reddog3

Hey- thanks for providing that link- interesting stuff. The failures exhibited were where I'd expect them to be in a fork of that style construction. There was no analysis
of failures in the steerer tube proper since the cracks appeared in the blades first. One could assume that if the blades had not failed, there may have been similar failures of the steerer in the same zone.

Since the fork construction in the test is different (mine isn't unicrown) I didn't find the actual info I was hoping for. I'm thinking that the actual strain on the steerer tube above the crown race is way below the yield point in the steerer tube I'm contemplating.

I wish I could afford some destructive testing of a controlled and safe nature, but not in the cards just to satisfy my curiosity. So, I'll just have to put one together and bang it around a bit, then do some visual inspections, place it back in the jig for an alignment check, and maybe even some magnetic particle tests.

For all you well wishers I appreciate the thoughts, I am however a risk taker, but do so with at least one eye on safety. It's the risk that is the fun part!

Unterhausen- I do have bikes with front brakes and realize the value, but my fun bikes don't. When I was a pup (60's and 70's) racing flattrack and speedway, any brake at all was just a handy feature to have for maneuvering around the pits. In some classes and events brakes were prohibited. You turned the front wheel abruptly at the end of the straight, to shift the weight forward, so you could set up the slide that got you around the corner. If you had brakes you weren't goin' fast enuf. That's probably where my "attitude" comes from. LOL