Fixed gear, disc brake winter commuter. Advice please!

I want to put a winter commuter together. My requirements are:

• Fixed gear
  
• Responsive and nimble- a fun and fast ride
  
• Front disc brake
  
• Room for 25 or 28c tyres and preferably mudguards
  
• Budget of c£300 for frame and fork.
  
• Compact drop bars
  
  

I have all the parts barring the Frame and forks. I bought a Cotic Roadrat frameset last winter, but found it a little stately and unresponsive for my liking, so Pompinos and the like aren’t an option. My rear wheel is a Goldtec track hub laced to Open Pro, so I can change axle length to suit the frame.

I’ve narrowed my options down to 2 routes:

Option 1:
Frame: Dolan Pre Cursa/ FXE
Forks: Something like Poison Bikes carbon Disc forks at £110+ shipping
Inspired/ shamelessly ripped off from Zdrenka’s Dolan fixed cross bike in another thread. I’m struggling to find an affordable 1 1/8 fork with less than the Poison’s 395mm axle to crown measurement, which is more than I really need or want. I also wonder whether the extra height at the front end will spoil the handling of the bike?
http://www.poison-bikes.de/shopart/1110000301/Teile-_-mehr-Laufraeder/Gabeln/Starrgabeln/CycloCross-Carbon-Gabel-1-A-Head.html

Option 2:
Frame: Steel track like frame with clearance for larger tyres and non-internal headset- something like an All City Big Block or Soma Rush. May well have to be sourced second hand.
Fork: Traitor Ruben Disc fork- Should be around £80-100. Silly heavy, but sensible levels of clearance for my requirements
http://www.traitorcycles.com/2013/Bikes_Ruben.cfm

Have I missed any obvious options? I’m leaning towards the Dolan route as it would likely be cheaper and easier to source, but the forks are proving a bit of a sticking point. Any Advice?

Edit: missed the bit about not wanting a pomp, sorry.

i did the same search regarding the disc fork some weeks ago and carbon road disc forks are currently seldom, especially if you want one with less rake and straight blades.

you can buy:

• enve
  
• woundup
  
  
  

if you would go for alu or steel there would be plenty of more options.

Kinesis forks?

I have to say I'm not keen on the idea of a Pompino- Seems too similar to the RoadRat I built last winter and didn't really get on with.

Eingang- Seems there are a few of us looking for similar setups. I'm not set on Carbon forks, I'm open to alu and steel too. Did you end up buying anything?

dan- I couldn't find any 1 1/8 Kinesis forks with less than 400mm axle to crown measurement. Otherwise something like the DC37 looks good

Pomp claims to have a steeper head angle than the Cotic, so might feel a bit livelier. Maybe see if you can get a ride on one?

Or, there are quite a few polo players on Pre-Cursas at the mo running various disc-brake forks which don't seem to be screwing up the geometry too much. I think some of these may be custom forks from Oak Cycles and the like, Velvet Bikes have also been mentioned.

The gallery images on Velvet bikes site look like the kind of thing I'm after- would be nice - if unlikely- to get some opinions from people who ridden them.

I wonder If custom forks would push beyond my budget? Though Pre Cursa frame only is cheap and leaves a reasonable amount of cash spare

ted could built you one or he or oakcycles just adds a disc amount to a steel fork.

the kinesis fork has 395mm and is made for cyclocross.

In an ideal world I'd want less than 395mm axle to crown measurement- though this looks unlikely short of going custom. Has the Kinesis got a tapered steerer? I can only see the CXd listed at 395mm.

I suppose If my budget was higher my choices would balloon, but this is for a winter hack, something I don't want to feel precious about.

I'll Have to get in touch with Ted, Oak and Velvet. My only issue is that I'm impatient and custom may take a while ;)

I'd see if you can have a go on someone's pomp. From what I've read the majority of people don't seem to like the roadrat for some of the reasons you've listed.

I haven't yet heard anyone say anything bad about about the pomp. I really liked my mates when I had a spin. Tough, nice and responsive.

Yes could be worth trying one out before writing it off. Now have to find someone Manchester based with one...

Or, there are quite a few polo players on Pre-Cursas at the mo running various disc-brake forks which don't seem to be screwing up the geometry too much. I think some of these may be custom forks from Oak Cycles and the like, Velvet Bikes have also been mentioned.

Got any links by any chance?

Have you seen the Planet X kaffenback 2 ? That's disc, steel, would fit the tyres and is I think £340.... Pretty good value !!

I may be missing something, but for road use particularly commuting what's the avantage of disc brakes?

Although I would prefer some dual-pivot side pull brakes, I am a non-stately Pompino owner and wouldn't describe the bike as stately. That could just be my opinion though.

Precursa

Eh? What's that mean ^ ?

I'm after Discs as there is no rim wear, so only the rotor and pad should ever need replacing. Theoretically they will also have better stopping power in the wet- of which there is much of in Manchester. Modulation should also be better than side pulls if set up correctly.

I'm not convinced about the Kaffenback- for the same reasons I discounted my Roadrat. Though with the all the love for Pompinos it could also be worth a test ride along with the pomp itself.

@JamesSW- I have been leaning toward the Pre Cursa as its most similar to my current fixed- an Graham Weigh track frame. But short of custom forks as above I can't seem to find anything quite right

http://www.enve.com/forks/road-disc.aspx

And get a new headtube brazed onto a Pompino?

I suppose If my budget was higher my choices would balloon

apart from custom, I don't really think so. as other have pointed out road disc forks is a very limited market.

if your a-c length limit was higher on the other hand you could use one of the many cross disc forks.

have you lookd at the pompetamine fork from on one? it's a bit heavy, but for disc and has a slightly shorter a-c than cross forks.

thn use it with one of the ss frames for slightly bigger tyres such as the steam roller or big block.

@Dammit - The Enve forks are lovely, but way beyond my budget at the moment. I looked at the Hong Fu tapered road discs too at £70 plus VAT and import tax
http://www.hongfu-bikes.com/html_products/2013-Disc-brake-Road-Fork-288.html
But the tapered steerer put me off. I'd not thought of re-brazing a new headtube on a steel frame- might be an option, but I can see costs adding up with labour, frame respray etc.

@drøn - The Pompetamine forks on an All City or similar are an option- similar but cheaper/ easier to source than the Traitor Ruben.

My options seem to be to increase budget or to compromise a little with the forks

I suspect the easiest thing to do would be to get disc tabs brazed onto a steel road fork

But that's

a) difficult - there's some precision involved
b) asking for trouble as the fork might not take the rad disc braking forces.

I has a carbon CX disc fork in my for sale thread but I suspect it does not suit.

a) Go to someone who is precise
b) Buy a fork that "looks beefy"