Changing forks

[Zelos]

Am thinking of changing my forks on my Giant contend which have a 50mm rake. Would it be possible to fit a carbon fork with a 35mm rake or is it a no go

 

[Globalti]

You mean a rigid carbon fork? 35mm won't make much of a difference but you will find the bike turns in better thanks to the stiffer fork. It will be lighter obs.

You don't need boingy forks unless you're riding down steps and over big rocks.

 

[rogerzilla]

It'll make the steering slower. This may not be ideal for dodging obstacles ("path selection", some call it) but means you can ride hands-off easily. You'll definitely feel the difference as 50mm to 35mm is a huge jump.

Generally you want offroad bikes to have fairly quick steering and a TT or audax bike to have slow steering. Road racing bikes are all much of a muchness in steering geometry because it's important that a peloton naturally takes bends as one.

Tourers and tandems should have quick steering but that's for a different reason; lean steer is a bad thing for these bikes. You don't want the bike to wag its tail if you ride out of the saddle with a load on, or if your stoker scratches his/her back.

 

[vickster]

Am thinking of changing my forks on my Giant contend which have a 50mm rake. Would it be possible to fit a carbon fork with a 35mm rake or is it a no go

What’s the reason for changing?

 

[Rusty Nails]

It'll make the steering slower. This may not be ideal for dodging obstacles ("path selection", some call it) but means you can ride hands-off easily. You'll definitely feel the difference as 50mm to 35mm is a huge jump.

Generally you want offroad bikes to have fairly quick steering and a TT or audax bike to have slow steering. Road racing bikes are all much of a muchness in steering geometry because it's important that a peloton naturally takes bends as one.

Tourers and tandems should have quick steering but that's for a different reason; lean steer is a bad thing for these bikes. You don't want the bike to wag its tail if you ride out of the saddle with a load on, or if your stoker scratches his/her back.

You mean a rigid carbon fork? 35mm won't make much of a difference but you will find the bike turns in better thanks to the stiffer fork. It will be lighter obs.

You don't need boingy forks unless you're riding down steps and over big rocks.

This'll confuse the op. Which is correct?

 

[Globalti]

When I went from Rebas to rigid eXotic carbon forks the only difference I noticed was that the bike turned in to corners better. I put this down to stiffness but yes, it could have been geometry.

 

[rogerzilla]

You can go and calculate the difference in trail but this doesn't tell you much about how it feels. I have two forks for the Holdsworth and if I can measure the offsets (which is very difficult) I might be able to give an example. The original fork makes the bike steer like a supertanker but the replacement makes it more like any other bike.

You can ride most things and get used to them.

 

[Globalti]

Too true. Your brain learns fast.

 

[figbat]

Accepted wisdom is that a shorter longer rake/offset gives a twitchier ride - more manoeuvrable at the expense of stability. But then if you're replacing a suspension fork with a rigid one there is a lot more geometry to consider. The crown-to-axle length for example, plus the fact that the trail and head tube angle of a suspension fork changes with load and tends to sharpen up under braking, whereas a rigid fork will stay the same whatever the load.

 

[rogerzilla]

Accepted wisdom is that a shorter rake/offset gives a twitchier ride - more manoeuvrable at the expense of stability.

It's the other way around. Offset is used to reduce trail and speed up handling.

 

[vickster]

It’s a Giant Contend from the OP, roadbike with rigid fork

 

[figbat]

It's the other way around. Offset is used to reduce trail and speed up handling.

Yep - my mistake.

 

[Zelos]

What’s the reason for changing?

The forks are bent so deffo need replacing

 

[Zelos]

You mean a rigid carbon fork? 35mm won't make much of a difference but you will find the bike turns in better thanks to the stiffer fork. It will be lighter obs.

You don't need boingy forks unless you're riding down steps and over big rocks.

Yes its a rigid fork for a road bike mate

 

[vickster]

The forks are bent so deffo need replacing

Ahhh
Can Giant supply off a carbon forked model up the range?
Do you have rim or disc brakes?