Carbon forks

Hey! It's good to be here again!

Ok, question. . . I have carbon forks on my bike, and have been practicing riding backwards, circles etc. I found that it is much easier to do it standing with yr weight over the front wheel.Also, whilst dialing it all in, I've had a couple of instances where the fork has been turned to a right angle to the frame, and as you're pedaling backwards has been pulled the wheel back at this angle causing the fork andwheel to "judder" (is that a word?)

Anyway, was just wondering what people thought of carbon forks for this type of riding. I'm not treating the bike like a mtb and I respect its limitatons (i've been riding/racing mtbs for over 15yrs) but what kind of punishment can these forks take?

Cheers all!

redeye have been practicing riding backwards, circles etc.

Are you a clown?

reverendmark [quote]redeye have been practicing riding backwards, circles etc.

Are you a clown?[/quote]

No

reverendmark [quote]redeye have been practicing riding backwards, circles etc.

Are you a clown?[/quote]
:)

haha! I've been wanting to learn to do it for a long time, and now I can! Additional bike skills are never a bad thing!

i dont think its going to cause any damage to your forks.........dont worry about it:)

Definitely. Plus it's fun, and that's what riding is all about!

Can't imagine it'd be too bad, the vibration and shocks from riding at 30mph+ over bumpy road surfaces would apply stresses and loads to the forks that are much higher than riding backwards etc.

its starting to sound reassuring then, so no-one has ever seen / heard of / experienced "exploding" carbon forks then?

("no" is obviously the answer i'm looking for here. . . :)

that'd be cool, trackstand, then riding backwards in a circle, then fork EXPLODING FOR NO APPARENT REASON

that would be a good one to put on youtube!

I was more thnking on microcracks developing within the fork, track stand, riding backwards then POWW/CRACK/BANG (or whatever sound they'd make)

probably just thinking into it too much!

Well, if it does crack then you wont be in that much risk of injuring yourself. I guess the cost of the fork if it does is your biggest worry! Carbon is more brittle than say steel, but I agree with everyone else, cant see the stresses being enough to break it or fracture it.

I've crashed carbon forks a few times and if they're still going after the crashes (probably should've swapped 'em but..) they will be fine for backwards circles.
Anyway, if they do snap doing circles.. you're not gonna suffer much (compared to an 80kph downhill snap for instance)

If you're ever that worried about them and you notice anything unusual on the forks just take them to a shop with someone who knows their stuff about carbon parts and get 'em to check the forks over.

Problem with carbon stuff is that you can't see much/anything before the component fails. Sure, a whopping crack down the side is a good indicator something isn't right but carbon doesn't tend to show weaknesses like steel - with tis cracks, ripples, etc. They also shatter/collapse rather than a more gradual fold over like steel.
I still reckon carbon forks are pretty damn tough.

i just bought a carbon fork and was very timid to getting it. I still am very worried and think I will just switch to an alum cuz shattering bike pieces is not cool for me. + im a hard rider and kinda heavy too (185lbs). I fell one time on my fork and now if i push on it i hear creaking that comes from the crown fork area so this def worries me. if only i could find a steel bladed (black) threadless fork. Do yall know where i could get one?

Alu isn't much better than carbon if at all.. it fails quickly. I weigh 95kg/200lbs (all muscle, contrary to 31trum's opinion) and I've crashed carbon forks before and they've held up.
I track stand all the time on my road bikes (saves my cleats). No problems so far. I did swap out the full-carbon fork I had.. I'm not keen on clamping carbon tubes.
Creaking could be anything - like nimbhus's bike - we thought it was headset or stem but it turned out to be the quick-release not being seated properly. Check everything before you assume it's the fork.

I think Kona do a 700c version of their Project 2 fork (black/steel/threadless), but I've also had no issues with carbon forks...

...although I'm not the same build as hippy - imagine him, minus 30kg of fat ;-p

It's all muscle you little mumbleranthuff. ;)

You're safe from being body-slammed because you loaned me the freewheel tool.. but next time you wont be so lucky.. "It's bone crushin' time!" :P

the carbon fork i'm running is off a tandem.....so it's gotta be pretty strong

"muscle" my arse , tooooo many barbies....... 8^P

Didn't stop me whippin' yo' butt uphill Captain Stick-limbs..

you were chasin' the icecream van....

yea def not what im looking for with the Kona but thanks. its also bigger than what I need. I need a 1in threadless. i tried the QR trick and it's still creaking. dang this get at me but i will stop by a shop for it

Did you take the bars out of the stem, clean and refit? Also, take the stem off the fork steerer, clean and refit?
If you are rocking the bike back and forwards on the brakes, check that the brakes are not loose through the fork.
Try grabbing opp. sides of your front wheel and twisting to make sure it's not spokes.
Check forks for anything odd.
Replace.
Kinda in that order.

31trum(murtle) you were chasin' the icecream van....

Was he doing that cheat they do in the peleton - taking a tow from a bottle being handed out of the team car; but with a 99 Flake?

No, 31 just can't admit he's slower than a fat hippy! hahahaha :P