Carbon schmarbon

The fork my daily bike was equipped with from the factory was an all aluminium affair, and it was definitely the single worst aspect of the bike. So it was almost with a sense of relief that I detected the start of fatigue cracking at the fork blade/dropout junction which gave me a good excuse to replace (read upgrade) the fork.

Now, the standard route to kill the road buzz and make the bike more comfy would be a carbon fork upgrade, but I'm getting a little tired of all the carbon hype so decided to see how a steel (in this case Tange chromoly) fork would compare.

Ok, I'll start by admitting that I dig steel; it is wonderfully springy properties an naturally smooths out the shocks and buzz of bad surfaces. I will readily confess my bias.

Self fulfilling proofs aside, I was pleasantly surprised with my steel fork retrofit. The buzz through the bars is much reduced (not surprising given the aluminium original), but it also compares very favourably with the all carbon Dedacciai fork on my race bike - taking out the buzz, but also taking out the sharp shocks that the carbon fork still nails all the way through.

Of course, it isn't without compromise. Handling and braking are both a bit softer now, the former being fine for a commuter, the latter being a small price to pay for the upside.

Thinking of upgrading to a carbon fork? Maybe think again and look at the old fashioned steel alternatives...

Steel really is real.