Framebuilders - Question About Fork Crown Styles

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View Full Version : Question About Fork Crown Styles


Veloria
10-24-09, 07:49 PM
Question from a non-framebuilder interested in design:

Where can I find a (hopefully illustrated) list of the proper terminology to describe different styles of fork crowns? For instance: unicrown, box crown, brazed tubular, segmented, double-plated, etc? Is there maybe a catalogue or a historical site that has this info?

Thanks in advance!


old and new
10-24-09, 08:58 PM
www.torreli.com (http://www.torreli.com) Click on parts : Strada fork, a classic Flat Crowned (non sloping) type
Note the flat plate on top, brazed ind. blades.
these were used on lugged frames through the '80s and a bit beyond, mostly associated with Columus SL, less so SLX which used less obvious flatness but "flat"

The carbon forks are FULLY slopping in configuration. TSX & Nivachrome bikes had 'em.
Chrmly. FULLY slopping looked the same, very rounded as the name suggests.

Mondonico Deda Chromoly Road fork.. Definative SEMI SLOPPING www.bikyle.com (http://www.bikyle.com)

Travel around this site. You're bound to find examples of such designs at large.
Some of the terms you've listed are redundant if not irrelavent. Boxed, brazed etc.
self explanitory. The point is that Flat (traditional fully crowned); SEMI and Fully slopping is all that distiguishes essential design. All else flows from there. Forks are only important as they pertain to any given frame. Replacements are newer Semi or Fully and more often than not Carbon. No books show 'em so well. You'll become expert once you are familiar with the three basic designs. You'll recognize them.

old and new
10-24-09, 09:11 PM
Just poke around for all sites Torelli, the URLS are screwy. Check the sites thoroughly as they've back pages. English and other old bikes have FLAT crowns, you could set a beverage on without it spilling. "flat" crowned by name can be slightly curvy.
These are found on Colnagos, DeRosas, Tomasinnis etc. More on the NON SL or Reynolds 531 frames. Both styles called "Flat Crowned" non the less.


Nessism
10-24-09, 10:25 PM
You can see a variety of crowns at a place like ceeway.com http://ceeway.com/NEWPARTSPAGES/Cast%20Fork%20Crowns.htm

old and new
10-24-09, 10:30 PM
You can see a variety of crowns at a place like ceeway.com http://ceeway.com/NEWPARTSPAGES/Cast%20Fork%20Crowns.htm

Very good.. I'll add that I'd like to see YOU build a frame for someone. Not being a wise guy either. I just said that in another post. It would be very cool to see a member with one.

JohnDThompson
10-25-09, 04:34 AM
Maybe this will help: http://www.framebuilding.com/NEWPARTSPAGES/Cast%20Fork%20Crowns.htm
http://www.cycle-frames.com/bicycle-frame-tubing/FORK-CROWNS/
http://www.velobase.com/ListFrameParts.aspx?Brand=&Category=306

Mos6502
10-30-09, 06:28 AM
Just for reference: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=274635&highlight=spotters

A couple of fabricated crowns are pictured in this thread.

NoReg
10-30-09, 01:37 PM
Cool thread. I think he may have "forged"confused with brazed.

Veloria
10-31-09, 09:53 PM
Thank you for the info and the links!

So... not to be my usual pain in the derriere about this, but - does this mean there are no standard industry terms for every variation of fork crown? The descriptions do not seem to refer to them using a consistent set of vocabulary. For example : "...occaisionally Huffy used a crown like this:...[image]" - no name of that style crown given, whereas elsewhere I have seen it refered to as a "tripple plated crown".

Mos6502
10-31-09, 10:02 PM
Well, you could call it that, and you would be right. But the thing is, the Columbia and Murray crowns are also made up of three plates - but look completely different. Since the point of the thread was simply to show the differences in brands, I did not bother to note the name of the design.

Veloria
10-31-09, 11:27 PM
Well, you could call it that, and you would be right. But the thing is, the Columbia and Murray crowns are also made up of three plates - but look completely different. Since the point of the thread was simply to show the differences in brands, I did not bother to note the name of the design.

Got it. I didn't mean to criticise your manner of presenting information; I meant it as a general question - as I've heard the same styles of forks called different names by different people.