I am unwilling to accept straight-blade forks
03-22-12, 06:40 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
I am unwilling to accept straight-blade forks
in which rake is achieved by attaching the the blades at an angle not parallel to the steerer. It will never be classic. It will never be good looking. It will always look stupid and cheap and make me obsess about all the stresses accumulating at the welds (materials science be darned!). It will never be OK.
I don't care how much heartburn it causes me to butt heads with reality for the rest of my life. I'm digging in my heels on this one.
EDIT:
YES!
NOOO!
I don't care how much heartburn it causes me to butt heads with reality for the rest of my life. I'm digging in my heels on this one.
EDIT:
YES!
NOOO!
03-22-12, 06:48 PM
#3
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+1
03-22-12, 07:01 PM
#5
Hopelessly addicted...
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What about in this application? I guess this is a straight blade unicrown fork?
03-22-12, 07:08 PM
#6
Get off my lawn!
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"Nor shall I accept equal sized sized wheels"
"Nor shall I accept those pnuematic cushion tires"
"Nor shall I accept hydration as it is firmly proven to induce vapors and cramping"
"Nor shall I accept the idea that I too one day will wear diapers again"
But yea, straight blade forks on road bikes look ugly...for now anyway.
"Nor shall I accept those pnuematic cushion tires"
"Nor shall I accept hydration as it is firmly proven to induce vapors and cramping"
"Nor shall I accept the idea that I too one day will wear diapers again"
But yea, straight blade forks on road bikes look ugly...for now anyway.
03-22-12, 07:15 PM
#7
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ahem.
She's listening to everything you say about her...
She's listening to everything you say about her...
03-22-12, 07:18 PM
#8
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Actually I think it simply depends on the bike. I love the looks of nice classic fork but I have always been smitten with the straight blade Colnago forks.
But also if I knew where to get one I would not mind a Bates style fork for my Hetchins
But also if I knew where to get one I would not mind a Bates style fork for my Hetchins
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“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
03-22-12, 07:24 PM
#9
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I dunno. The Colnago Master I used to race (state-of-the-art at the time, now a "classic") looked pretty good, I thought.
<edit> Bianchigirl beat me to it...
<edit> Bianchigirl beat me to it...
03-22-12, 07:30 PM
#11
Hopelessly addicted...
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03-22-12, 07:30 PM
#12
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It's really just a matter of style. The flex can be put wherever the designer wants, by manipulating local cross-section, the macro shape doesn't matter. I suspect that most forks, regardless of macro shape, do most of their flexing (in terms of wheel displacement)) at the bottom of the steerer tube and/or in the crown.
03-22-12, 07:55 PM
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Hey BG, if you were on the CR list you'd know about a Bates tubeset that is for sale on eBay. You can build your own fork and put it on your Hetchins!
03-22-12, 07:59 PM
#18
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I would take that bike over 99.99% of all bikes with curved, graceful forks.
03-22-12, 08:06 PM
#19
is just a real cool dude
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I've got no hate on straight or curved bladed forks. How can you compare the straight blade on the Colnagos above to that cookie cutter fixie?
03-22-12, 08:09 PM
#20
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I've personally never seen a Unicrown fork that didn't look like it belonged in K-Mart. So IMO "straight" isn't the issue. You can make a beautifuly lugged and chromed fork look great with a straight blade, but the finest French constructeur would never have been able to put a curve on a Unicrown fork that didn't still look like *****. YMMV, of course...
03-22-12, 08:19 PM
#21
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[QUOTE=Henry III;14005513]I've got no hate on straight or curved bladed forks. How can you compare the straight blade on the Colnagos above to that cookie
No clue about the fixie fork, but I told Drillium Dude the straight forks neither add nor subtract from ride qualities for me.
I happen to like the Precisa fork's looks just fine, but the key piece of info on my 1993 Elegant is the EL-OS frameset.
A knock-out punch.
No clue about the fixie fork, but I told Drillium Dude the straight forks neither add nor subtract from ride qualities for me.
I happen to like the Precisa fork's looks just fine, but the key piece of info on my 1993 Elegant is the EL-OS frameset.
A knock-out punch.
Last edited by gomango; 03-23-12 at 04:49 PM.
03-22-12, 08:20 PM
#22
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This is the first unicrown fork I've found that I liked.
(snagged the picture form an old classifieds ad on Serotta)
(snagged the picture form an old classifieds ad on Serotta)
03-22-12, 08:21 PM
#23
incazzare.
Eh, it's just different. Looks good on some bikes, not on others.
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03-22-12, 08:23 PM
#24
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This is another Genius unicrown fork...I'll just have to suffer the lack of a lug 
Does the MAX fork count as unicrown?
Does the MAX fork count as unicrown?
Last edited by KonAaron Snake; 03-22-12 at 08:30 PM.
03-22-12, 08:29 PM
#25
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What was the CCM model where the fork rake started near the top? A compromise of some sort? It looked pretty cool to my eyes, if not a little unorthodox.