Off-the-peg (carbon?) disc forks - what's out there?

[satanas]

Am getting very close to ordering a Ti rando frame, but still trying to find the ideal fork, or close to it:

395-400mm axle to crown
45mm offset minimum
Post or flat mount calipers
Eyelets on/near the dropouts plus a fork crown hole for fender mounting
Mid-blade rack eyelets
Clearance for 2.1" tyres minimum, 2.25" or wider preferred
12 or 15mm thru axle

Bonus points for bottle/cargo cage mounts above the mid-blade mounts and dynamo wiring integration.

The steerer could be either tapered or straight 1 1/8", carbon preferred, especially if tapered.

I've seen these online:

Fyxation Sparta:
https://www.fyxation.com/products/carbon-fiber-adventure-fork
Not very light (tapered carbon steerer coming later this year), clearance is 60mm, has all the attachment points

Niner RDO Gravel:
http://www.ninerbikes.com/rdogravelfork
Expensive, doesn't appear to have fender mounting hole at the crown

Colab Cross Fork:
https://www.cyclemonkey.com/forks/colab-cross-fork
Looks good, but no rack mounts, and not cheap

Rodeo Spork:
http://www.rodeo-labs.com/rodeospork
Might be the one

Whisky #9:
http://whiskyparts.co/catalog/forks
With or without tapered steerer, but no rack mounts

(Specialized Sequoia - not available except on bikes but ticks all the boxes)

Is anyone aware of anything else out there which might suit? (Rack and fender compatibilty is essential, but mid-blade rack mounts could possibly be added.)

Thanks,
Stephen

[Steven Frederick]

I'd say you've got a good selection there.  My plan for a similar bike I'm ordering within the next year or so is the Whiskey 9, but if you want the most rack compatability, either the niner or the spork would be good.  Niner carbon mtb forks are incredibly durable-I have several friends that have beat the dickens out of them without any issues at all.  Those folks know how to make a carbon fork!  That would be my choice in your place.

Steve

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[Adam Kilgas]

You might also check out RenCycles (Ti Cycles' budget brand):

https://www.rencycles.com/store/

Back when I was going to do the ti 650b thing, I had my mind set on their titanium fork... they'll even do custom options, for a small upcharge. 

[Stephen Poole]

Thanks Adam, I hadn't seen those. So far I think Rodeo Labs is winning as they've recently revised their fork and it now has two sets of eyelets on the blades for rack/bidon mounting. The Fyxation tapered fork is similar, but some months away still. Both say 60mm clearance, which is okay, but a bit more would be better, and would allow >2.1" tyres.  :-)

[Harold Bielstein]

Those are all very nice forks but none (so far) have more than 47mm of fork rake. So “low trail” on a 73 degree head tube with 650B is not possible.

> On Apr 28, 2017, at 7:36 AM, Stephen Poole <nsc.e...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks Adam, I hadn't seen those. So far I think Rodeo Labs is winning as they've recently revised their fork and it now has two sets of eyelets on the blades for rack/bidon mounting. The Fyxation tapered fork is similar, but some months away still. Both say 60mm clearance, which is okay, but a bit more would be better, and would allow >2.1" tyres. :-)
>
>

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Harold Bielstein
5211 Meadowlark Dr.
Rapid City, SD 57702
605-341-0315
hkbie...@gmail.com

[Nick Favicchio]

Whoa, the Roadeo Spork looks incredible!!

[Stephen Poole]

The Sequoia and rencycles forks have 50mm offset, which gives ~50mm trail @ 73° with a 42mm tyre. The 3T Luteus v2 has 50mm offset too, but no rack mounts.

45mm offset isn't a huge problem for me as I don't like low trail anyway and will have a 72° head angle to avoid overlap. With 45mm offset and a  circa 50mm tyre this gives around 65mm trail, good for stability offroad and riding in pacelines without having to concentrate.

I agree though that it would be useful if more forks had >45-47mm offset. Still, lots of CX forks still have 43-44mm.

[Steve Chan]

   Does it need to be carbon? If you want low or lowish trail, as far as I have been able to determine, a custom steel fork is your only option (though I guess custom Ti is an option too) and a full custom disc fork from Joel at Clockwork can be had for less than most of those carbon forks you listed.

