Does Reynolds Make Forks Anymore?

[jberenyi]

?

[victoryfactory]

No.

They don't. The reason as I understand it is that they didn't have
much OEM business and there was not enough aftermarket sales
to keep it going.

When Reynolds first became big in carbon forks, every Tom Dick and Harry
didn't have a Taiwan Uncle in the fork business.

VF

[bfd]

It is my understanding that SEROTTA bought out Reynolds and is now selling its own forks (albeit at a higher price than Reynolds):

http://www.serotta.com/Bikes/Forks/

Good Luck!

[dogdriver]

I am to understand that all of the fork guys at Reynolds went to Edge...

I do have a fresh Reynolds fork if you need one (1 1/8, 44mm rake).

Best, Chris

[jlwdm]

It is my understanding that SEROTTA bought out Reynolds and is now selling its own forks (albeit at a higher price than Reynolds):

http://www.serotta.com/Bikes/Forks/

Good Luck!

Higher price because better forks. You might want to search the threads regarding Serotta and Reynolds. Mike Lopez ran the facility near San Diego for Reynolds. Serotta had forks made there to its specs at the end. Serotta bought the facility and Mike Lopez runs the facility. He posts here as Serotta Mike, I think (oops, Serotta Carbon, below). This is a very short summary without all of the facts.

Serotta did not buy out Reynolds.

Jeff

[pdmtong]

Reynolds no longer makes forks.

Some of the Reynolds guys founded Edge. Some of Reynolds morphed into the Serotta poway facility (mike, etc.). The original founder of Reynolds, Jim [?] is now with Edge, although he himself did not found Edge. I talked to him at Sea Otter. Serotta did nOT buy Reynolds.

So, who's left for aftermarket carbon forks? Serotta, Easton, Edge....?

Alpha Q is long gone, right?

Hey, my 500th post!

[Serotta_Carbon]

It is true that Reynolds no longer makes forks. When I first heard this rumor I called my former partners there to verify and they confirmed they were done with that part of the business.

It is also true that Serotta did not buy out Reynolds. Jim Pfeil and I were the founding partners of Reynolds Composites and we sold it to MQC. Several years later I left Reynolds and went to work for Serotta and we purchased the production tooling which we now use to make the parts.

Jim went to Edge where he works with Jason and some of the other folks who were once involved with Reynolds & MQC.

In our Poway CA facility we're still making forks for Serotta, and others, with the same crew that created and produced the Ouzo Pro and have built hundreds of thousands of parts since then.

We do it well, we do it here, and we'd love to build one for you!

Thanks!

[pdmtong]

Mike,
Thanks for the backstory. FWIW I'm on OP43, OP45 and a F3 8.5...all fantastic both in performance AND looks.
paul

[BdaGhisallo]

What is the axle to crown length of the Serotta forks? Is it the same as the Reynolds ouzo pro and UL, at 372mm?

Thanks.

Also, Serotta Mike, if you don't mind, can you verify for me that all of the Reynolds Ouzo Pro forks, both regular and integrated crown, were all made to the 372mm length in the 1 1/8" steerer models?

Geoff

[Jeff N.]

It is true that Reynolds no longer makes forks. When I first heard this rumor I called my former partners there to verify and they confirmed they were done with that part of the business.

It is also true that Serotta did not buy out Reynolds. Jim Pfeil and I were the founding partners of Reynolds Composites and we sold it to MQC. Several years later I left Reynolds and went to work for Serotta and we purchased the production tooling which we now use to make the parts.

Jim went to Edge where he works with Jason and some of the other folks who were once involved with Reynolds & MQC.

In our Poway CA facility we're still making forks for Serotta, and others, with the same crew that created and produced the Ouzo Pro and have built hundreds of thousands of parts since then.

We do it well, we do it here, and we'd love to build one for you!

Thanks!Mike, do you guys actually make the Meivici AE in house, there in Poway, or is it made elsewhere? Jeff N.

[jlwdm]

...

