Dear Lennard,
Question for you regarding forks for long head tubes. I'm 6-foot-4 and have a Seven Axiom with a roughly 30cm head tube and a Seven rebadged Reynolds carbon fork on it. It is a bit flexy when braking cornering and I'd like to improve that. What options are out there and how do they rate vs. one another? I know Alpha Q makes one with a steerer long enough (as seen on your bike), as does Storck, but want to understand if they are better than the Reynolds vis-à-vis flex/rigidity. Many thanks.
-Ted


Dear Ted,
The Alfa-Q Z-Pro is the only long steerer (450mm) carbon fork that I have much experience with. I can say that, since the wall thickness is double that of most carbon steerers, its rigidity is a lot higher than most other carbon forks when you need a 300mm or longer steerer on a tall bike.
-Lennard


Regarding SRAM-Campy compatibility:


Dear Lennard,
Interesting article on mixing SRAM Red and Campy. A few of us running Red have found that Shimano and Campy's front derailleur actually work better than the Red one, with the Red shifters. Any comments/explanation why, in every photo I have seen of SRAM-sponsored pro teams, none of them use the Red chain? Why? Have you played around with different chains?

Lastly, any word on the shifters on this Rabobank rider’s bike? They do not appear to be electrical, as one cannot see any batteries on the frame and it looks like actual cables coming off the handlebars: (http://www.velonews.com/photo/73364)
-CJ

Dear CJ,
I think the chain issue simply has to do with availability, although I don’t know what the holdup has been. I have yet to get a RED chain. I have been using the 1090 chain.

I think that’s an electronic shifter on the Rabobank bike. I don’t see shift cables.
-Lennard



Dear Lennard,
Would it work with any SRAM rear? Say, Chorus with rear Force/Rival?
-Rory

Dear Rory,
I can’t see why not.
-Lennard



Dear Lennard,
I thought Exact Actuation meant the cable pull for SRAM was the same for each shift regardless of position on the cassette, but with Shimano and Campy, you pull less cable for low gears/near the hub, and you pull more cable at for the higher gears.
-James

Dear James,
I believe that you are correct. I started out by trying to measure cable pull on each click, but it turns out to not be easy to detect such small differences. It was easier to do nine clicks and average it. I am continuing to experiment with various combinations and to come up with better measurements, and when our snow melts again and I can get out some more on them, I’ll let you know.
-Lennard

Dear Lennard,
In your March 17 story column "Can you run Campy shifters with a SRAM drivetrain? Sure, why not?" you discuss a few different ways to run Campagnolo Ergopower levers with "non-Campy" rear derailleurs—thank you for a great piece!

For the front derailleur, though, with the newer Campagnolo Ergopower levers that have "quick-shift" functionality, are there issues in using a newer Chorus or Record Ergopower lever with this "quick-shift" along with a Shimano front derailleur? Or does one need to use a Campagnolo front derailleur to make it work?

It sounds like you're running your Ergopower levers with a full SRAM group—front and rear—so I'm wondering if you ran into this?
-Andy

Dear Andy,
I used Centaur levers, which only have the numerous clicks of Record/Chorus on the upshift. Thus, you end up with a trim adjustment only on the inner chainring. It’s like SRAM Force in this way, except that if you are really determined to get an inward FD position on the big ring, you can shift to the inner ring and then shift up to the big ring again, being careful to not go all of the way to the last click.
-Lennard

Dear Lennard,
The respective SRAM and Campagnolo componentry described in your “Can You Run Campy shifters…” article is not designed to work together, and while the performance may be acceptable, it is not endorsed by us.

Additionally, while SRAM componentry is made to be tolerant of poor frame alignment, sloppy setup, wear and tear, use and abuse, our pull ratios are different and we believe that eventually, as the system wears, the shifting performance will deteriorate significantly.

Finally, SRAM has fantastic distribution in Italy; it is perhaps our largest market in Europe.

As always, we absolutely appreciate your enthusiasm for our product.
-Michael Zellmann, Road PR & Media Manager

Technical writer Lennard Zinn is a frame builder (zinncycles.com), a former U.S. national team rider and author of numerous books on bikes and bike maintenance including Zinn and the Art of Triathlon Bikes and the pair of successful maintenance guides Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance – now available also on DVD, and Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance, as well as Zinn's Maintenance Tips and Skill Building for Cyclists.

Zinn's regular column is devoted to addressing readers' technical questions about bikes, their care and feeding and how we as riders can use them as comfortably and efficiently as possible. Readers can send brief technical questions directly to Zinn. Zinn's column appears here each Thursday.