   It will definitely be heavier than CF, but in exchange you get exactly what you want. For example:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/clockworkbikes/albums/72157677720700680

   That one is setup for 45mm trail with a BSP sized tire and has braze-ons for through the fork blade mounted low riders, standard Riv/Nitto rack mount points for a rando or smaller front rack and fender mounts that should clear a 50mm 650B tire with fenders.

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[Harold Bielstein]

There is also this "monthly special" from Nova http://www.cycle-frames.com/bicycle-frame-tubing/SP-28.6-FORK-KIT-with-NEW-Disk-17mm-Fork-Blades-Dropouts-and-Fork-Steerer.html if you're into building your own!

Sent from Hal's iPad

On Apr 28, 2017, at 11:44 PM, Steve Chan <sych...@gmail.com> wrote:

   Does it need to be carbon? If you want low or lowish trail, as far as I have been able to determine, a custom steel fork is your only option (though I guess custom Ti is an option too) and a full custom disc fork from Joel at Clockwork can be had for less than most of those carbon forks you listed.

   It will definitely be heavier than CF, but in exchange you get exactly what you want. For example:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/clockworkbikes/albums/72157677720700680

   That one is setup for 45mm trail with a BSP sized tire and has braze-ons for through the fork blade mounted low riders, standard Riv/Nitto rack mount points for a rando or smaller front rack and fender mounts that should clear a 50mm 650B tire with fenders.

On Fri, Apr 28, 2017 at 3:15 AM, satanas <nsc.e...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Stephen Poole]

On 29 Apr 2017 5:17 pm, "Harold Bielstein" <hkbie...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> There is also this "monthly special" from Nova http://www.cycle-frames.com/bicycle-frame-tubing/SP-28.6-FORK-KIT-with-NEW-Disk-17mm-Fork-Blades-Dropouts-and-Fork-Steerer.html if you're into building your own.

Not going to happen. I've built exactly one non-disc fork, and my friend who's built hundreds (or possibly thousands) of frames has never built anything with discs. Ordering from the US can sometimes mean frighteningly expensive freight too - at least carbon forks are lighter...

If I was going to do a steel fork I'd be more inclined to use cantis (= known and understood tech), and maybe a steel frame too. There are good aspects to this approach, clearance for bigger tyres being one. However, the logistics are more complicated than getting a Ti frame from China. I've also never ridden anything Ti, so it'd be an interesting experiment.

Later,
Stephen

[Marc Pfister]

On Friday, April 28, 2017 at 4:15:40 AM UTC-6, satanas wrote:

Am getting very close to ordering a Ti rando frame, but still trying to find the ideal fork, or close to it:

395-400mm axle to crown
45mm offset minimum
Post or flat mount calipers
Eyelets on/near the dropouts plus a fork crown hole for fender mounting
Mid-blade rack eyelets
Clearance for 2.1" tyres minimum, 2.25" or wider preferred
12 or 15mm thru axle

Bonus points for bottle/cargo cage mounts above the mid-blade mounts and dynamo wiring integration.

The steerer could be either tapered or straight 1 1/8", carbon preferred, especially if tapered.

How about the Endpoint Hunter/Gatherer fork? Steel, welded by FBM in New York. 65mm offset. Details are a little thin on their shop page but they're welding the forks right now so there's been production shots on their Instagram.

https://rideendpoint.com/collections/frontpage/products/hunter-gatherer-fork 

[William Lindsay]

The carbon fork that came with my Niner RLT9 frameset does have a fender mount hole on the backside of the fork crown.

[Stephen Poole]

Thanks Will!

Good to know, and not indicated on the pic or in the description on Niner's site. Any idea what the internal width between the blades is at 320-325mm from the centre of the axle? If it's >60mm this could be a good solution for me.

[William Lindsay]

My Niner fork is not that wide.  It's more like 56mm wide at that radius.  It's just right for 650x42B, in my opinion.  I run Rock n Roads sometimes. 

Bill Lindsay
El Cerrito, CA

[Chris Cullum]

Stephen, don't you already have a complete Sequoia? Is that not working out or you're looking for custom refinements? Just curious.

