Originally Posted by
Chombi1
Actually, I still kinda see the straight section on your fork right below the curve. I think it is like what is on my PSV, but maybe just a bit less....
Most Italian 80's bikes like my Pinarello and Bottecchia have nicer curves on their forks that extend ll the way to the dropouts, with less rake:
My Davidson, also built with Columbus tubing has a very nice consistent curve, going down to the dropouts.
My Gitane TdF that is built from Supervitus 983, deems to have the same kink/straight thing, going on with its lower fork legs. So it must be a Supervitus thing......
Fork legs do not change in design as size goes up.
Alex Wetmore wrote about
this. I believe if a fork is raked with a "kink" instead of a "curve", it will have a longer axle crown. So unless your French bikes used custom drawn fork legs, they may have wanted to conserve fork length when raking the fork.
French bikes with of that period often have steep head angles, so keeping the fork legs longer makes some sense.
Also, more rake has less of a "racy" look, but it will actually make steering quicker and more responsive.