VegasJen

Couple weeks ago I bought a pair of Reynold carbon wheels for my tri bike. I was super excited to pick these up also because they would be my first experience with tubeless. Had to order some new tape, get some Orange Seal and a couple Schwalbe tubeless tires.. Took the time today to put everything together. All excited to mount them up. Everything was going great until I went to put the front in. That's when I found this.


You might be able to see it here as well.


Just the way the front fork of this Ridley is made. It has a leading edge which has plenty of clearance. But there's this trailing edge that has a much narrower clearance and I'm getting just the slightest bit of rubbing. In fact, if I removed the Reynold sticker, it *might* clear, but it might still rub on at least part of it as well. I haven't done anything yet since I literally just mounted it about an hour ago.

So now I'm considering my options. This is an older frame because I just don't often have cash for big ticket items like a whole new bike. I don't really want to attempt to modify either the fork or the wheel for obvious structural reasons. But the only other option I can imagine is replacing the entire fork/steerer tube with a different unit that has the clearance. I don't like this option from both an expense and an aesthetic perspective.

As I see it, these are my options, along with the related considerations.
1) remove the Reynolds sticker from the wheel. This would obviously be the cheapest and easiest solution, however, I'm not 100% sure there wouldn't be at least a tiny bit of interference even on the bare wheel. Then I would worry about damaging the integrity of the wheel.

2) modify the fork for clearance, either by grinding or shaping. I definitely don't want to grind for obvious structural reason. My preferred solution would be to reshape at least that one small section of the fork. I figure I need at most 2-3mm of clearance. But reshaping would have to be with some imprecise method like a hammer and drift. Then my concern is altering the alignment, parallel of the axle.

3) replacing the fork/steerer tube entirely. This would probably be the most sure way of solving the problem. It is also the most expensive way. I hate the idea of spending two or three hundred dollars on a new fork to clear a used carbon fiber wheel. Kind of defeats the purpose of buying used parts anyway.

I'm absolutely open to suggestions. If anybody has any idea, I'm happy to consider other alternatives.

oldbobcat

Sure, grind away. It's only plastic.

Just kidding. Don't! You'll void your warranty, and possibly your life.

Obviously, this frame was made when Ridley aerodynamicists thought airfoiling the front fork with the wheel would make the bike go faster. This was obviously before wheels started getting wider.. Either get a narrower front wheel or a fork with more clearance. Well, if you think removing the label on the rim will suffice, try it. Also, make sure your wheel is perfectly dished and true.

VegasJen

I was just looking at it again and my original thought was the front fork was aluminum, now, not so sure. Given the complex form, I think it might be CF. If that's the case, then obviously not going to even attempt any reshaping. Short of scratching off the coating, not really sure how to confirm CF vs. aluminum.

Crankycrank

Pretty sure that's a CF fork. I'm guessing those wheels are worth a lot more than a new fork so If it were my bike, I would get a new fork or sell the wheels to recoup your investment and trade for narrower ones. I wouldn't bother trying to structurally modify anything as it takes some special skills. Even if you did it would have to create a lot more space as any out of trueness in the wheel could ruin the fork and rim and your ride for sure. That's the joy of Tri bikes with their constant changes in technology and proprietary parts.

VegasJen

I do have a K2 road bike with a CF front fork that, conveniently, has a similar color scheme. I checked it a little while ago and the Reynold wheel fits just fine on that fork. So looks like my project for next weekend is to swap forks between the Ridley and the K2. I don't expect it to be a permanent solution, but it will be a perfectly acceptable solution, until such time as I upgrade the bike or find a suitable aftermarket fork.

SoSmellyAir

Are you using "Crap" as a verb or a noun in the title?

New wheel or new fork. Removing a decal is not really going to help, because the wheels undergo some lateral deflection as you ride. I had to return a Time Fluidity frame to Time due to insufficient wheel clearance.

Alan K

If removing sticker allows the wheel to move freely, it will not provide you sufficient clearance to use bicycle safely. Under the circumstances you have described, the least expensive and a safe option would be to find a fork that gives you a greater clearance. [I prefer around 3-5 mm on both sides of the tire.]

choddo

Won’t the retailer take them back and sell you an alternative in the circumstances?

Eric F 

The compatibility between bikes and parts is ridiculously complex. This goes in the “experience is what you get just after you need it” file.

pdlamb

See if the shop will give you (reduced) trade value when you get smaller tires?

Iride01 

Changing out the fork might involve money that will be better spent on another bike for those wheels. Good forks are expensive.

biker128pedal

If the rear fits and has enough clearance I’d look for a replacement front wheel. Start with looking at the specified outside width. Looks like you got a more modern wheel set designed for wider tires. I feel for you. I bought a used aluminum frame during COVID and did not look up the maximum tire width. But now I have a trainer bike.

bboy314

Its not clear but it appears the rim is what doesn’t have clearance with the curved fork blades.