Alpha Q is long gone, right?

...

Right. No more Alpha Q forks either.

Jeff

[texbike]

It is true that Reynolds no longer makes forks. When I first heard this rumor I called my former partners there to verify and they confirmed they were done with that part of the business.

It is also true that Serotta did not buy out Reynolds. Jim Pfeil and I were the founding partners of Reynolds Composites and we sold it to MQC. Several years later I left Reynolds and went to work for Serotta and we purchased the production tooling which we now use to make the parts.

Jim went to Edge where he works with Jason and some of the other folks who were once involved with Reynolds & MQC.

In our Poway CA facility we're still making forks for Serotta, and others, with the same crew that created and produced the Ouzo Pro and have built hundreds of thousands of parts since then.

We do it well, we do it here, and we'd love to build one for you!

Thanks!

Wow! Great back story. After reading this I would definitely consider buying a Serotta fork where I may not have considered it before. Thanks for posting Mike and please continue. Given your background, I would love to see you chime in on more of the composites discussions.

Texbike

[StellaBlue]

Great thread.

[soulspinner]

I am to understand that all of the fork guys at Reynolds went to Edge...

I do have a fresh Reynolds fork if you need one (1 1/8, 44mm rake).

Best, Chris


Dont think they ever made a 44. 40,43,45,50.

[Pete Serotta]

Mike is wonderful to work with and no one in the industry knows more or has more experience. The Serotta forks come in different rakes and stiffness levels.

We have even had a few folks who wanted a carbon fork on their non Serotta custom steel build. They really liked the ride.

Additionally you can have these forks in 1 or 1+1/8 inch. yes "quality" is not inexpensive. These are made in POWAY by US (calif) employees and not sourced off shore.


Yes I am biased to the Serotta Fork. :D :D

[dogdriver]

Dont think they ever made a 44. 40,43,45,50.

I'll re- measure!

[happycampyer]

It is true that Reynolds no longer makes forks. When I first heard this rumor I called my former partners there to verify and they confirmed they were done with that part of the business.

It is also true that Serotta did not buy out Reynolds. Jim Pfeil and I were the founding partners of Reynolds Composites and we sold it to MQC. Several years later I left Reynolds and went to work for Serotta and we purchased the production tooling which we now use to make the parts.

Jim went to Edge where he works with Jason and some of the other folks who were once involved with Reynolds & MQC.

In our Poway CA facility we're still making forks for Serotta, and others, with the same crew that created and produced the Ouzo Pro and have built hundreds of thousands of parts since then.

We do it well, we do it here, and we'd love to build one for you!

Thanks!Mike,

That is awesome! You just dispelled about a half-dozen myths in a single post. I was just saying the other day that it would be great to hear more from you—even better in a blog—so that people could understand the composites side of Serotta better.

Could you give more details about the differences between the Serotta forks and the OP? I understand that the F3 is laterally stiffer (it has a different shape, with more material near the crown), comes in three stiffnesses and has ti dropouts, but I'm sure that there is more that differentiates them.

[happycampyer]

What is the axle to crown length of the Serotta forks? Is it the same as the Reynolds ouzo pro and UL, at 372mm?

Thanks.

Also, Serotta Mike, if you don't mind, can you verify for me that all of the Reynolds Ouzo Pro forks, both regular and integrated crown, were all made to the 372mm length in the 1 1/8" steerer models?

GeoffMike would know best, but iirc the original Ouzo Pro had a span of 370mm but was redesigned in 2005 or so (something to do with the dropouts?) and the span changed to 272mm.

[Bob Ross]

In our Poway CA facility we're still making forks for Serotta, and others



???

C'mon, spill the beans!

[happycampyer]

???

C'mon, spill the beans!I noticed that too, but didn't want to pry. Does "making forks for ... others" mean Serotta forks for others, or does it mean like PPG makes forks for others (e.g., Trek, Edge (2.0), etc.)?

