Bicycle Mechanics - Broken vintage fork

I have a 1970 cruiser style tandem that has a broken steerer tube. I have been trying, without much success, to find a replacement, new or old. I wonder if it is possible to fix? Is it possible to have someone remove and reweld in a new tube, or to weld in some type of reinforcement?

Thanks,
Dave

In theory welding is possible, it is likely the original was
welded. But the consequences of failure with a broken
steerer tube are high, so you would need to find a welder who is "qualified" to do the repair but yet dumb
enough to not think about the consequences of a failure.
Some conversations with welding shops around town
might be helpful. Talk to somebody with a bit of gray
in their hair. It would have to be machined a bit or ground a bit depending on where the weld occurrs: I
presume at the bottom of the steerer? Steve

a fork that old was probably brazed, which means a new steerer should be able to be put in. contact a framebuilder, i'm sure there's someone in your area that could help you out.

Gee, have you considered asking somebody at a bike shop??? There must be dozens of forks available, and probably for a heck of a lot less than a welder would charge you for a crummy looking repair.

BTW, if the fork was brazed, putting a welding torch to it will likely ruin what integrity is left in the fork. Toss it and replace it.

if the fork was brazed.. you don't need to put a welding torch to it, brazing is at much lower heat, and doesn't compromise the strength of the metal. If the fork is vintage, and you like it, see if a skilled brazer can repair it, or at least take the lugs and build a new fork. Contact www.vanillabicycles.com or a similar custom lugged bike shop to see if they will do it.

Gee, have you considered asking somebody at a bike shop???

Could I refer you to your own post about engaging brain before posting? ;)

He does say he has tried unsuccessfully to find a replacement. I kinda presumed that meant he had been to a bike store etc.

ummm....not necessarily.....

dcfordo,
Give us some more information about the fork you broke and maybe we can tell you where to find one. Who knows, someone may have exactly what you are looking for laying in the basement of their bike shop.

-Ryan

Check eBay. There are several steel forks for sale at the moment. Probably all good enough for your use, tandem or no. Believe there is even one from Casati, which is surely high-end.

However, if the break in the tube is an inch or so above the crown area you can have the tube repaired by welding. The type of welding should be autogenous using an orbital welding machine. You could do wire feed, but then would need to know details about the steerer tube metallurgy in order to match. The drawback is that you will most likely spend well over $100 to have the weld made and you can surely buy a good steel fork off of eBay for considerably less than that.

Thanks for the tips. I don't have a digital camera or I would post a picture. It is a 26" fork with 1" steerer wide enough for 1.75 tire and a large amount of rake and it has 1970 cruiser type styling.

I could buy a new fork that would make the bike rideable, but all I can find in the whole Quality catalogue are black mtb style forks, which would really look odd on this bike.

The crack and bend are down near the crown, unfortunately, which would make the repair more difficult, I take it.

I am not sure what "brazed" is, but the crown is made up of three separate steel plates, with some space between them, and a chrome cap on top which is probably cosmetic. I can see the bottom of the steerer tube looking up from below the crown. It seems to have been placed through holes cut in the plates and secured there somehow, welded I assume.

I have had many of these forks ( monark, columbia,roadmaster) and all were weak.
There are flat blade forks of that era that seem up to the job but compatibility may be an issue.
If you have to have a vintage fork type in "bicycles" on ebay and not "cycling". Thats were the old stuff is.
I'd go MTB style. It might look dorky but you could draw the attention away with a basket and some tassles.

I'd go MTB style. It might look dorky but you could draw the attention away with a basket and some tassles.

Tell me more about these items. Can I put tassles on my fixer? Did Shimano make a Dura Ace version?

Wow!! DA tassles! I only have the 105s. Let me know if you find a source for the DA version. I want to upgrade. Do you know if they also made a basket?

Think we've beat this one about as far as it will go.

Good luck in your fork search.