Barry2 

VegasJen ,
From your pic’s it appears that the distance between the forks tapers too quickly for the deep rim.
You might find that a 60mm (19mm internal width) might fit where what appears to be 80mm does not.
Are your Reynolds rims 80mm & 19mm internal (29mm external)
Both of Reynolds 60mm are 21mm external width.

A replacement front wheel may be cheaper than a fork.
A fork replacement that is not same for same can be difficult.
Any change in rake can cause the wheel to hit the down tube, or change the handling of the bike.

All the best

Barry

wheelreason

4) Put the old wheels back on.

VegasJen

Of course that's an option, but it's kind of backwards option since the whole point was to upgrade the bike and switch to tubeless wheels. Not done investigating solutions though.

Earlier today I pulled the fork off the Ridley and the fork out of my K2 road bike. Good news is they're both pretty standard 1.125" straight steerer tubes. Bad news is the Ridley tube is about 3/4" shorter than the K2. I have them swapped on the bikes now but I had to put a good amount of spacer on the Ridley now to take up that extra tube. And I do have the K2 reassembled but that took almost an inch out of my stack on the handlebars. Don't know how much I'm going to notice that.

Honestly, the thing that bothers me the most is the different shades of white now. The Ridley is more of a pure white, but the forks from the K2 is kind of a silver white. At least I can figure out if this will all work for me, but there's just no way I can keep the K2 fork on the Ridley without it driving me crazy.

choddo

So there’s no way to get the wheels switched by the seller to a narrower rim?

79pmooney

Jen, I haven't read all the posts. But I have been riding a bike when the fork failed JRA. Life changing and not in a good way.

Don't ride that! Rim rub or even just tire rub will remove CF fast. Either get a narrower wheel or a wider fork. (I'd ask about '80s/'90s racing and training wheels. Narrow was what they were. You can ride that until a fork falls into your lap.)

VegasJen

Purchased used set from a private seller. I'm working on solutions. Got the K2 fork put on today only to discover the original 105 brake caliper(?) is too narrow for the wheel. I could let all the cable pressure off and the arms would not expand enough to not drag on the wheel. So now I'm scratching my head as to how I'm going to fix this new problem. I thought about trying to swap out the calipers from the K2, but they are the same size. So I took a look at my Roubiax and I'll be damned if those aren't wider calipers. So now I've put the 105 calipers that were on the Ridley on to the Roubiax and the calipers originally on the Roubiax on to the Ridley. Son of a b**** if I don't have all three bikes put back together. Close but no cigar. The K2 and Ridley are back together, with the new wheels on the Ridley. But the Roubiax is down now only because the cable end caps are 5mm and the caliper adjustment screws accept 4mm. Oh well. Probably due to replace those cable housings anyway. Already have a new Shimano cable set in my JensonUSA cart.

shelbyfv

IIRC Larry has a spare set of wheels you might try.

VegasJen

Not sure who Larry is but I think I have this all sorted out. Not 100% sure on that yet, but feeling pretty confident at the moment.

Koyote

I believe the OP has had me blocked for some time now, but will post this for posterity.

This post is a sort we see occasionally on bf among the 'penny wise, pound foolish' crowd: people who buy used gear, lots of it, without the knowledge to do so successfully. Some then end up with compatibility issues, fit problems, even broken items. If Jen had taken this bike to a shop and asked for a set of tubeless wheels, she would've rolled out with something that works properly -- and in the end, it might've actually cost her less money, because she wouldn't have had to then buy even more stuff in order to make it work correctly.

Again, penny wise, pound foolish.

VegasJen

I do have you blocked but I thought I would give you a chance. Sure enough, you don't disappoint. Rather than being constructive, once again being critical.

Who here hasn't run into unexpected problems with an upgrade? Is it really that uncommon? Your solution is to throw money at it and let someone else figure it out. Well, chief, I'm that someone else that figures **** out. As of right now, I have a workable solution that has cost me exactly zero dollars and just a couple hours beyond my initial investment. Granted, that will go up a few dollars when I run new cables on my Roubiax, but as stated, it was probably about time anyway.

So 1) I've learned some stuff. 2) I've solved problems. 3) I have effectively upgraded my tri bike. 4) I saved a little money doing it myself.

And since you are just seeking things to be critical of, maybe I will post the results of my seat post modification. That will be kind of interesting to see how you can disparage that project as well.

Troul 

in the past when i was at a lbs grabbing some parts & conversing with a worker about a similar clearance ordeal of someone else's bicycle, they were able to gain enough clearance by swapping the end caps at the axle. It was not a huge change, but it was just enough.

VegasJen

That might have worked but I'm OK with the solution I have right now. As it is, I feel comfortable with both bikes the way they are. I did ride the K2 today for 32 miles with absolutely zero problems. I didn't even really notice the change in stack that much. So I may very well leave the Air Foil fork on the K2 for the rest of time. I probably will try to replace the fork on the Ridley if only so I can match the paint. It's little stuff like that that will bug me.