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[Stephen Poole]

The Sequoia has a rather high BB (66.5mm drop), and makes quite a decent drop bar 29er; tyres up to 50mm or so clear okay, with the chainstays the limiting factor. I'm currently running 1.95" Vee 8 front and Vee 12 rear, which reduce shock transmission from the front compared with the stock tyres, and grip better on local dirt.

For longer rides with less offroad (i.e., brevets) something lighter with a lower BB (more drop) should be more efficient and comfortable, for me. The Sequoia isn't light either. It's not at all a bad bike,  and I'm still getting it sorted out to suit, however, I think a lighter, dedicated 650b bike is likely to do more road/less offroad stuff better. The verdict on the Sequoia isn't in yet, but I may end up selling it; we shall see after some more gearing changes.

Later,
Stephen

PS: Thanks Will, very helpful - no Niner fork for me then.

[njh...@gmail.com]

If you don't mind the weight, the Surly Straggler 700c fork pretty much meets your requirements except for thru axle. And for $AU160 from Commuter Cycles in Melbourne, it's cheap enough to try. You can run thru axle hubs on normal dropouts using the Novatec 9mm front / 10mm rear skewers with the MTBTools adapters. I have a dynohub front wheel using a thru axle Shutter Precision hub, and I use it both on forks with conventional dropouts using the Novatec skewer and MTBTools adapter, and on thru axle forks without the adapter.

Nick

[Stephen Poole]

Thanks Nick!

I hadn't realised MTBTools was making such a variety of adapters, including 15->12mm TA, 15TA->9mm QR & 15TA->5mm QR.. I'll have to try to hunt down a 32° PL-8X hub, as it could be made to fit anything likely. Plus those adapters could mean double or triple duty for MTB wheels too.

I should be able to lay my hands on a Cross Check fork, so will measure the internal width; I assume this and the Straggler fork use the same crown. As you say, the Surly forks are relatively cheap, so a bit of re-raking and adding a few braze-ons would be feasible.

However, as the title of a crappy old English sitcom says, "Never mind the quality, feel the width," is an important factor in this instance, so I'll try and check that out tomorrow.  :-)

Later,
Stephen

[HillDancer]

If clearance is a priority, the Disc Trucker fork in 26inch has greater tire width clearance than the Straggler.  I have Compass SBH tires currently mounted, which measure 52mm wide on my rims, with generous space remaining both in width and height.  I ran a 60mm wide 26inc tire in that fork too.

FYI on the Whisky No.7 QR Cross, it has provisions for fender mounts, available in both tapered and straight, and is 70mm between the fork legs.  It also has room for 203mm rotors. 

[Gene Fruit]

This fork looks promising.

https://www.cyclemonkey.com/forks/colab-cross-fork

[Stephen Poole]

Unfortunately, the Colab Cross fork lacks rack mounts, and is 60mm between the blades, so a bit narrower than ideal, though doable. The rack mounts are the real problem for me; others have these.

If the Fyxation fork was available now with a tapered carbon steerer I'd have ordered it already, or if the Whisky forks had rack mounts, etc. There are several that are almost there...

Later,
Stephen

[Michael Arciero]

Ditto on the Fyxation.  I am considering the straight, but that would look weird with the tapered head tube on my bike. The Spork may be the ticket.

[Stephen Poole]

My current plan is to order the frame with a 44mm head tube, and that way can run anything. If things drag on long enough the tapered Fyxation fork might appear, or else something new. Gravel/Road+ seems to be on the rise so more options should appear.

I think the Spork is the backup plan for now but we'll see; I'd prefer to run Centerlock rotors but 15mm dyno hubs to suit (SP PL-8X) don't seem to exist, except in theory. With a 12mm axle things are simpler, though not cheaper.

[Justin Hughes]

Well, that's the hub I built with and they seem to be available to my LBS in silver and black and I see SON's version at Bike24. 

On Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 7:49:53 AM UTC-4, satanas wrote:

....I'd prefer to run Centerlock rotors but 15mm dyno hubs to suit (SP PL-8X) don't seem to exist, except in theory. 

[Stephen Poole]

The PL-8X might be available in the US, but not online or in Oz; I've not yet seen availability anywhere I can access. The SON28 15mm hub bike24 sell is 6 bolt only. SON Centerlock hubs exist only in QR and for 12mm thru axle, not 15mm.

In fact, the more I think about it the more likely it is I'll hold out for the tapered Fyxation fork, and use a SONdelux 12.

