Steve's Steel SuperSomething: Should You Choose a Carbon or Steel Fork for Your Gravel Bike?

Carbon or Steel for a Gravel Fork?

We get this question a lot:  Should I run a carbon fork or a steel fork on my gravel bike?

For me, the answer is, annoyingly, both – but it comes down to riding goals and needs. So let's hop into what can help you make that decision.

The first thing is ride quality. Our steel forks are not an afterthought. They are very carefully designed to interface with our frames for the very best holistic ride quality possible. We also aim to make them as light as possible while still being durable and reliable. It's a fine line to walk, and every decision has tradeoffs, but the Steel SuperSomething Fork is really something special.

Look down at your wheel while you're descending on this bike and you will see it flexing and moving back and forth, absorbing chatter from the road, keeping your tires planted on the ground. That means more comfort and more traction which means better, longer days and better control of your bike. How could you not like that?

The same thought went into our carbon fiber forks, but at the end of the day the two materials are different. When energy is absorbed by a steel fork, the blades are bending. It is slower and there is more movement. Carbon tends to dissipate energy faster. It is more of an "umph" than a "zing", if that makes sense. The shortness of dissipation results in a fork that feels more immediate. I think that difference is what causes people to describe steel as "soulful". You spend more time in the in-between of flex. Carbon is here, and then it is there. Of course, carbon fiber does come with significant weight savings, which can be nice.

So what does that mean for choosing carbon or steel? For me, I run a carbon fork on my SuperSomething for day-to-day riding. Carbon is confident and light, and I have to admit that I like that. However, when I take this bike touring and load it up with bags and bikepacking gear, I prefer a steel fork. The steel SuperSomething fork has nice features like internal dynamo wiring and more mounting options. The steel fork feels more planted and comfortable for long days on the bike. 

Steve's SuperSomething Build

The latest build to leave the shop is a SuperSomething for Steve, who went with the Atmospheric River blue color and a matching Sklarbon Fiber fork. Because each of our complete builds is lovingly assembled here in our San Francisco warehouse, we do offer a few options like swapping between a steel and a carbon fork. We also just added an option to upgrade any of our complete builds to carbon wheels. Steve went with the alloy wheels for this build, which is a really great option.

We always like to provide rider dimensions so that folks can compare their own. This Frame is a a size Medium, Steve is 5'8" with a 693mm saddle height. We built the bike up for a neutral handlebar drop with 20mm of headset spacers under the stem. We always leave an additional 15mm for customers to play with too. While our MTB builds all ship with 35mm stems, we do select the proper stem length for folks on SuperSomething builds based on their measurements.

For drivetrain and biking, this build utilizes our Rival/GX Build. A no-nonsense 1x drivetrain with crisp shifting from SRAM's direct-mount GX derailleur, paired with Rival controls. Comfy hoods, powerful brakes. It's the good stuff!

You can check out all the details on the SuperSomething and explore all of the possible build combinations over on the SuperSomething product page.