Carbon fork and front tyre rubbing

diarmaidol

I have spotted an issue with the front from on my bike a Scott Speedster 20. The front tyre is rubbing against the inside of the fork. The Fork is meant to be "Aero" and as such there is very little clearance on the horizontal. There is clearance between the wheel , but it's only about 2-3mm on one side and 1-2mm on the other. Just wondering if people here might have seen something similar.
Here is a pic of the inside of the fork. The Wheel is dished about 1mm out but I've been told that this is not outside of normal.

magicbastarder

possibly not an unusual issue if my experience is typical; i'm using a 25mm panasonic ribmo on the back wheel which i can't use on the front at the tyre jams up against the inside top of the fork. running a 23mm on the front now.

what tyre are you using?

route66

No Picture !

diarmaidol

Stock Kenda Kriterium, 700 23C that came with the bike.

I've just ordered a pair of Attack/Force to see if this helps matters. I actually tried a wheel with 25s on it and no way was it going on.

route66

If a 25 tyre won't fit then I guess there's very little clearance.

As you may know, different tyres with different wheels will result in different actual measurements - the problem is, it's hard to predict what the exact result will be until everything is mounted up and in place.

One comment I would make from the picture is that the scratching doesn't look too bad. Some scratches are normal from, say, a stone thrown up by the wheel and dragged through the fork and yours might easily have been caused by this. Unless of course the bike is 5 minutes old with 1kn on the clock ...

diarmaidol

Getting up somewhere near 2000k on it at this point. I'm going to swap the tyres out first before considering the pain of going into a warranty claim. I'll see what the 22mm Conti Attack looks like on the front before I consider. The OEM front wheels are only 20 spoke as well so I'm guessing that's not helping much either. It's just with carbon being carbon I'm a little concerned. I'm guessing a fork failure isn't exactly the most fun you can have on a bike.

Wishbone Ash

Was there any deformity on the tyre such as a bulge causing it to make contact with the fork?

Is the wheel running 'true'?

Could you hear it rubbing or did you just see it afterwards?

diarmaidol

No, The wheel is starting to become a little more untrue , but nothing massive. The tyre is 24mm on the 17c rim. I reckon there is only 28 mm of space for the tire. I can hear it rub out of the saddle with my body position a little forward. I mainly look for some idea to know if the wear on the fork is a little common or not. Seems it is. Only the paint has been affected. The carbon looks fine. I think a stiffer pair of wheels and narrower tyres should help matter greatly.

MediaMan

If you only have 1-2mm clearance either side of the tyre the everything needs to be spot on to avoid the tyre rubbing.

Some suggestions for things to check.

Is the wheel mounted correctly in the dropouts? Even a little bit of grit could throw things off.

Are your QRs up to the job? Many of the fancy ones are way too flexy, and when you put the power down, the wheel moves out of alignment. Shimano, Campag and DT Swiss seem to be the best for stiffness.

Wheel bearing slightly loose? I had this problem. Wheel ran true until out of the saddle upon which the tyre started rubbing the frame. Took ages to track down that one.

If it's not one of those, maybe there's just not enough space ☺.

diarmaidol

There's a marked difference in clearance now after putting on a Conti Attack 22mm on the front. I haven't had time to measure them , but after a quick shake down last night and a commute into work this morning, I've not heard any rubbing out of the saddle and the side wall of the tire looks like it's not rubbed against the fork. Ultimately I think the fork will probably only ever take 22mm tyres.