Inspecting forks - replacing forks

[pclay]

In a bid to find the source of the latest clicking on my Cannondale Synapse alloy bike from late 2013 I decided to regrease the headset bearings. I have found a wear mark in the alloy steere tube, which has been caused by the internal rear brake cable. This highlight the importance of inspecting forks, as I understand a steerer failure can be very damaging to one's face.

Here is the wear groove:



Here is the internal cable seen from above:




I have 2 questions.

1. Is it possible to replace the alloy steerer tube? Is it just a tube fitted inside this metal collar?



2. Where on earth do I by replacement forks from? Carbon forks, rim brakes (long drop) and preferably with mudguard mounts.

Cheers all.

 

[fossyant]

You may be able to get aftermarket forks - SJS cycles are OK for this.

What a stupid design though. I assume thats a bear cable that runs past the steerer.

 

[Cycleops]

Don't think the steerer tube is alloy, it'd be steel surely? Agreed a silly design though.
Presumably Cannondale thought the bike's would be scrapped before the wire wore through.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Don't think the steerer tube is alloy, it'd be steel surely? Agreed a silly design though.
Presumably Cannondale thought the bike's would be scrapped before the wire wore through.

It would be aluminium on an aluminium frame.

As you say, it is a stupid and pointless design. If you are going for the 25 mile TT record then an internal cable might just save you that all important second - for the rest of us they are just a pain in the arse.

 

[pclay]

The bike will be 7 years old this November and its covered around 15,000 miles. There may have been a cable protection sleeve, but I can't remember. I do all the servicing myself.

Its a £1000 bike, bought on c2w scheme so its not like it has any value left. I might just have to buy another bike, but I will have a wait as there appears to be no stock in the UK.

 

[faster]

How many miles it has done or whether there is any value left or not is irrelevant really.

I'd be furious I'd I'd been riding that for 15,000 miles! If that sort of wear is just due to the design rather than an installation issue, all those bikes should be recalled imo.

Stuff breaks - fair enough, it's a risk we all take, but if something is going to break needlessly through sheer stupidity, that's something completely different.

 

[Paulus]

If you get a new fork and steerer, is there any possibility of routing the cable the more traditional way outside of the frame?

 

[Paulus]

In a bid to find the source of the latest clicking on my Cannondale Synapse alloy bike from late 2013 I decided to regrease the headset bearings. I have found a wear mark in the alloy steere tube, which has been caused by the internal rear brake cable. This highlight the importance of inspecting forks, as I understand a steerer failure can be very damaging to one's face.

Here is the wear groove:

View attachment 543482

Here is the internal cable seen from above:

View attachment 543483


I have 2 questions.

1. Is it possible to replace the alloy steerer tube? Is it just a tube fitted inside this metal collar?
View attachment 543487


2. Where on earth do I by replacement forks from? Carbon forks, rim brakes (long drop) and preferably with mudguard mounts.

Cheers all.

With the bare cable running through the headstock, shouldn't internally run cables have an outer cable inside the frame as well?

 

[rogerzilla]

I won't ride a fork with an alloy steerer. They broke in the old days and they still break. A broken fork blade isn't too serious but a broken steerer is probably going to occur when you least want it (in a sprint, or when you hit a bump at speed) and put you in A&E.

This one's carbon, but you get the idea.

View: https://youtu.be/NQJUSZeJE8A


The rider does pretty well here, considering.

 

[C R]

With the bare cable running through the headstock, shouldn't internally run cables have an outer cable inside the frame as well?

This, otherwise they should say in the technical details that they have incorporated a steerer saw into the head tube.

 

[themosquitoking]

This, otherwise they should say in the technical details that they have incorporated a steerer saw into the head tube.

Yeah, but, if you built bikes would you admit that?

 

[C R]

Yeah, but, if you built bikes would you admit that?

It is for the marketing guys to spin it as if it was a good thing ...

 

[Blue Hills]

How many miles it has done or whether there is any value left or not is irrelevant really.

I'd be furious I'd I'd been riding that for 15,000 miles! If that sort of wear is just due to the design rather than an installation issue, all those bikes should be recalled imo.

Stuff breaks - fair enough, it's a risk we all take, but if something is going to break needlessly through sheer stupidity, that's something completely different.

agree - 7 years is nothing.
I have bikes pretty much a quarter of a century old.
I don't see bikes as throwaway items.
All my bikes have external cables - any rub (not a disaster) is solved with a bit of gorilla tape.

 

[wafter]

That's absolutely shocking / disgusting tbh - what an unforgivably atrocious piece of design

While we all like / expect / have to trust manufactures to be competent in their work, examples like this are a stark illustration that this trust is sometimes misplaced.

I think you should be sending those pics (and pref. a closup of the damage) to Cannondale and asking for their opinion / explanation; expousing your shock and disgust at such a poor design and the very serious safety implications it carries. Do you have any social media presence that could be used as leverage? I think it's a legit course of action to highlight this issue to as many other owners as possible out of safety concerns (how many people completely remove their forks regularly?)

I doubt you'll get anything in return given the bike's age, but I think you deserve an explanation and personally I'd get some satisfaction from making my disgust known and making someone squirm in attempting to offer an explanation.

While nothing lasts forever (despite the fact I usually try to make it) nothing should be written off as a result of such a terrible, pointless piece of design.

 

[Milkfloat]

It is not crap design if the cable liners are used. From the factory it would have had a liner in there, so at some point someone has removed it.