my guess is that bike tubes were always created as straight tubes, and fork blades were just modified tubes that were tapered and possibly drawn to be thinner walls towards the dropout end. I suspect that it was easier to let everyone rake the fork blades themselves as opposed to making fork crowns with specific angles for straight blades.

Of course, lugs are made for specific angles, so making fork crowns for various angles wasn't a big conceptual or technical leap. To some degree, coming up with innovation is part technical and part marketing. Companies have played around with variations in tube shapes and bends for a long time, and always claimed some benefit. Whether they do or not.. well, there's usually not much evidence available. Still, they look kinda cool.

The Bates with the Diadrant fork is a great example. If one bend is good, then two bends must be twice as good??



Steve in Peoria