thedriveside

What your experiences with putting a nashbar-like carbon fork on your steel steed? There's some nice examples in the retro-roadie thread, pondering this option for a new build.

Nashbar's option is very well reviewed but also sold out, and I can't really find another option. Any tips? (If you're looking to sell, let me know!)

TIA

RobbieTunes

Size matters, what size you need is important.

In my experience, if the fork on the bike is really nice, you may see some improvement, but not much. For example, on several Ironman bikes, I've gone back to the OEM fork.

However, on an Ironman I just finished, I went with a Kestrel EMS Pro 1" threaded fork and it's fine, rides smooth. I can tell it's lighter, geometry seems a wee bit quicker.

Also, on a Klein, I swapped out the lugged chrome Tange fork and went with the Performance / Nashbar 1" threaded fork, and it rides nice AND has clearance for 700x28's.

3speedslow

Colnago Mixte

I put the $99 Nashbar fork on my Miyata. Only weighs 3 or 4 lbs, actually a couple ounces lighter than a cheap high-ten steel fork.

Double check the weight, and weigh the thing when you get it. The fork they sent me doesn't even seem to have any carbon fiber in it, it's all aluminum as far as I can tell, and it weighs a $&%-ing TON.

When I was shopping for 1" threaded forks, I also saw a Ritchey fork for $199, which I thought at the time was too much. If I had it to do over, I would have gladly paid that for a decent fork instead of that non-carbon fiber Nashbar POS.

Lascauxcaveman 

Essthreetee

RobbieTunes

The Performance/nashbar forks come and go in their sale flyers, and are sometimes on ebay used. I'd hold out, if on a budget, for one of those.

The Ritchey fork is definitely a better fork, and seems has no problem selling at $200. I got a shop to discount one to me for $125 and put it on a friend's Kestrel (so I could have the EMS Pro), and once I rode the Kestrel, I wondered if I shouldn't have just bought the Ritchey for myself!

Colnago Mixte

Would anyone happen to know the tire clearance on the Ritchey fork? I do know the Nashbar one will clear 28's, which about the only thing it's got going for it other than the low low price.

Hudson308 

Huh. The Nashbar carbon road forks I bought with aluminum steerers weigh 1.32 lbs. (599 g) with a 200mm steerer (for 56cm frames), and 1.37 lbs. (621 g) with a 220mm steerer (for 61cm frames).
Hi-Ten steel forks in those sizes weigh around 1.9 lbs. (862 g) Columbus ones are around 1.5 lbs (680 g) in that size. For the money I consider the Nashbar units a good value.
There will always be parts (or bikes for that matter) that will be a significant upgrade for more cash, but for those seeking to lighten their existing framesets on a budget I'd continue recommending the Nashbar carbon forks.

vinfix

I wouldn't put one on a really good bike or one I wanted to keep for a long time. I put a Performance Axis Pro 1" threadless, full carbon fork on a Zebra over 10 years ago, and just transferred it over to a very similar (but better condition) Nishiki frame this year. Converting to threadless isn't that hard, and will save more weight, if you don't mind the look. The carbon fork smoothed out the ride and tightened up the wheel base a bit. It's held up fine on 2 bikes, now, but all the stories and pictures of broken carbon make me cautious- even though I have a Nashbar carbon seatpost, too!

jeffreythree

I have a Nashbar 'carbon' fork. I am not sure what it is really made of, but it weighs more than my newest bike's steel Tange Champion fork (795 vs. 750). It did not make the move to that bike. Ride is nice with the Nashbar compared to the original it replaced on my Schwinn Traveller, which seemed very stiff and transmitted a lot of road buzz.

Hudson308 

Are you guys talking about their Cyclocross fork with the canti brake bosses and disc mount?

thedriveside

Thanks for the input all, some very good insights here. The fact that the Nashbar fork has clearance for 28s is huge, so likely to go in that direction.

Curiosity + new project means that I'll have to give this a try!

RobbieTunes

I don't see the threaded one any more. Mine was cut for a 58cm size, so I'm quite sure the steerer is shorter than 300mm. However, I'd not be surprised if my steerer is steel. It's sure not a 3-4 lb fork. Definitely lighter than my Ironman's unicrown, but in my subjective opinion, not as smooth.

The disc/canti model weighs about 800g (less than 2 lbs)

Curved:
WEIGHT: 586g (1) 1.3 lbs
MATERIAL: Carbon
STEERER DIAMETER: 1"
STEERER MATERIAL: Alloy, 300mm in length
RAKE: 43mm
BRAKE MOUNT: Road caliper
WHEEL SIZE: 700c

Straight:
WEIGHT: 585g 1.3 lbs
MATERIAL: Carbon blades; alloy steerer/crown
STEERER DIAMETER: 1 1/8"
STEERER MATERIAL: Aluminum
RAKE: 43mm
BRAKE MOUNT: Single-bolt
WHEEL SIZE: 700c

This is the Performance/nashbar fork, 1" threaded, running Clement Strada LGG 700x28's.

