Carbon Forks
 

(mods) Please forgive it this thread doesn't seem to belong in the Framebuilders forum. I'm posting here because my most recent frame build employed a (to me) tried and trued Reynolds Ouzo Pro fork, but when running a 25C tire (Continental GP 4000) on a 24 mm wide rim there is only a couple mm of clearance between the tire and the fork. I picked up a piece of road debris today which stopped me in my tracks, and my Garmin Viisoactive smartwatch (which isn't particularly "smart") sent a message to my son when I was forced to stop thinking an emergency occurred!:eek: I've always liked the ride quality of the Reynolds forks and I've stocked up and have a couple in reserve for future builds, but I also like the modern trend towards wider rims and bigger tires and that's where things get wonky.

Anyone have any suggestions for carbon forks that has clearance for modern tires but also reasonably matches a traditional lugged frame build? My frame employs extra OS tubing so I'm wondering about the Enve forks? Do they have clearance for modern road tires on wide rims? Any other suggestions other than building my own steel fork? If it comes to that I'm onboard, but holding that option in reserve.

That's too close for me. Columbus says their Futura fork clears 28mm

Found at least part of the problem; Reynolds changed the Ouzo Pro fork over the years and some versions have more clearance than others. The latest version, shown on the white bike, is the version without much room under the crown whereas the fork on the black bike has lots. Dang, wish I'd known that before hand.

https://live.staticflickr.com/7925/3...feb9ba66_b.jpgP1040223 by nessism, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/1786/4...509c7522_c.jpgPicture136 (1) by nessism, on Flickr

Looks like the Enve clears 25mm. You could also consider a Whisky (30mm) or a Ritchey fork WCS(30mm)

I'm not sure what length and rake you need from your fork though. The Enve will give you more options in rake than Whisky or Ritchey. Also depends on the look you're going for for your frames, but I think either could look good.

The Ritchey and Whisky forks look like good options, although if you are going to increase A-C, a little more rake would be nice.

Two complaints: I'm assuming what every other company in the industry calls A-C is what Whisky calls "fork length"
And both Ritchey and Whisky have popovers. No thanks.

What are popovers? A quick google search didn't do me any good. It did make me hungry though...

gp4000 25 is known to be be closer to 28 actual in many cases fwiw

when you are happily reading the website and then a dialog box pops up offering to add you to the mailing list for the site, in these two examples. Also known as overlays
https://www.easytechjunkie.com/what-is-a-popover.htm
Different than popups, because no window has to be created.

Oh, I didn't realize you were referring to their website UI. I thought you were talking about a design aspect of the fork, had me scratching my head there. I'm actually a software dev and project manager! Since we don't put those on our websites, I can agree that they're annoying. I find them to be useful at times, and since cookies are tracking the closing of the popovers for well designed websites, not as annoying as it can be if you've visited the site once. Some sites might show it once a month or at longer intervals, if they designed it well.

The Columbus Minimal fork has plenty of clearance

I have these forks with Ultegra calipers and both have plenty of clearance for 25mm tyres - 28mm even.

Thanks for this info. Indeed, the GP4000 looks really beefy. I swapped with a 25C Gaterskin and now there is plenty of clearance under the crown. I'm going with this for now while watching for a white label Ouzuo Pro in pristine condition. I'm not adverse to changing forks but the current fork rides well and the frame geometry is designed (in part) around the fork.

BTW, I measured length of a blue label Ouzo Pro like the current one on the bike and the original version with green/yellow label and the old version is heavier and longer. There isn't a ton more clearance under the crown though. Guess it just goes to show that details matter and don't take anything for granted when building a frame.

Huh, I thought I'd remembered that the gp4000s were undersized so that they could hit a lower claimed weight than would be possible at the actual size. Or was that a different specific size? Or maybe I'm just remembering things wrong.

Stroke of good luck hit today...

A guy on The Paceline forum posted a brand new white label Ouzo Pro fork in 43mm rake today so I grabbed it. Best of all, the seller was 20 mins up the road from me and is a great guy. We chit chatted about bikes for a good half hour after the transaction. I'll slam this thing on now and problem solved.

Wow, worked out great for you.

Problem solved...NOT.

Humbled once again...

(stupid me) I installed the new fork and quickly realized there is no more clearance than the old fork. Arg!

Photos below show the difference in clearance between the while label Ouzo Pro on my black bike compared to the seemingly same fork on my white bike. Clearly the forks are not the same. Measure twice and cut once they say? Well, I didn't trial the new fork at all, I just installed it.

So, new fork came back off and the old color matched fork went back on. I then installed a Conti GP 5000 tire instead of the GP 4000 and I've now got the clearance I need. To say the details matter is a major understatement.

Anyone need an never ridden Ouzo Pro with 1" lopped off the steerer tube? Live and learn.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...70a3ff1bf6.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3a045aa3b3.jpg