So, I figure, no problem, just have the shop bend the fork back.
but I don't recall that crack? groove being there before I had an accident.
safe after bending it back or is that a cracked brazing joint?
I'm not even familliar with how unicrown forks are made.

If it's totally broken, it's a good initiative for me to just get a crowned chrome fork from somewhere...






that's what happens when your wheel doesn't go out of true, round or even taco when you t-bone a car

I would not chance it if it were mine, but I am pretty paranoid about safety.

Fail.

upon closer inspection of older pics I had of this bike, it would seem those pits where there when the fork was straight, except I only have one of the inner left and none of the outer left.

Well, I'll find out soon enough.

I can't see how even a really hard impact would create a split that straight and even, unless it's a joint that's been loosened. If so it could braze back into place again. Just my opinion, from your photos. Please advise the outcome, hope it is OK, looks like a nice pair of original forks.

I would NOT write it off: that's not a unicrown fork, it's an internal-socket style ala the Cinelli full-sloping crown. So it has a much larger (hidden) surface area for brazing contact than just that seam...and the seam looks like it's had time to rust along the outer gap plus looks like it has chrome along the inner: like it's been present since the fork was plated and only opened up (or chipped the plating) when it was smacked.
I bet it can be straightened and returned to service with just a bit of touch-up on that line of rust.

Those lines that you call cracks are not cracks but rather the point where the blades have been brazed onto the the internal legs of the fork crown. I would have no problems straightening out the fork. Other people are obviously more cautious, but in this case, from what I can see in a photograph, there is nothing to worry about. I would however recommend that you get an opinion of a framebuilder who can inspect the fork in person.

neat, these are encouraging words. I'll have my LBS unbend it if they have the tools.

Jobst Brandt's opinion (my bolding of the text):

>After a few minutes I discovered a crack about 75% through the top
> of the right fork blade starting at the back of the blade (to
> separate the crack would have hinged the wheel forward).

> I rode home on egg shells but made it home in one piece. A crash
> would seem unavoidable if the crack had gone the rest of the way
> through and I often ignore creaks. Has anyone here ridden a broken
> fork until it separated? Did it cause a crash?

Most people choose not to ride on one fork blade and find some other
way to reach home. Yes, this is the classic fork failure and I have
experienced them. The only difference is that I was in the mountains
in both occasions and noticed the loss of control. Fortunately,
applying the brakes stabilizes the condition by closing the gap so the
fork becomes rigid again until stopped.

The important point is that forks break forward from vertical road
vibration induced fatigue, not backward, the way most people visualize
fork failure. The crack begins at the rear of the fork blade at the
fork crown. Internally lugged (aka sloping fork crown) forks fail
more often than ones with external lugs because the transition inside
the blade of the crown extension cannot be feathered, leaving a sharp
discontinuity.

I'd fix/rebraze it. And you're lucky it's not a unicrown. unicrowns be ugly. if it was one of them I'd say replace it.

If the joint had failed, the chroming would be cracked and chipping.
That's just a poorly finished braze job that got chromed over. Don't worry about it.
Look for any damage to the chrome plating though - especially after the fork is re-aligned.
Thought about buying a carbon fiber one? It would lighten the bike and make the ride less harsh. Ones with 1" threaded steerers can be found for cheap since they're frequently on closeout these days.

This makes just about zero sense to me. Internally lugged forks are
harder to braze because the heavy part of the crown is inside the light
fork blades. So some people probably fail to get good penetration, and
others overheat the fork blade tubing. But mechanically, the internal
crowns are probably stronger. I see no reason an abrupt
change in section would cause a problem given that all fork blades
I've ever seen were plenty thick enough.

Seems unlikely that the op has broken the fork crown at the place
where the crown meets the blade. You are not going to break a
good braze. The tubing would buckle first.

Problem is, there is no profit for anyone to fix this. I wouldn't. Even
framebuilders do not have a fixture that would be suitable. Bike shops
sometimes have the Park fork jack that will unbend a fork, but it puts
lots of stress on the frame too.

It looks to me from pic #2 that you actually bent the steering tube where it goes into the crown. The pictures don't show a side-on view of the whole fork, so it's hard to tell by the pictures - but the steering tube is the thickest tube in the frameset, and it's not likely to be able to be straightened by benging on the fork... IF the crown were not bent itself, and IF the fork tines were similarly not bent, you could have a framebuilder braze in a new sterring tube. Man, those are two big IFs. A framebuilder would be good to ask such questions. I wonder how your lower headset seat is doing, too.
Bummer.

yeah, $120 or so to get a replacement chrome fork for a fork bent at the steerer tube.
the rest of the fork is quite close to what it should have been.

here are some more shots, to me it looks like the left side is worse off (since that's the side that hit first) good thing it's only the fork. The frame looks good from what I could measure and what my LBS could see.

That is a fork from a Giubilato I wonder if that bike has been in more than one accident?

That's a Cramerotti logo in the fork crown.

Thats not a crack. The brazed joint didnt allow for proper paint thickness which in turn lead to rust along the seam. Here's pic of something similar on a Peugeot....