[Justin Hughes]

I thought I linked a centerlock SON. My apologies. I would think Velo Lumino could have one shipped directly to you in Oz from the SP factory. It seems that many of the online retailers aren't stocking the hubs, but wait to order from the factory once the customer places the order. 

[Stephen Poole]

Thanks Justin, that link is very helpful. I think some of the mail order companies hold little or no stock of many items and use JIT delivery as their default; I wouldn't be surprised if bike24 don't actually stock anything.

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[Igor Belopolsky]

https://www.bike-components.de/en/Shutter-Precision/PL-8X-QR15-Disc-Center-Lock-Dynamo-Hub-p54328/

On Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 10:32:58 AM UTC-4, satanas wrote:

[Michael Arciero]

That SP is the ticket for me I think. Ability to swap to QR is a big plus.

[Stephen Poole]

The MTBTools adapters mean just about any hub can be converted to a smaller standard, i.e., 15->12, 15->9, 15->5, 12->5 etc. The PD-8X (6 bolt) hubs used to come with a 15->5 adapter, but I saw no mention of this with the PL-8X.

[Michael Arciero]

Thanks. This is all new to me, but the ad for the PL8X linked above by Igor mentions, and also appears to picture the QR adapter. Isnt that what the axle-type thing is? It does not look like a thu-axle.

[Justin Hughes]

My PL-8X came with the QR sleeve adapter. 

On Saturday, May 6, 2017 at 9:57:49 AM UTC-4, satanas wrote:

[Stephen Poole]

Thanks Justin!

[njh...@gmail.com]

Have you looked at the Soma Wolverine unicrown thru-axle fork. It seems to meet all your requirements:  400mm axle to crown, 50mm rake, 15mm thru axle, eyelets at mid-fork and just above the thru-axle, hole at the crown for fender mounting. I just ordered one as a loaded touring replacement for the Kinesis carbon tapered steerer fork presently on the Kinesis Tripster V2 that I recently built up, as the Kinesis fork has no rack mounting points, and I'm more inclined to trust a steel fork to support a rack plus 20kg of panniers. With the Cane Creek 110.IS52 bottom conversion headset, I can run the 1/1/8" straight steerer in the IS42/IS52 headtube without any problem.

http://www.somafab.com/archives/product/unicrown-thru-axle-fork-for-wolverine

https://www.canecreek.com/products/headsets/110

[Stephen Poole]

Thanks Nick. I was aware of the 1.5 -> 1.125" headset; Pro (Shimano) do one as well.

I'm more concerned with rack mounts mandatory) and light weight (desirable) than thru axle, so few forks really appeal to me. Of those which are obtainable the Rodeo Spork 1.1 and Fixation Sparta look the best, though both are limited to 60mm tyre clearance; this is enough for 50mm tyres, but only just. The location of the eyelets on the Spork is weird too - why on earth did they put it in front of the axle when both racks and fenders normally attach behind? It's not a big deal with fenders as they can be attached to the inside of the mid-fork eyelets, but I'm not convinced Tubus racks wouldn't conflict with the thru axle.

Whisky are light and wider but no rack mounts, Niner is too narrow (~56mm), Colad Cross is 60mm wide with dyno wiring provisions but no rack mounts, Sequoia can't be had except on bikes. There are other forks with similar features.   :-( 

The cheap, easy to get solution is Surly, or perhaps this: http://salsacycles.com/components/category/forks/vaya_road_fork

There's no indication I can see in either the pictures or description at the Soma link that their fork has mid-fork mounts, though they'd be easy to add if not there.

I'm unlikely to carry more than 10kg in front panniers so would expect anything deemed to be US-liability-proof should do the job.

Later,
Stephen

[Nick Payne]

Stephen - the larger picture of the fork on the Soma web site shows the
mid-fork mounts:
http://www.somafab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/soma_fork_wolvTA_orng_web.jpg

Nick

[Stephen Poole]

Aha! Thanks - I didn't blow the picture up enough to see them before...

[Justin, Oakland]

I just saw this: http://www.nashbar.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/mProduct4_10052_10053_593131_-1_catNav

$60 and not suspension corrected. 450a-c length.

