Trek folks with Alloy vs Carbon Steerers

bobv said:

It seems that all? OCLV Treks come with Alloy
Steerers on their carbon forks. Is
there a good reason for this?

Is there a reason they should be some other material?

JT

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bobv said:

It seems that all? OCLV Treks come with Alloy Steerers on their carbon forks. Is
there a good reason for this?

Carbon steerers are expensive, invisible on the shop floor, not even that
much, if any, lighter, and allow for much smaller amounts of spacers for
adjustment.

There's no really good reason for any brand of whole bicycle to go to
carbon steerers, unless they shout from the rooftops that they have, in
fact, done so. The consumer will never know if they don't.

Jasper

Jasper Janssen said:

bobv said:

It seems that all? OCLV Treks come with Alloy Steerers on their carbon forks. Is
there a good reason for this?

Carbon steerers are expensive, invisible on the shop floor, not even that
much, if any, lighter, and allow for much smaller amounts of spacers for
adjustment.

There's no really good reason for any brand of whole bicycle to go to
carbon steerers, unless they shout from the rooftops that they have, in
fact, done so. The consumer will never know if they don't.

Jasper

Good post. The OP post shows how bike design is spiraling to the
minutae(sp?). It also follows that many times components become more
important than the frame, the heart of the bicycle.

Or maybe the guy just wanted to know...carbon steerers, all things
carbon, It's more expensive, GOTTA be 'better'...

On 15 Nov 2005 05:47:09 -0800, "Qui si parla Campagnolo" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Jasper Janssen said:

bobv said:

It seems that all? OCLV Treks come with Alloy Steerers on their carbon forks. Is
there a good reason for this?

Carbon steerers are expensive, invisible on the shop floor, not even that
much, if any, lighter, and allow for much smaller amounts of spacers for
adjustment.

There's no really good reason for any brand of whole bicycle to go to
carbon steerers, unless they shout from the rooftops that they have, in
fact, done so. The consumer will never know if they don't.

Jasper

Good post. The OP post shows how bike design is spiraling to the
minutae(sp?). It also follows that many times components become more
important than the frame, the heart of the bicycle.

Or maybe the guy just wanted to know...carbon steerers, all things
carbon, It's more expensive, GOTTA be 'better'...

The whole advertizable feature syndrome. How many buzzwords has your bike got.
Let's not make unflattering assumptions about the OP, we don't know him. But
there are so many people in the grip of the ad writers and their larval form the
magazine writers. And then there are all the billions who just ride bikes and
enjoy it.

Now I gotta get back to installing my titanium chainring bolts - it's hard to be
really competitive without that advantage.

Ron

Maybe the fact that a carbon fork and steerer are one piece and that the
alloy ones are joined together. Trek seems to be the company bragging about
light weight and having a 4 year technology advantage on the industry so the
question sounds reasonable.

"bobv" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It seems that all? OCLV Treks come with Alloy Steerers on their carbon
forks. Is
there a good reason for this?

Thanks, Bob

Larry said:

Maybe the fact that a carbon fork and steerer are one piece and that the
alloy ones are joined together. Trek seems to be the company bragging about
light weight and having a 4 year technology advantage on the industry so the
question sounds reasonable.

I think you would be surprised at how carbon forks are made just like
aluminum steerer forks...that is, two piece bonded together(most). All
carbon forks is a fairly recent gig.

Quoted message said:

"bobv" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It seems that all? OCLV Treks come with Alloy Steerers on their carbon
forks. Is
there a good reason for this?

Thanks, Bob

RonSonic said:

Now I gotta get back to installing my titanium chainring bolts - it's hard to be
really competitive without that advantage.

Aluminum chainring bolts are lighter ;>😉

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

bobv said:

It seems that all? OCLV Treks come with Alloy
Steerers on their carbon forks. Is
there a good reason for this?

Is there a reason they should be some other material?

JT

Jeez John, I am glad I didn't ask why some people make steel frames instead of
carbon, as I would have probably gotten the same answer.

The point is that since Trek makes an extremely lightweight frame out of carbon,
and brags about it and the technology to do it, it would seem that for the minor
difference in cost that they would use full carbon forks on at least their 110
OCLV bikes. Of course perhaps they do, I just don't know. I thought perhaps
their was technical reason that they don't.

