I’m just wondering if it’s normal that the fork is not as stiff laterally as a plain old alu fork.
By ‘lateral stiffness’ I mean that, say, clamping the front wheel between your legs and moving the handlebars does flex the fork (while on my old alu road bike I could not move them at all with the headset on tight), also, say, putting the front wheel 90 degrees to the body and giving quick taps to the saddle makes the bike rock back-and-forth (due to the fork flexing, again).
I have the feeling that this is normal (due to the fork aero profile) but it’s been nagging me for a while and I thought I’d ask…
It’s normal. I ride the P2T (track version of P2K) for pursuit and kilo and the fork doesn’t really have enough lateral stiffness for steeply banked corners. According to Gerard it is quite aero though. I’m thinking about replacing it with a Reynolds Ouzo Aero Comp (the new model). It has an aluminum steerer, which I feel a bit safer with on the track. Anyone know whether this is stiffer in corners than the Cervelo fork?
Fork compliance and lateral stiffness vary quite a bit by make and model. Most carbon aero forks are laterally stiffer than the old aluminum standard, the Kinesis Road D, but it really depends on the fork.
The Cervelo forks are all stiff “enough” so I wouldn’t worry if I were you.