporate clients. Just run the machines for another hour at night. The fork that Specialized or Easton buys for $70 goes to some guy in the US for $90.

I'd just look for sellers that seem well established and have a record. In this case, these prices are more indicative of global markets, branding, all the costs that go into customer service and warranty and so on -- not necessarily quality of the item itself.
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Old 08-28-20, 10:44 AM
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Considering the ramifications of a front fork failure, I wouldn't consider any but those from a reputable manufacturer (Ritchey for my MTB). If you're on a budget get a steel fork.
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Old 08-28-20, 12:26 PM
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Pays your money, take your choice.

YMMV
I could not find a reported EC90 failure GOOGLED

I'll keep riding my track bike and either I or my widow will let you guys know as soon as it fails.
If it's my widow, it will be from somewhere sunny with umbrella drinks.

Barry
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Old 08-28-20, 01:24 PM
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I bought a Hylix carbon fork from Asia on ebay for my 2014 Pinarello Dogma. I purchased it because it looked and claimed to be the exact fork for that bike. I could not see any difference between it and the original fork. No regrets. In fact, the carbon repair specialist that painted the Hylix fork for me said that it is a Pinarello fork.

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Old 08-28-20, 02:37 PM
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I remember when the Chinese counterfeit Pinarellos were popular. Some guys said they were indistinguishable from the real ones, even put Pinarello stickers on them. I don't know how true it was but definitely a way to have the look w/o paying the price!
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Old 08-28-20, 05:49 PM
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If you're having a shop do all the install, have the shop also procure the parts needed.
If you are doing all the work, make sure you provide your best warranty.
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Old 08-28-20, 07:25 PM
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Get a used road fork on craigslist, can do it for about the same price, name brand is better (though I'm very tempted by the $99 1" full carbon forks on ebay)
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Old 08-29-20, 07:13 PM
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Cheap no name carbon forks are equivalent to cheap no name parachutes in my eyes. If the savings are worth the repercussions of your decision fly at it.
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Old 08-31-20, 07:48 AM
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I appreciate all of your responses! I would have taken this project to my LBS for sourcing/fitting/installation but they are all so backed up in my area (DC/Maryland). I may still go that route but either way I'm going to go for a reputable, branded CF fork, wince at the bill, and move on. Thanks all!
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Old 08-31-20, 10:54 AM
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Originally Posted by Barry2
YMMV
I could not find a reported EC90 failure GOOGLED

I'll keep riding my track bike and either I or my widow will let you guys know as soon as it fails.
If it's my widow, it will be from somewhere sunny with umbrella drinks.

Barry
Okay, but the forks the OP was looking at on Ebay aren't EC90 forks.
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Old 08-31-20, 11:08 AM
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Originally Posted by phughes
Okay, but the forks the OP was looking at on Ebay aren't EC90 forks.
phughes,
I went back and looked at the OPs original links. You are correct that my EC90 forks are indeed different than those in his provided links.
Link to mine

(Crow eaten)

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