-J

[Justin, Oakland]

Also this beautiful steel one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/162501734224

-J

[satanas]

Thanks Justin - looks like there are plenty of steel options. The Fargo v2 forks were 468mm A-C and supposed to be eauivalent to an 80mm 29er fork, so 450mm isn't unreasonable and should still be long enough for a 29x3" tyre, not that I want to use one.

Later,
Stephen

[njh...@gmail.com]

I just received the Soma Wolverine unicrown fork I ordered. Haven't fitted it to the bike yet, but here's a picture to show the clearance of a 650b wheel with Switchback Hill tyre mounted in the fork. There's 28mm clearance between the top of the tyre and the fork crown, and 15mm clearance each side between the tyre and inside of the fork blades, so about 78mm between the fork blades where the tyre passes through.

[Harold Bielstein]

Can you post the rake value?

Sent from Hal's iPad

On May 25, 2017, at 8:45 PM, njh...@gmail.com wrote:

I just received the Soma Wolverine unicrown fork I ordered. Haven't fitted it to the bike yet, but here's a picture to show the clearance of a 650b wheel with Switchback Hill tyre mounted in the fork. There's 28mm clearance between the top of the tyre and the fork crown, and 15mm clearance each side between the tyre and inside of the fork blades, so about 78mm between the fork blades where the tyre passes through.

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[Stephen Poole]

Thanks Nick. Looks like that fork should clear up to at least a 2.6" tyre, so more than adequate clearance.

@Harold: Rake is 50mm according to Soma. According to the Wolverine frame description there is (or maybe was) also a lugged fork with more clearance(!), but thus isn't visible on their site; I suspect the thru axle fork has replaced it. There's also a carbon "gravel" fork with 48mm offset but few attachment points and little info available; IMHO there are better options than the latter fork.

[njh...@gmail.com]

On Friday, 26 May 2017 13:42:43 UTC+10, Harold Bielstein wrote:

Can you post the rake value?

I haven't measured it myself, but the spec on the Soma web site says 50mm of rake and 400mm axle to crown race seat: http://www.somafab.com/archives/product/unicrown-thru-axle-fork-for-wolverine

[Chris Cullum]

What's it weigh? Some of those steel disc forks are real tanks.

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[njh...@gmail.com]

Here's another fork to add to the list: https://www.rencycles.com/store/ren-gx1-12ta-15-tapered-carbon-disc-fork

Also a Ti rack for it supposed to be available in a couple of months time:

Nick

[Steven Frederick]

Heh, never seen fork offset referred to as "buttery," before.  Looks like an interesting option, nevertheless.

Steve

[Alex Wetmore]

If they are going to make a carbon fork with a front rack why can't they also give it a good amount of offset?  50mm puts 73 degree HTA bikes into that "twitchy but not yet stable" mid-trail area.

alex

---

From: 65...@googlegroups.com <65...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Steven Frederick <stl...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, February 16, 2018 4:59:13 AM
To: 650b
Subject: Re: [650B] Re: Off-the-peg (carbon?) disc forks - what's out there?

 

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[mitch....@gmail.com]

On Friday, February 16, 2018 at 11:18:52 AM UTC-7, Alex Wetmore wrote:

If they are going to make a carbon fork with a front rack why can't they also give it a good amount of offset?  50mm puts 73 degree HTA bikes into that "twitchy but not yet stable" mid-trail area

+1

Even long trail around 65mm would be better for a front load than a low/mid-50s mid-trail, because at least long trail develops a lot of stability at moderate speeds that helps counteract flop (at least at speed).  

It's like some folks know something good is going on with higher rake and lower trail, enough to call it buttery. But they haven't done their homework enough to know there are three distinct general categories of trail handling, each responding very differently to a load on a front rack. 

--Mitch 

[Chris Cullum]

Has there ever been a high offset, low trail carbon fork made? It's really out of the mainstream comfort zone. Most "gravel" bikes usually have a headtube in the 71-72° range as opposed to 73°, so highish trail is likely for these bikes. I'm not saying low trail is not a good idea but I'd be surprised if a carbon manufacturer actually makes one.

[Mitch Harris]

On Fri, Feb 16, 2018 at 11:53 AM, Chris Cullum <cullum...@gmail.com> wrote:

Has there ever been a high offset, low trail carbon fork made? It's really out of the mainstream comfort zone. Most "gravel" bikes usually have a headtube in the 71-72° range as opposed to 73°, so highish trail is likely for these bikes. I'm not saying low trail is not a good idea but I'd be surprised if a carbon manufacturer actually makes one.

