hi there,
a friendly bikeshop owner has just quoted me the sum of £8 to drill a brake hole in my steel track fork, this was pleasing as it beats buying a replacement at a cost of circa £40. my question is; what (if any) structural issues does rilling a fork entail? will there be any compromise to the safwe operation of the fork?

Thank you

hi, i recently had a track fork drilled and so far haven't had any problems. i don't run a brake, but i wanted the option to be there if i ever decided to do so. i'm not sure what kind of fork you have, but the only problem i see with mine is finding brakes with a short enough reach to work, and finding a caliper that doesn't grind up against the headset. from speaking with the person i purchased the fork and frame from (spicer cycles), and reading about it, structural integrity shouldn't be lost from the fork when it is drilled.

Depends on the fork crown. A flat-top fork crown with a couple centimeters of vertical depth has plenty of material to drill through -- it should look as supported around the hole as a comparable road fork. Many of the sloping and semi-sloping fork crowns just don't have enough. This is where it makes much more sense to pick up another fork; you may find that it is slightly longer in the front axle to crown race height, which changes geometry and handling a bit, but it shouldn't be much of a difference if it's a close-clearance road fork anyway.

Most forks are hollow at the bottom, indeed all the way through top to bottom. If this is
the case the brake hole could be made in an area which contributes nothing to the structural
integrity of the fork. Modern brakes are made to be mounted with a tubular recessed nut
which needs an oversized hole on the back side. Older brakes have a thinner (~4mm) diameter
threaded shaft which goes all the way through the fork and is externally fastened. One of these
could be used if the reach is satisfactory. steve