Cervelo P3 - standard fork or Wolf Carbon fork?

Triathlon Forum
1

Hi

I have just received a Cervelo P3 with the standard supplied aerofork with aluminum steerer.

However i also have a new Cervelo Wolf fullcarbon fork lying around which also looks quite aero - Would it make sense to install the Wolff fork on my P3 - instead of the standard one with aluminum steerer

Will this be a sensible upgrade/change. I am thinking of fork rake and is the strength of the wolff fork high enough vs. the alu. steerer fork. ?

I have noticed that Team CSC has used the Wolf fork on their P3 frames so it should work ok. The reason being that the wolf fork will be lighter and maybe more “cool”

What do you think?

2

I may be talking out of my butt here, so others please correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that Team CSC uses the Wolf because the Chord aero fork isn’t UCI legal. The Wolf may be lighter (I don’t know) but based on chord length the standard fork appears to be more aero. In tri, aero beats weight (within reason) so I’d stick with the standard fork. It’s probably faster by a small margin. I can’t speak to other characteristics of the two forks though, like handling or ride comfort. My stock Chord aero fork on my P3 seems just fine to me.

3

I can see what you mean regarding the aerostuff.

The issue is that a friend of mine wants to take over one of my forks and i am in doubt which one i should keep for myself !

Thinking that the Wolf fork is probably the most expensive fork i am leaning towards keeping it.

4

I guess if the fork you keep is the fork you plan to use I’d keep the faster of the two, which I’m guessing to be the Chord aero fork. If you choose to keep the more expensive of the two, you could always sell the Wolf fork on eBay and buy a Reynolds Ouzo Aero fork.

In all reality, as long as you use a fork with the correct rake and trail I don’t know that you’re going to notice all that much difference. These are all pretty aero forks.

5

I seem to recall Gerard stating that the Wolf fork was as aero or more areo than the best full aero fork despite being UCI legal. I have been trying to get a Wolf fork for some time now based on my understanding of this. Hopefully, Gerard will chime in and set the record straight.

Haim

6

While the Chord has a longer Chord (hence the name chord), the Wolf has a better profile, it includes four more years of research. So the Wolf is actually a bit ahead of the Chord, but it’s also a $450 fork so not quite everybody’s cup of tea. And right now it is only available in 1" 700c, no 650c or 1 1/8" yet. And we’re so busy that it will probably be a while before it is.

7

Gerard

Thanks at lot - that was excactly what i was hoping to hear.

I will install the Wolf fork on the P3 and hand the Cord fork to my friend (who was a little too quick with the hacksaw on the fork and not precise enough with the measuringtape on his own P3!)