Originally Posted by lotek
Tom,
Funny thing, I commuted on my Viscount. Put a few thousand miles on the death
fork prior to the recall and never had a problem with
it. With all the anecdotal talk of "death fork" I never heard of one (other than
in the recall literature) that actually broke. Yeah I've seen the pics of the pressed in
steerer tube (mine was also pinned). Remember this was in the same era as the
CPSC mandated changes to campy front derailleurs so I take it with a grain of
salt. Lambert of England was truely an innovator. One of the few bike makers
who actually manufactured their own parts. It was only when they were bought
by Trusty that things started to change.
Back then, to be able to buy an off the shelf sub 22 lb bike (once the bad brooks
B17 copy was replaced) for less than half the price of italian steel was a wonder.
Marty
I agree with part of your post. Having spent close to 20 years in the cycling industry, I can agree that many of the CPSC recalls were unnecessary but based on what I saw I would have to agree with the decision to recall the Viscount fork. Apart from the fork and the pressed in bottom bracket, I would also agree with you that the Lambert/Viscount bicycle was a great value in comparison to much its much pricier Italian competition.