On Second Thought

Somewhere along the way when my decisions with the Soma Smoothie build took a turn toward a classic style one part just didn't belong any more. The carbon forks were keeping the bicycle from totally embracing the look of years gone by. What the Smoothie really needed to complete its vintage aesthetic was steel forks. The change will add many more grams to the overall weight but the difference will not concern me, I'm not racing in the Tour. I'm actually quite excited about this development and even more anxious now for the final result. Another mind changer had to do with the nature of the material of carbon parts. Odds may be in my favor that the forks will not break, but I still don't want to tempt fate considering the price I will have to pay in flesh alone in the event of carbon failure. Even if the forks were to merely crack, not breaking completely and sparing me from gruesome injury, they would still be compromised and need to be replaced. In comparison, steel provides piece of mind. Steel is resilient. Steel is reparable. Steel is real.

So what to do then with the Profile Design Silencer SL fork I already have? Craigslist. Don't want to end up with two forks for one bike so I gotta sell before I buy again. I listed the fork and a week came and went with no responses. I listed it again and the very next day I got an inquiry. Another day later it was sold. I took a minor hit in recouping my money, but that's par for the course in these cases. The buyer turned out to be a 16-year old guy who showed up at my door with a scale in hand. It's safe to say this kid was a complete bike geek, and I mean that with sincerity. The way he thought out loud about the carbon fork and it's addition to his bicycle in run-on sentences. His preoccupation with verifying the weight of the fork on his digital scale, never averting his eyes from the matter at hand while we talked. Our interaction was both fascinating and strange. If you've witnessed or encountered fanatics of Magic the Gathering, or comics, or Star Trek, and their enthusiasm for their love of these things you get the idea. Except for this young man it was bicycles. I was kinda proud to be contributing to his passion. This sort of zeal for beloved pastimes that is equally endearing, amusing, admirable and troubling is the reason why the Comic Book Guy is my favorite Simpsons character.

Within a matter of a few days of the Craigslist sale I had ordered and received a new Tange chromoly steel fork with lugged crown. Thank you Soma! This baby was intended to pair with my Smoothie frame, down to the sparkly pearl white paint. The sleek blades of the fork compliment the traditional tube sizes of the frame, whereas the fat blades of the carbon fork were disproportionate and it looked mismatched. The correlating color scheme is an important improvement as well. An interesting note in finding the fork on the Soma Fab website is it is not listed under the "Forks" section, but rather in the "Frames" section as an option with the pearl white Smoothie frame. I guess that makes sense being this particular fork was intended for a particular frame of a particular color, but then if I'm looking for a fork I would intuitively go to the forks section, not frames. I just so happened to be browsing the frames section and discovered the fork by dumb luck. Anyhow this whole situation played out how I had hoped it would and I am on track to finishing a sweet bike build. I'd like to continue this paragraph so that it extends to the bottom of the photo on the left because that's just how my mind works, but I'm out of thoughts on this subject.

No Dice

What we have here is a very nice lugged steel fork with a polished crown. It is part of the Soma Stanyan frame and fork set. I saw this on the Soma Fabrications website and thought it would be a very nice alternative to the full carbon fork over which I am having second thoughts. Knowing it is made for the Stanyan frame I sent off an email to Soma anyhow inquiring if the fork can be purchased individually. It doesn't hurt to ask. Here is my inquiry verbatim:

  To Whom It May Concern,

   I'd really love to have the polished, lugged fork that comes with the 
  Stanyan frame for my Smoothie. Do you sell that fork separately?

  Kevy

A few days later I received a response from Soma which was simply one sentence:

  Sorry we don't right now.

Well, that certainly answered my question.

Stick A Fork In It: Profile Design Silencer SL

While I still await the delivery of the Soma Smoothie frame which is on back order for another few weeks, I have a new fork. The second part purchased, but the first received for the new bike build. I have no method or plan as to how the bike comes together other than research the parts and buy them when the best opportunity presents itself. Although, after I decided on a frame it seemed a natural next step to complete the frame/fork set. This is the first bike I will have with a carbon fork. I familiarized myself with some of the popular and proven brands, but not having any significant experience with this type of fork no matter how much research I do, it will really take miles and miles of riding to understand what kind of performance and quality is best for me. I found this Profile Design Silencer SL at Bike Nashbar at a pretty deep discount. It is an older model by about a couple years, which explains its slashed price. I'm not sure if it is worth its MSRP, but at sbout 60% off that price I figure I got a decent deal. With a carbon steerer tube it's very light at 330g, which will be great for the overall weight of the bike and hopefully still retain a comfortable stiffness. Profile Design is an established manufacturer of aerobars, but what is their track record with forks? With only a little information on performance, faith in the Profile brand reputation, the lure of light carbon material, and willing risk I put down my money for the Silencer SL. Recently I've read a posting in the Road Bike Review forum claiming the fork is a flexy POS. Well, I've already bought it. Hopefully that person is bigger than me and I will not find the fork to be so flexy. But then I've also exchanged comments with some one else in the Road Bike Review forums that is quite satisfied with the fork. There's always the option of avoiding disappointment and returning it for a refund.