Carbon Forks, Strength? Tricks?

I have a Charge Plug that up until recently has been my daily hack style bike. One that I don't mind ragging around, locking-up, or doing tricks on.

The Plug has been under-going a face-lift, and I think the next things to go are the forks. They are rubbery, heavy, ugly, and make for a less than tight front end.

When I was last in BC, hillbilly suggested Carbon Forks, and produced a pair that would seem to serve most of the criteria I would want from new forks. I am however not very familiar with Carbon, and I am wondering how well it would stand up to tricks/general abuse.
I'm not talking jumping down big stair-sets, but more bunny-hops, wheelies, the odd 2-set etc.
Also, I was wondering how different Carbon forks vary in strength? Are track models generally less resilient than road models for example.

If anyone could fill me in I would be appreciative, and if anyone can recommend me a cheapish carbon forks that would be suitable for moderate abuse that would be great!

Cheers,

Jamie.

(I did try UTFS BTW).

Carbon forks will be fine for tricks, that's why Charge and Volume and FBM all build there trick bikes up with them.
They won't snap.
No way.

What? There have been threads on this forum with tales of carbon forks snapping...

Sarcasm detection fail.

If you can find a non suspension correct 26" mtb fork you would be fine.

YouTube- Niner Bikes Fork Hammering

What? There have been threads on this forum with tales of carbon forks snapping...

So you already knew the answer then?

http://www.dragonplate.com/sections/technology.asp

Carbon fiber is extremely strong. It is typical in engineering to measure the benefit of a material in terms of strength to weight ratio and stiffness to weight ratio, particularly in structural design, where added weight may translate into increased lifecycle costs or unsatisfactory performance. The stiffness of a material is measured by its modulus of elasticity. The modulus of carbon fiber is typically 20 msi (138 Gpa) and its ultimate tensile strength is typically 500 ksi (3.5 Gpa). High stiffness and strength carbon fiber materials are also available through specialized heat treatment processes with much higher values. Compare this with 2024-T3 Aluminum, which has a modulus of only 10 msi and ultimate tensile strength of 65 ksi, and 4130 Steel, which has a modulus of 30 msi and ultimate tensile strength of 125 ksi.

Pros and Cons

Carbon fiber reinforced composites have several highly desirable traits that can be exploited in the design of advanced materials and systems. The two most common uses for carbon fiber are in applications where high strength to weight and high stiffness to weight are desirable. These include aerospace, military structures, robotics, wind turbines, manufacturing fixtures, sports equipment, and many others. High toughness can be accomplished when combined with other materials. Certain applications also exploit carbon fiber's electrical conductivity, as well as high thermal conductivity in the case of specialized carbon fiber. Finally, in addition to the basic mechanical properties, carbon fiber creates a unique and beautiful surface finish. Although carbon fiber has many significant benefits over other materials, there are also tradeoffs one must weigh against. First, solid carbon fiber will not yield. Under load carbon fiber bends but will not remain permanently deformed. Instead, once the ultimate strength of the material is exceeded, carbon fiber will fail suddenly and catastrophically. In the design process it is critical that the engineer understand and account for this behavior, particularly in terms of design safety factors. Carbon fiber composites are also significantly more expensive than traditional materials. Working with carbon fiber requires a high skill level and many intricate processes to produce high quality building materials (for example, solid carbon sheets, sandwich laminates, tubes, etc). Very high skill level and specialized tooling and machinery are required to create custom-fabricated, highly optimized parts and assemblies.

Sarcasm detection fail.

I detected it.

I detected it.

Sarcasm detection fail + late attempted recovery fail.

ha.
dickhead.

ha.
you're right, I've been a dickhead. Someone spank my bottom and I shall repent.
.

It's a good question for something that hasn't been covered that well here, I also wonder how vulnerable the carbon steerer are, do you need some kind of grease to use the stem on it?

I'm wondering how well road specific carbon forks hold up under fairly rough road use.

Tommy's post is helpful, and basically confirmed my suspicions - Carbon is really quite strong, but doesn't give, it will just snap, resulting in face hitting asphalt.

Are carbon road forks designed with street riding in mind (or at least factored in)? Street riding meaning; curbs, pot-holes etc.

most road bikes, are ridden on da streets :)

You know what I mean.

I use carbon road forks off road and haven't had any problems yet. Also used Pace RC31s on MTBs and they held up to anything I could give them - which is as much as lame fixed trickster :-)

Currently using some Ouzo Pros that I picked up for £45 and using those off road too so I will soon know how well the carbon steerer holds up.

People seem to fear carbon even though the facts would suggest nothing to fear. I want to believe.

I use carbon road forks off road and haven't had any problems yet. Also used Pace RC31s on MTBs and they held up to anything I could give them - which is as much as lame fixed trickster :-)

Currently using some Ouzo Pros that I picked up for £45 and using those off road too so I will soon know how well the carbon steerer holds up.

People seem to fear carbon even though the facts would suggest nothing to fear. I want to believe.

I fear carbon because of the number of fucked carbon frames i'v seen coming into the shop.
If you're after a high end, lightweight, corrosion resistant frame material then my advice would be:
carbon for the raceday,
titanium for the everyday.

Note i said FRAME material because i can't say iv ever seen a pair of fucked carbon forks in the shop.
We did see a Scott CR1 that had went headfirst into a concrete bollard, splitting the headtube in half amongst other things and the only damage to the (fully carbon) fork was cosmetic.

For tricks i'd say if you have a carbon fork then ride it for now.
It'll probably be ok. If you're looking at going out and buying a new fork however, then would you rather spend a lot of money on a carbon road fork that MIGHT not snap, probably WON'T have the clearance to barspin and almost defiantly WON'T have clearance for a tyre bigger than 28or30c?
Or spend probably less on a trick specific fork that IS designed for those stresses and is more likely to be backed by a warranty should it fail from that type of use, almost definitely WILL barspin and definitely WILL fit a large tyre???

It's a good question for something that hasn't been covered that well here, I also wonder how vulnerable the carbon steerer are, do you need some kind of grease to use the stem on it?

He'd be better of with carbon fork/alu steerer I reckon.

For tricks i'd say if you have a carbon fork then ride it for now, it'll probably be ok but if you're looking at going out and buying a new fork then would you rather spend a lot of money on a carbon road fork that MIGHT not snap, probably WON'T have the clearance to barspin and almost defiantly WON'T have clearance for a tyre bigger than 28or30c or spend probably less on a trick specific fork that IS designed for those stresses and is more likely to be backed by a warranty should it fail from that type of use, almost definitely WILL barspin and definitely WILL fit a large tyre???

Sorry, I asphyxiated a third of the way through your single-sentence paragraph...

Fixed?

Fixed?

Gasps...

People seem to fear carbon even though the facts would suggest nothing to fear. I want to believe.

probably because most of us have experiment with carbon in the early 00's that were prone to snapping, I should know, I got a scar to prove it (carbon handlebar).

probably because most of us have experiment with carbon in the early 00's that were prone to snapping, I should know, I got a scar to prove it (carbon handlebar).

Okay, you have a valid fear then :-)

Not sure I agree that that most people are in your camp and have experimented with carbon and had failures though?
I reckon the fear is more irrational than that. Probably even a phobia for it!

It's a good question for something that hasn't been covered that well here, I also wonder how vulnerable the carbon steerer are, do you need some kind of grease to use the stem on it?

I would recommend some of this..

..and a torque wrench.

I use that paste for everyting carbon. It really seems to add a lot of traction between parts. My bolt-on MTB grips, are hard to twist on my carbon bars, even with both bolts fully loosened.