IRD steel forks

[kaze]

I've been looking for an inexpensive steel fork (1" steerer, 43mm rake, short-reach brake, preferably threadless but could go threaded) to build up an old frame which I've got lying around. So far, I've only found one match...

http://store.interlocracing.com/lucr49rofo.html

Has anyone had any experience with IRD steel forks or know of any other offerings with the above specs ?

[Louis]

I have no help for you except the following comment:

It's amazing to me that one can now buy a "generic" CF fork for a lower price than a generic steel fork. A sign of the times.

Louis

[rex]

I think that they are made by Tange and buying a Tange branded model may save some money if you can find one with 43mm rake. Either way the quality should be no issue.

[Louis]

if you can find one with 43mm rake

This is the key. I just did some digging, and the inexpensive (< $50) Tange forks I found were all 50mm rake. There were also unicrown, which is perhaps not what he's looking for.

[rex]

It's amazing to me that one can now buy a "generic" CF fork for a lower price than a generic steel fork.


When it comes to cheap forks, I'll take steel.

[Louis]

When it comes to cheap forks, I'll take steel.

It does tend to fail a bit more gracefully than CF.

[kaze]

Thanks for the responses. Unless you want to go with a custom built steel fork (too much $$$ as I'm just piecing together a beater bike), there isn't much available that I could find. There are a few track-oriented steel forks available (like a Surly) but all have weird rakes/drilling/etc. that won't work with a road frame. The IRD forks are spec'd on some Soma bikes ( http://www.somafab.com/ ) and are the only 1"/43mm that I could find, so they might be worth a try.

[Auk]

I've used the straight bladed cross fork and was very happy with it. A bit heavier than the IF fork that it resembles, but that is to be expected given the price point. I'm sure the road forks are of equal quality as the cross fork I used.