Smiley
03-03-2004, 06:41 AM
Ok , let me share with you what I am undertaking right now in my Hors Categorie make over. I have just ordered a new Ouzo Pro fork with 1 inch carbon steerer from my LBS . I have talked extensively with Tomo the guru at Reynolds and other Guru's at Alpha Q because I wanted to know when I replace my F1 ( yes it will be for sale soon , clear coated with threadless steerer ) which has a span of 365 mm with either the Ouzo at 372 mm or the Q at 374 mm span I realized that the head angle would change a tad as I was raising the bikes front end by the tangent ( or sine or cosine, yes Princeton Grad Fly figure it out for me please ) of 7 or 9mm and therefore effecting the head angle a tad. Now here comes the better of 2 questions. Should I have changed the fork rake to 40 mm for the Reynolds and 42 mm for the Q to increase or compensate for the trail change. Also will I be able to ride my new fork with 5 mm less of a spacer below the steerer.
I already know the answers and based on the advice of Master Frame builder Kelly Bedford I stuck with a 43 mm rake and selected the Reynolds fork over the Q cause even though it is only a difference of 2 mm in span I thought the Q would get my head tube angle just a tad more off then I care to experiment with. Funny thing that Tomo at Reynolds could not give me a difinitive answer on the handling change cause he too knew on paper it would change but he could not exactly pin the change to also make a rake change too that would have a real world feel change. While I had Reynolds on the phone I asked them about their adjustable rake fork being sold to Seven and he told me that They being Seven would glue the drop out rake changes in the fork blades. He could not on the record say if this was a good or bad thing as Seven now is a customer of theirs. I am really curious about my fork change out and how this will affect the handling of my bike as well the reduced front end weight of the frame. Has anyone out there made this change and questioned these issues too. All forks are not created equal so its nice to see first hand these changes. Did you reduce your spacer count too? Thanks and maybe e-ritchie or Dave Kirk or dbrk or yes the Jerk will chime in on this one.
I already know the answers and based on the advice of Master Frame builder Kelly Bedford I stuck with a 43 mm rake and selected the Reynolds fork over the Q cause even though it is only a difference of 2 mm in span I thought the Q would get my head tube angle just a tad more off then I care to experiment with. Funny thing that Tomo at Reynolds could not give me a difinitive answer on the handling change cause he too knew on paper it would change but he could not exactly pin the change to also make a rake change too that would have a real world feel change. While I had Reynolds on the phone I asked them about their adjustable rake fork being sold to Seven and he told me that They being Seven would glue the drop out rake changes in the fork blades. He could not on the record say if this was a good or bad thing as Seven now is a customer of theirs. I am really curious about my fork change out and how this will affect the handling of my bike as well the reduced front end weight of the frame. Has anyone out there made this change and questioned these issues too. All forks are not created equal so its nice to see first hand these changes. Did you reduce your spacer count too? Thanks and maybe e-ritchie or Dave Kirk or dbrk or yes the Jerk will chime in on this one.