Life is full of ironies. In the "old days" of carbon forks––maybe 10 or so years ago––there was one and only one that any self-respecting bike company (or bike owner) would ever put on its, his, or her bike: the Kestrel EMS road fork.
Then carbon forks started coming out of Taiwan, and also from Europe. Pretty soon Time's forks got a following, as did those from Look, Profile Design, Kinesis. Even a U.S.-made fork by the name of Wound-Up started gaining traction. Still, the EMS kept on selling, and it was one of the few stateside-built forks that did well. But it did cost money.
It may still represent the state of the art. The road fork du jour is Reynolds Composites' Ouzo Pro, and it bears a striking resemblence to the old, original EMS that is now––what?––almost thirteen years old. It's hard to beat the EMS, and you know what? It actually was pretty aerodynamic for a road race fork.
Now you can buy good U.S. forks, including, most notably, those from Reynolds Composites. That company's aero fork, the Ouzo ProAero, is hot as a pistol. Ironically, Kestrel's forks are now the low-cost Asian-made alternative.
Kestrel's EMS Pro/650™ fork is only made in 650c, and does not feature a carbon steerer. It's 1" variety uses a steel steerer, and the larger 28.6mm diameter features an aluminum steer column. The fork weighs around 500grams, and costs $239.
Is this fork the equal of the Reynolds Ouzo ProAero? No it isn't, straight up. It's not quite as aero, not quite as light, and doesn't have the bitchin' dropouts that the ProAero has. But at $239, it's a LOT less money.
The fork market offers options not unlike what a triathlete finds while wetsuit shopping. If you want something a little better than what you've got, you must decide whether you want the $400 version or the $240 version.
