BLukkes

Hi,

I'm looking into converting a Giant Pacer frame I have lying around into a fixed gear. It looks like the front forks have taken a beating and I'm looking to replace it with something stiff and light (and affordable). This turns out to be easier said than done.
1"inch steerer tube forks aren't very widely available. Columbus and Richey sell them but at $200+ which sounds like a very high price. Do you guys have knowledge where to find these forks or have experience with other brands?

seau grateau

They're a specialty item now. Aside from the brands you mentioned, there's Wound Up, which is more expensive. Nashbar used to sell one, but I think they stopped making it. Comb through eBay or just buy a steel one if you want to keep cost low.

bonsai171

Are you looking for threaded or threadless? These aren't carbon, but as low as $65 for threaded.

https://www.retro-gression.com/collections/forks

Dave

Scrodzilla

Good carbon isn't cheap, and cheap carbon isn't good.

ljsense

I went through the same search recently for an old Litespeed titanium frame.

I bought a Hylix fork from China on eBay. It was around $110 with shipping, if I recall. They are a little unusual in that you do not press on a crown race -- they take a specific (common) bearing that fits on the molded carbon, like an integrated headset, but into external cups. So I bought their headset that made it all work. The last part was the thing that was a complete waste -- their expansion plug. It was a worthless contraption of featherweight alloy bits held together with a polymer o-ring.

The failure of the compression plug got to doubt their whole product line, and led me to hunt to replace the whole system. I also wanted to use a traditional (King) headset. So I ended up buying a Columbus Minimal fork from the only place I could find it, a bike shop in Germany. It is a lovely fork but was, as you mentioned, costly.

The Hylix fork, in retrospect, was not a problem. It was all carbon, and from what I could tell, well-built. I rode over bumpy trails and aside from the headset never being adequately tight because the expansion plug was so worthless, it was good. The fork ends are carbon, and have a ridge around them, so you can't just file off the lawyer tabs if that's something you like to do. I could have just bought a 1" FSA expansion plug, but I have an FSA phobia.

I studied the used market for 1" carbon forks, and it is stiff competition. The Ouzo and Easton EC90s were going for around $300 in open auctions.

You could try the Hylix. You just have to stick with their headset and ignore their expansion plug.

Tandemfahrer

I have similar results with the Hylix carbon fork I put on my road bike. It seems to be the only option for riders wanting to put an affordable carbon fork on an older 1" road frame these days. I got it to work now, but it took some time:

1. I could not get their compression plug to actually compress the headset. This is a piece of junk.
2. No other compression plug I could find will fit, because the steerer walls are quite thick. I had to use a lathe to reduce a Columbus Ahead Expander compression plug in size and make it fit.
3. Still the headset would not stay tight. It is a piece of junk anyway. The bearings start to rust quickly if not completely covered in grease.
4. I could not get another headset to work with the fork, at least not the lower half. Thus, I used the lower half of the original Hylix headset and combined it with the upper half of a Ritchey headset. The Ritchey headset has a compression ring which is pressed down by the stem to make it fit tight.

The fork now rides well. I race it regularly. The fork is quite soft vertically. I'm not sure I'd recommend it for heavier riders.

Chris

jay4usc

someone on offer up in Los Angeles is selling a brand new Wabi Lightening carbon fork, painted orange for $60. Not sure if it will work on your bike

BLukkes

Thanks for the tip! I've already found a second hand 2010 Columbus carbon front fork for the project at a local bikeshop here in the Netherlands. I dove deep into the new options but really couldn't find anything I'd trust ride on.

nine9six

I have an origin8 1" threadless carbon fork on my kilo tt and so far its fine. Weighs about 510 grams with the steerer tube uncut. Cost around 180 shipped so I wouldnt say its a cheap buy.

BillyJohnLee

I'm about to hit the same boat, looking for 1" fork to replace my 850g steel one. A lighter steel one may be an option or its hylix, glad to see the headset issue can be worked around.

ThatsOK Cyril

Was in same boat for replacing the Look straight carbon fork in my Merckx Titanium. Went with $200 Ritchey because 1) I’m not gonna trust someone’s used carbon fork & 2) it was a work of carbon art.

“Good carbon ain’t cheap and cheap carbon ain’t good but *used* cheap carbon’s even worse.”