I agree high trail / slacker head angles seem to work well for gravel bikes. I'm just curious about a fork that seems to be low-trail curious but doesn't get there. But you're right that if this fork is put on gravel bikes with 71 head angle it will still be in high trail range. Maybe this fork is not about lowering trail at all, but about getting more offset for make more leverage for fork leg movement (more compliance / better ride). That would explain the buttery fork rake comment. 

--Mitch 

[Greg Achtem]

Somebody convince Wound Up to do one. Might take something like a small production frame house or someone well known in the industry. They currently offer "custom" rakes from 35 to 50 mm.

https://woundupcomposites.com/build-your-own-fork/

Would Calfee or Parlee do it?

On Fri, Feb 16, 2018 at 11:53 AM, Chris Cullum <cullum...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Greg Walton]

It appears that they just made a rack for a fork that was already baked. There was unfortunately not a lot of thought put into the endeavor, given the offset and rack design. When they posted this on Instagram they mentioned it was ready for a Swift bag, but that wiiide tombstone won’t fit most bags out there, Swift included.

Greg

Seattle

[David Parsons]

The rack they're planning to sell is a terrible bodge.  If someone was going to spend the money for one of those forks, they'd be better off finding a builder to make them a proper custom rack out of quarter-inch steel or carbon fiber tubing.

On Friday, February 16, 2018 at 2:03:43 PM UTC-8, zybariver wrote:

It appears that they just made a rack for a fork that was already baked. There was unfortunately not a lot of thought put into the endeavor, given the offset and rack design. When they posted this on Instagram they mentioned it was ready for a Swift bag, but that wiiide tombstone won’t fit most bags out there, Swift included.

Greg

Seattle

On Feb 16, 2018, at 10:18 AM, Alex Wetmore <al...@phred.org> wrote:

If they are going to make a carbon fork with a front rack why can't they also give it a good amount of offset?  50mm puts 73 degree HTA bikes into that "twitchy but not yet stable" mid-trail area.

alex

---

From: 65...@googlegroups.com <65...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Steven Frederick <stl...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, February 16, 2018 4:59:13 AM
To: 650b
Subject: Re: [650B] Re: Off-the-peg (carbon?) disc forks - what's out there?

 

Heh, never seen fork offset referred to as "buttery," before.  Looks like an interesting option, nevertheless.

Steve

On Thu, Feb 15, 2018 at 10:53 PM, <njh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Here's another fork to add to the list: https://www.rencycles.com/store/ren-gx1-12ta-15-tapered-carbon-disc-fork

Also a Ti rack for it supposed to be available in a couple of months time:

Nick

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[Stephen Poole]

Agreed, especially given the rack price. I'd much rather have something more sensible in light gauge steel.

As for offset, all the gravel forks I've seen tend to be 45 or 50mm, mostly 45mm. With a 700x40-ish tyre these give a really stable bike, which IMHO is a good thing offroad at speed. Low speed manoeuvrability is as much due to body English as steering input anyway, IME; wider bars also help, for me that means 42cm at the hoods is plenty, versus 40cm on the road.

Later,

Stephen

[njh...@gmail.com]

Further to this discussion, I've been searching for a tapered steerer carbon disc fork for a 650b gravel bike (~400mm axle-crown, 50mm rake) that will accommodate 60mm fenders (Berthouds) when I want to fit them. I've measured all those that I've come across, and the only one that was wide enough up at that height was the fork on a Santa Cruz Stigmata, but it had no provision for fender mounting - no way to fasten the fender at the crown and no way to attach the stays to the fork legs. At the moment I'm using a Some Wolverine unicrown steel fork, which is wide enough, but a) it weighs 2.3lbs/1.04kg, and b) it looks decidedly strange having a 1-1/8" steerer fork in a frame with an IS42/IS52 tapered head tube.

Nick

[David Parsons]

Ruckus Composites (https://www.ruckuscomp.com) could, I suspect, bond fender mountpoints to that fork.   (Or you could do it yourself, if you didn't mind risking getting epoxy goo all over your hands.)

