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Post by Radchenister on Feb 9, 2014 15:50:33 GMT
We have white and red in this house - I'm colour neutral !
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Post by Phil on Feb 9, 2014 20:00:52 GMT
It'd look good with a T5/T7 fork on it if you could get hold of one of those.
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Post by Rocket on Feb 9, 2014 20:53:23 GMT
I really do not care what it will look like. It will weigh over half a kilo less and possibly be more comfortable. That is the whole point of the transplant. Changing the colour of the forks or frame will have no impact on performance or comfort so will not be happening unless someone wants to do a competent job for free.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2014 8:05:59 GMT
I am with you rocket although what about adding a red saddle/bar tape to really complement the fork. You could also get red detailed tyres. Now no one is going to tell me that with all that red on a bike it just HAS to be faster-it's a scientific fact right?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2014 13:40:26 GMT
Be very careful, the wrong paint might degrade the carbon fibre! Try & talk to Decathlon first.
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Post by Rocket on Feb 12, 2014 18:01:22 GMT
Forks finally fitted. Top bearing in good condition and relocated to the bottom. Original bottom bearing full of rust from where the original steel stem had corroded and washed into it. Cleaned it out and regreased then fitted it to the top for lighter duties so it will do for now.
Technical stuff. The distance between spindles on steel forks has reduced from 1,015mm to 1,000mm with carbon forks. The gap between tyre and downtube also reduced from 45mm to 28mm. This should make the steering a bit more lively. The front brake caliper bolted straight on using the original fixings although the pads needed moving slightly to line up with the rim again.
No chance at all to ride it yet due to the weather.
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Post by Rocket on Feb 16, 2014 21:23:07 GMT
First ride on the carbon forks today. I have made assessments on 3 areas.
1) Performance increase. Impossible to tell after just one ride and with the variation of wind speed and direction. The maths say faster up hill with less weight but a little slower down hill unless the aero blade profile counteracts the loss of mg*sin(theta). My repeated riding of set routes will throw up a new standard deviation in due course.
2) Comfort. Wow! It was like riding my MTB on fat tyres. My usual route is full of manhole covers and potholes and with steel forks when I hit one it sometimes felt like I'd broke a scaphoid bone in my wrist. Today they were hardly noticeable and I do not exaggerate. Those steel forks had absolutely no damping in them whatsoever.
3) Handling. Feels a lot more twitchy as expected from shortening the wheelbase by 15mm as this will also have reduced the trail on the front so there is less self-centering going on. After a few miles I was dialled back in and no longer noticed it for the remainder of the ride.
This will be the best 30 bucks I could ever spend on this bike. RS11's are in the box waiting for better weather and I will order some GP4000s when I see a good deal as the next improvements.
A note on the RS11's I bought from Planet X. The bearings are set horrendously tight, even more than the stock Btwin wheels, and this is without a skewer compressing them. I will be adjusting them before they are fitted. I really did not expect to have to do this.
So in summary. If you have a white T3a then get some carbon forks. Definitely no placebo effect going on here after 5,500 miles on steelies.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2014 21:32:09 GMT
Good write up, Roy. The comfort side of things alone justifies the expense and effort involved. The new wheels and tyres will also make a big difference. You now need to update your avatar to show off those lovely fast carbon forks.
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Post by Radchenister on Feb 16, 2014 21:37:24 GMT
Interesting, I do like a bit of proper back to back testing.
Just a thought as not paid much attention to the spec's - does the new T500SE (or whatever it's called) have carbon forks and then pretty much the same set up as the T3a? If so, you can see what they've done there.
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Post by fatmanona5a on Feb 16, 2014 23:41:46 GMT
Interesting, I do like a bit of proper back to back testing. Just a thought as not paid much attention to the spec's - does the new T500SE (or whatever it's called) have carbon forks and then pretty much the same set up as the T3a? If so, you can see what they've done there. IMO What they did wrong was:- a, the colour (who said red?) b, the name (T3b?)! I know I'm a Luddite and will upset people, but if the T500SE had have been a r*d 2014 T3b, it could have been a better seller?
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Post by Radchenister on Feb 16, 2014 23:53:03 GMT
Can't see how you'd upset anyone here, as no-one has bought one yet ! I really don't think colour matters here beyond the first day or so, much as I like my bike (in red) - things move on; I sometimes wish I didn't have a red bike, particularly when out in old school Cancellara-esque Fassa Bortolo outfit. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fassa_BortoloBut I have to say that I'm highly unlikely to dress in Team Sky kit and wonder who will / would want to; my FB stuff has a quaint historical charm - dressing in full team kit of the current peleton is a rocky road to be heading down IMO.
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Post by Rocket on Mar 10, 2014 19:23:01 GMT
Finally got round to taking a new picture after cleaning it and fitting RS11's
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2014 19:31:12 GMT
Finally got round to taking a new picture after cleaning it and fitting RS11's Should go for a red seat/seatpost.
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Post by joneve on Mar 10, 2014 19:33:30 GMT
Nice!
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Post by Paulinblack on Mar 10, 2014 19:33:30 GMT
Finally got round to taking a new picture after cleaning it and fitting RS11's Can't believe you took the photo of it propped up by the bins!
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