Framebuilders - Front fork repair

Hey..... New to the forum have a great Raleigh Superbe that I want to ride But can't due to a cracked front fork, I live in Vernon, BC, Canada and am looking for someone who would be Capable of possibly fixing this fork? A few people on this forum have mentioned that it could possibly be fixed, have a look, and let me know what you all think. I am new to the bike world so if anyone knows some good framebuilders in my area I would be very Pumped.

ooo, I'm glad to hear that you didn't find out about the failure while riding.

I don't think this fork is salvageable. If the crack would have followed the seam of the joint (Circle A in the attached), then I would have said it might be salvageable. However, the crack is going down the fork arm, as can be seen in circle B. I think this fork is doomed and should be replaced. It might not match the bike, but the expense of replacing it might be the same as having it repaired, and replacing it is always cheaper than an ER visit.

Good luck,

flyingcadet

Wow, it looks lke this fork was doomed frome the start with those crappy welds and poor fit between the blades and crown.
Still, bad construction aside, it looks like it was corrosion that did this one in...the fork blades appear to have a gap where the "ear" of the miter should be that would let in water and would cause the rust that you can see through the crack.
So, to answer your original question, a proper fix can be done but it would involve replacing both blades and at that point you'd be better off making a new crown too.
I'm just glad to know that this didn't cause any injuries- good luck!

I don't see any real reason why that couldn't be repaired, but you would probably be charged more for the repair that to get a new one, unless you can get a bro price somewhere.

I am a little suprised the upper beak area (thinking birdsmouth), hasn't been welded. It just looks like they tacked it heavy in the one area that would provide for lateral and longi loads, if not terribly strong ones. If it was mine I would weld along the flat high point and everywhere else. Seems like a strange design.

That's an old British Raleigh design. Was a bit of a signature feature for them for awhile. They used it on most of their non-performance production bikes.
Since the fork blade is cracked, it should be replaced. Since metal fatigue probably had something to do with the failure, getting rid of both of them would be the way to go. Finding new ones that will be compatible with the funky crown, and having them raked, welded, and repainted is probably going to cost you more than what the bike is worth - unless you do all the work yourself.
I hate to see original parts chucked out and replaced by generic mismatched new ones, but it probably makes the most sense in this case if you intend on actually riding the bike.
What's the wheel size? 26x1-3/8? If I come across a suitable used replacement, I'll let you know.

On the one hand, it can easily be TIGd or even MIGd. This will result in a fork that is good as new, which obviously isn't saying much.

OTOH, I agree with the other posters here. The fork was crap from the start, and if you're willing to throw money at this bike, you'd be better off with a new fork.

And last but not least, I suspect the frame is of the same quality as the fork. This should give you serious pause.

HTH!

OTOH, I agree with the other posters here. The fork was crap from the start, and if you're willing to throw money at this bike, you'd be better off with a new fork.

And last but not least, I suspect the frame is of the same quality as the fork. This should give you serious pause.

It's a cheap bike from the 60's/70's, but the construction is far better than most Huffys or Murrays I've seen. I know that's not saying much, but old English Raleighs are cool and I've seen many that are holding up just fine after being beat to heck for almost 40 years.

Well, I don't really mean to crap on the guy's bike. There's all sorts of cool stuff out there that maybe isn't put together quite as strongly as it should be. I just take a quick glance at that fork and shudder a little. They had to know that thing was going to fail.

Well for interest sake, and to see if it could be done, me and another fellow student in my Aircraft Maintenance Engineering program, decided to weld it ourselves using MIG. I will post photo's of the fork tomorrow its at the Hanger right now, It's not pretty buy any means but I honestly think it will hold just fine. I have to do some filling but am going to be brave and post a photo for all you to Judge. I have posted want adds on other sites and have a couple people doing there best to find a replacement fork, but in the mean time I think the repaired fork might just work. As for the quality of work on these forks, I still think that it was an factory overlooked defect, as the other fork blade looks to be held on very different and shows no singe of failing. Again I bought the bike because I loved the style and it will suite my purpose of getting me to the Hanger everyday, I'm new to the bike world so I have no beef with any make or model, but I'm still not going to let a little cracked fork turn me away from Raleigh bikes for ever, at least I say that now hahahah....