Changing Forks

[jowwy]

I'm thinking of changing the standard steel forks on my raliegh sprint to Planet X carbon forks

is this i wise decision or am i better off keeping the steel forks??

Steel forks = 1.21kg
Planet x Forks = 400grammes

 

[the snail]

I see they're doing a carbon fork for £50, which seems good value. Losing 800g isn't going to hurt, and you should get a smoother ride too. You might need to get a skinnier tyre to fit, which might save some weight.

 

[jowwy]

I already run on 25mm tyres so that should be ok

 

[Globalti]

Do it; I have carbon rigid forks on my mountain bike and I don't miss the suspension forks at all. Gti Junior has an ali road bike with a carbon fork and it's dead comfortable.

My MTB fork came from here: http://www.carboncycles.cc/

 

[Yellow Fang]

You may find you have to change your headset too if you change your forks. At least I had to.

 

[boydj]

You need to check the sizes. An old steel frame may need a 1" fork, while the Planet-X forks will probably be 1.125", so may not fit the head tube.

1" carbon forks are pretty rare these days, but can be bought here - http://www.shop.kinetic-one.co.uk/carbon-forks---road-tri-tt-72-c.asp

 

[jowwy]

its defo a 1 1/18 fork so it will fit no probs

 

[jowwy]

So i pulled the trigger a bought the plant x fork - now what do i do - are these things easy to fit or do i need to enter the LBS???

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

So i pulled the trigger a bought the plant x fork - now what do i do - are these things easy to fit or do i need to enter the LBS???

Assuming you have aheadset and you do not need to replace it, steps are:
1) remove old forks after loosening all stem/cap bolts, be careful not to lose bits or lose track of sequence the headset parts have to go back on
2) remove old crown race from old forks
3) install old crown race onto new forks
4) either a) cut new forks steerer tube to same length as old, or b) if you want/need to experiment with stem positioned higher you will need to have more 1 1/8" spacers to install new forks with longer steerer or without cutting steerer
5) install forks/headset, depending on forks spec mustn't have more than 3~5cm of spacers below stem, but can have more above, spacers+stem stack must end up 3mm or so above top of steerer tube
6) install expander bung for carbon steerer into steerer (don't know if one comes with forks, if not have to buy one) and compressing the headset just so by tightening the cap bolt, then tighten the rest of the stem bolts.

For the above steps, 2) and 3) could use a bit of finesse and force depending on the type of race. This might help give you some idea too. Further details on each step should be available somewhere from Park, Sheldon or Bicycletutor etc.

If you want to replace the headset, you will have to remove old headset from head tube, the degree of difficulty/tool requirement of removal and installation is dependent on the headset type.

Replacing forks is one of the trickier things to do on a bike. Given the forks including steerer is carbon here and superficial damage of carbon can significantly weaken it, if you are not confident you should get a good LBS to do it.

 

[jowwy]

Assuming you have aheadset and you do not need to replace it, steps are:
1) remove old forks after loosening all stem/cap bolts, be careful not to lose bits or lose track of sequence the headset parts have to go back on
2) remove old crown race from old forks
3) install old crown race onto new forks
4) either a) cut new forks steerer tube to same length as old, or b) if you want/need to experiment with stem positioned higher you will need to have more 1 1/8" spacers to install new forks with longer steerer or without cutting steerer
5) install forks/headset, depending on forks spec mustn't have more than 3~5cm of spacers below stem, but can have more above, spacers+stem stack must end up 3mm or so above top of steerer tube
6) install expander bung for carbon steerer into steerer (don't know if one comes with forks, if not have to buy one) and compressing the headset just so by tightening the cap bolt, then tighten the rest of the stem bolts.

For the above steps, 2) and 3) could use a bit of finesse and force depending on the type of race. This might help give you some idea too. Further details on each step should be available somewhere from Park, Sheldon or Bicycletutor etc.

If you want to replace the headset, you will have to remove old headset from head tube, the degree of difficulty/tool requirement of removal and installation is dependent on the headset type.

Replacing forks is one of the trickier things to do on a bike. Given the forks including steerer is carbon here and superficial damage of carbon can significantly weaken it, if you are not confident you should get a good LBS to do it.

thanks for the comprehensive instructions - i just bought the expander bung just in case it doesnt come with one - my headset is ok so wont need to be replaced

so would just need to fit the crown race and jobs a good un.....

 

[jowwy]

Ok - so how do i remove the old crown race off the old forks???

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Ok - so how do i remove the old crown race off the old forks???

See this.

 

[jowwy]

See this.

champion - thanks RAFN

 

[jowwy]

Planet X carbon forks arrived today and they look stunning - so just waiting for the deda expander bung to arrive tomorrow, then it will be remove race crown time and fit new forks - please let it all go smoothly

 

[jowwy]

I might have an issue with crown to axle length - is there a problem if the length is slightly shorter than the ones on the bike at the moment???