[Kevan Rutledge]

Would the Whisky No. 9 12mm TA disc fork work? 395 A-C with fender mounts and seemingly loads of clearance:

https://whiskyparts.co/forks/no.9-cx-thru-axle-fork

[William Lindsay]

The Whiskey looks great. I have the Niner RLT9 fork which has the right width measures at the FRONT of the fork blades, but not at the back. The cross-section of the fork blades is like a wedge. The fatter, rear end of the wedge impinges on your clearance. It measures 56mm by my reckoning. It does have fender mount points. I use VO Zeppelin over Babyshoe Pass tires. A 60mm fender over a Horizon or similar probably wouldn’t work.

Bill Lindsay
El Cerrito Ca

[njh...@gmail.com]

I don't think the Whisky fork is wide enough either. I found a front-on photo of it on the Worldwide Cyclery web site, and by measuring off the photo the on-screen internal width at the axle and just below the crown, and knowing that the width at the axle is 100mm, I can calculate the width just below the crown as being 57mm.

Oh well, I'll keep looking. I checked, and the Stigmata fork I came across, which is wide enough, and on which I could fairly easily epoxy mounting points, doesn't appear to be available except as part of the complete frameset.

Nick

[satanas]

The Specialized Sequoia fork would be wide enough (high 60s, can't measure as I'm in Adelaide), but again isn't available separately.  ;-(

[Steven Frederick]

I wonder, since the Whiskey fork is designed to fit either a big 700c or bigger 650b set up, if you'd want to drop the fender a bit to get it close to a 650b tire?  The clearance might be sufficient at the point where you'd actually want the fender.  Just a thought, too bad it's so hard to try before you buy with things like this!  (maybe an email or call to Whiskey would be helpful?

Steve

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[Kevan Rutledge]

You posted a picture of the 15mm TA Whisky No. 9.  The 12mm TA version (which was just released) has a lot more clearance at the crown:

It also comes in two different lengths: 395mm for CX and 383mm for Road Plus.

[njh...@gmail.com]

Not sure that the 12mm T/A version will do the trick either. Here's a photo off the Whisky web site. They say the crown race is 40mm. On that basis, measurements off the photo indicate that the internal width between the fork blades doesn't reach 60mm until a point about 30mm down from the underside of the fork crown.

[jemima]

Would a fender be able to be mounted on the lowest of a three-eyelet fork? 

https://www.curvecycling.com.au/collections/forks/products/fork-gxr-12mm-flat-mount 

[David Parsons]

On Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 11:24:34 PM UTC-8, jemima wrote:

> Would a fender be able to be mounted on the lowest of a three-eyelet fork? 

> https://www.curvecycling.com.au/collections/forks/products/fork-gxr-12mm-flat-mount  

  Yes.   It would be a little more delicate than a mountpoint near the dropout (or t-a mount) but it would work.  That's probably a case where it would be worthwhile to put a second fender stay in and take advantage of a second eyelet, then put a rack in to take advantage of the third (and give another mountpoint for the fender off the front of the rack.)

 

[alight]

Seven makes a carbon 12mm axle fork that has a long-ish rake of 55mm. No experience with it.

[Stephen Poole]

The last photo here...

http://www.rodeo-labs.com/product/rodeospork/

...shows mounting to a mid-fork eyelet. Thorn in the UK do this on some of their (steel) framesets too. It makes removing a front rack for events quicker and easier when it and the fender don't share the eyelet.

[njh...@gmail.com]

Thorn put the mudguard mount part way up the fork leg on steel rim brake forks because if you flip a twig into the spokes, as the wheel rotates the twig can start forcing the ends of the stays and attached guard upwards. With the stays mounted at mid-fork, the guard will move away from the tyre. If the stays are mounted at the dropout and the same thing happens, the guard moves into the tyre and can jam it. A twig into the stays happened to my wife once while we were backcountry touring, with the stays mounted at the dropout, but we were climbing slowly on a fire trail at the time, and she was just brought to a halt rather than being catapulted over the bars, as might have happened if it had been on a downhill. The mudguard (an ESGE) was concertinaed up behind the fork crown. I thought it would have to be scrapped, but I gave it a good tug downwards, and it sprang back almost perfectly into shape. One advantage of chromoplastic over metal mudguards.

Nick