I can confidently say 700x29's in this model tire will not fit, and neither will 700x28 Conti GP4000SII's.

jeffreythree

No, mine is the plain one with curved legs and alloy steerer. Forget the steerer length, but it is on a 54cm bike. Maybe there are different versions or manufacturers as they seem to have spotty availability? Mine doesn't fit a 28mm tire either (Continental Ultra Sport II tire on a Mavic Open Sport rim) as it rubs the at the bridge even though it is wide enough.

Hudson308 

This is why I'm wondering if @Colnago Mixte has the Cyclocross version, as he says 28's will fit the fork he's got.
EDIT: I see from his Miyata picture it's not the Cyclocross fork, but it doesn't look like the carbon forks I got from Nashbar either.
I see that @RobbieTunes has 28's on the road fork as well. Either Nashbar has been selling different versions of that road fork, or there are some serious differences in 28mm tire sizes, or both.

Colnago Mixte

This is what I got, last May. Judging by the purchase price, it must have been the $79.99 "carbon" fork.

RobbieTunes

It's hard to "find out" what size tires will fit a fork, unless the seller is willing to test-fit the size you need. I believe when I read the ad for either the nashbar or Performance fork, it listed an axle-crown distance, but I didn't know if it was the inner measurement or what. I think I needed 272mm and they listed it at 274. Whatever it was, I was taking a chance and knew it.

I got my fork from a BF member, by the way. He made my month.

the sci guy 

Topping this - looking for a 1” threaded carbon for a ‘99 Cannondale R300. Doesn’t appear Nashbar sells theirs anymore?? Anyone confirm that? The price was appealing even if the shape wasn’t that great. Would love a Whiskey fork but that ain’t in the budget right now.

dddd

If you find a threaded carbon fork (or carbon-wrapped aluminum), the steer tube will likely need cutting and re-threading.

I have one of the Nashbar "carbon" forks, weighs 600g (1.3lbs) with a 1" steel threaded steerer all of 265mm long (only 1-1/2" threaded) and having 40mm rake (for use with steeper steering-head angles, "slows" the steering).
I might part with this, let me know if interested.

mstateglfr 

Correct. The nashbar of old is totally different from what you now see.
Nashbar and Performance's parent company went belly up half a year ago to a few different groups. A company out of CA bought the online names of performance and nashbar, and they just sell a bunch of normal gear you can find at dozens of other online retailers.

The original nashbar stopped carrying their house brand frames and forks around q4 of last year. As they sold inventory, it wasnt replaced. Ends up they had credit issues for many months prior to being auctioned off, which explains the dwindling inventory over the last year of business.

1" threaded is probably an ebay buy. There are 1" threadless for less than whiskey, for what it's worth.

Iowegian

Size? I have a Easton EC30 or something that has about 6" of steer tube with 4" of threads. Obviously a replacement fork but it's as nice as most low-budget carbon forks out there.

the sci guy 

Dang I had no idea. I know Performance brick & mortar stores closed, but I had no idea the online was crashing as well. I'd noticed over the last year that Nashbar's site stock wasn't what it used to be. Very interesting, thanks.

Hoenstly, I have no idea. It's a Cannondale R300 - and this is my first time looking into getting a replacement fork so I'm just discovering all the different measurements and whatnots that are necessary to get the right thing. I haven't done a lot of research yet so if you have any knowledge on it I'm happy to listen!

Iowegian

The most important measurement is the steer tube length. If that is too short, you won't be able to use the fork at all since the fork steer tube won't extend past the top of the head tube and there will be nothing to attach the headset to. If the steer tube is too long, you can cut it down or use spacers, but there needs to be threads where you want the headset top nut to be.

Second thing to consider is rake, ie how far the axle is from the line down the frame's head tube (how much the fork bends forward). This affects handling since it affects 'trail' which determines how much the front wheel acts like a caster (the contact patch of the tire is behind the line down the head tube). This is a less sensitive parameter but something to consider if you want to ride no-hands etc.

Finally, there is axle to crown distance, which just measures the distance from the axle to the fork crown. This usually isn't a concern on road bikes since they are all about the same. With mountain bikes or fat-tire bikes or something you need to pay attention to this or your front end will be too high or too low than what the frame was designed for. Once again, this affects handling but on a road bike, you can probably ignore this.

Hopefully someone will chime in if I'm off base and I hope that helps.