Well, it turns out the steel fork from my classic won't fit, and they no longer sell 24" carbon or steel forks for 1" headtubes (the newer bikes are 1.125"). Georgena did say they can special order it, meaning they have a framebuilder make one. She gave me the name of their framebuilder, so I can have him make the fork when he intalls the S/S couplers. I am inclined to go with carbon, to save weight and for increased comfort. I don't use front panniers. Why would you go with steel?