Perhaps someone who knows will answer.

Bob

Here is my uninformed guess, safety.
Installing stems on CF steerers really should be done with a light
touch or
a torque wrench. It is a lot safer for Trek to stick with AL so the
shop
rats don't crack the steerer tube, my apologies to shop rats who really
know their composite inspection techniques.

I was at a test ride of the new Cannondale Synapse, carbon fork
droputs.
The testing guy said, "Careful, don't drop the fork on its dropouts"
Frangible steering tubes and now front fork dropouts, how exciting.

Scott G.

QSP said:

I think you would be surprised at how carbon forks are made just like
aluminum steerer forks...that is, two piece bonded together(most). All
carbon forks is a fairly recent gig.

Quoted message said:

Some are one piece - or at least have continuous fibers from steerer to
dropouts. Alpha Q is one.

D'ohBoy

Quoted message said:

The point is that since Trek makes an extremely lightweight frame out of
carbon,
and brags about it and the technology to do it, it would seem that for the
minor
difference in cost that they would use full carbon forks on at least their
110
OCLV bikes. Of course perhaps they do, I just don't know. I thought
perhaps
their was technical reason that they don't.

It costs Trek more, not less, to use a combination carbon/aluminum steer
column on their better forks. The issue is that many ham-fisted mechanics &
consumers aren't likely to use a torque wrench when clamping the stem, and
they've got lots of evidence in their testing lab that columns damaged in
that manner are not safe. They've been working for some time on a relatively
bomb-proof carbon steer tube, not because it will save weight (savings are
minimal over their present setup; I've been told about 10 grams) but because
it's what people expect to see.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"bobv" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

bobv said:

It seems that all? OCLV Treks come with Alloy
Steerers on their carbon forks. Is
there a good reason for this?

Is there a reason they should be some other material?

JT

Jeez John, I am glad I didn't ask why some people make steel frames
instead of
carbon, as I would have probably gotten the same answer.

The point is that since Trek makes an extremely lightweight frame out of
carbon,
and brags about it and the technology to do it, it would seem that for the
minor
difference in cost that they would use full carbon forks on at least their
110
OCLV bikes. Of course perhaps they do, I just don't know. I thought
perhaps
their was technical reason that they don't.

Perhaps someone who knows will answer.

Bob

Mike Krueger said:

RonSonic said:

Now I gotta get back to installing my titanium chainring bolts -
it's hard to be really competitive without that advantage.

Aluminum chainring bolts are lighter ;>😉

With the carbon-fiber heads, maybe.

:-D

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

RonSonic said:

Now I gotta get back to installing my titanium chainring bolts - it's hard

to be

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

really competitive without that advantage.

Aluminum chainring bolts are lighter ;>😉

And cheaper.
---------
Alex

bobv said:

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

bobv said:

It seems that all? OCLV Treks come with Alloy
Steerers on their carbon forks. Is
there a good reason for this?

Is there a reason they should be some other material?

JT

Jeez John, I am glad I didn't ask why some people make steel frames instead of
carbon, as I would have probably gotten the same answer.

I didn't give you an answer, I asked a question. Here's another
question -- what does "jeez" mean? Is it some sort of insult?

JT

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John Forrest Tomlinson said:

bobv said:

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

On Mon, 14 Nov 2005 21:31:59 -0800, bobv <[email hidden]> wrote:

> It seems that all? OCLV Treks come with Alloy
> Steerers on their carbon forks. Is
> there a good reason for this?

Is there a reason they should be some other material?

JT

Jeez John, I am glad I didn't ask why some people make steel frames instead of
carbon, as I would have probably gotten the same answer.

I didn't give you an answer, I asked a question. Here's another
question -- what does "jeez" mean? Is it some sort of insult?

JT

Dear John
I realize you didn't give me an answer. If you would like to pose a question
start your own topic.

Now to answer your questions: yes, just an expression, & no.

Thanks for everything
Bob

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

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This belongs is rec.bicycles.sigswithoutcontent.

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bobv said:

just an expression,

What does Jeez mean?

JT

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Bill Sornson said:

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

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