Also, I wondered if the Poway facility was the mystery facility in California that Cervelo was working with on their 700g frame?

[Pete Serotta]

Serotta Will sell you forks for a non Serotta-but yes it will be a Serotta fork with Serotta labels not cervelo or trek.

Most of the bikes built by Bedford, and the client wants carbon, have a serotta fork, The tig line of frames come specced with a S3 fork. If the client wants a certain application that the Serotta fork does not lend itself to then another fork will be used.



If you have need for a new carbon fork for your new or old frame v let me know vi email.

Also there are still some alpha q forks out there but the supply is drying up fast so get on ebay or see your lbs

Pete

[happycampyer]

But Pete, what about the special fork that Mike/Serotta made for Bruce Gordon, and the tubeset for BG's ti/carbon beauty? ;)

http://www.brucegordoncycles.blogspot.com/

http://www.bgcycles.com/TitaniumTownBike.html

[Serotta_Carbon]

Thanks for all interest!

I'll try to address the questions in order..sort of...

Geoff - The original Ouzo Pro was modeled at 370mm but several years later there was a clearance problem with a particular/popular hub which required a new dropout that also resulted in a longer span of 372mm.

Jeff N - We do fabricate the AE frames in Poway but ship them to NY for finishing.

Happy Camper - The F2 was a special version of the Ouzo Pro with a lay-up tweaked to Ben's liking, 15% stiffer laterally, and titanium hardware. The F3 was a next generation all together in it's shape, lay-up, construction method etc. It's also offered in multiple stiffness/performance levels.

Regarding the "others" that we supply to I'm simply refering to a number of other builders that buy parts from us. We've been offering forks for a couple of years now and have been doing some stays & tubes as well. We don't sell lugs or "frame kits" per se but we do have the capacity to supply some parts.

Regarding the project bike's I've done with Bruce. I met him several years ago when I called him out of the blue and told him how I was going to modify my fork to work with his racks. I hadn't introduced myself and he had no idea who I was and proceeded to to say "Your gonna do WHAT?!!" He was polite but told me I could be entering dangerous ground making modifications to someone else's product. I then realized I should tell him it was my product and we know what we're doing. He was quite relieved, helped me out like I was an old friend, and in fact became a good friend over the following years. We share a number of interests outside of cycling but have had a common interest in styling classic looking bikes and parts using different materials and techniques. For me it's a diversion. When I first began building composite forks the whole point was to make them look different so everyone knew they were zoomy. Now I'm experimenting with classic/retro styling that still results in a zoomy fork but catches the eye for a different reason. It opens up a lot of possibilities but mostly it's fun!

Back to my chores...

[jlwdm]

If you search "poway" in the forum you will find more threads and good info including Matt Tuck's thread on his recent tour at Poway.

Jeff

[jtferraro]

GREAT thread! Thanks to all who have contributed. You guys have peaked my curiousity re: evolution of the Ouzo Pro. I only know how they've aesthically evolved, so here's my attempt:

- original carbon weave w/white/yellow/green 'R' logo/letters, and from what I've read here, 370mm axle to crown

- then changed to simple white 'R' logo/letters; is this also when the a2c was increased to 372mm?

- then changed to blue 'R' logo in 'wave' format w/white letters, two gray stripes (1 dark, 1 light) across fork blades and white 'Reynolds' running down fork blades, 2006 & 2007

- then the same as above, minus the two gray stripes, 2008

I'm sure I'm OFF, so please correct me. If somebody can please add in the years each of the above graphic styles ran, it would be appreciated. Besides the increase in a2c length and the change in graphics, did the fork change in any other ways over the years? (i.e. weight/stiffness, etc.)

Thanks!

[avalonracing]

I don't know but last week I but a late model NOS Ouzo on my Merlin CR and it rocks. It made the steering much more quick. (I don't know why, it has the same rake as the fork I took off). Some people might light a slower handling (but stable) fork but for me it felt a little too "auto pilot". I really dig the Ouzo on this bike.