https://nh.craigslist.org/bik/1387649447.html
near me, worth picking up?

Rare curved fork my....But I'm no expert on "30's" Schwinns. Kinda cool if it is in fact not damaged goods...

Fork sure looks bent to me.

I've got an email out to the guy, let's see if he calls me so I can have a closer look at it.
Might be worth the trip, it should be within 1/2 hour of me.

Worth looking at I suppose, Don't think it's worth the money; it could be bent and might not be what the shop thinks it is.

It's an early 1930's Schwinn frame w/rear-facing dropouts (original) and the most horrifically bent forks I've seen on one of them. Either the shop is full of bull, or the Craigslist seller is - one or the other needs a good wallop delivered via this fork.

-Kurt

Hate to see what the curb looks like now.

-Kurt

That's about right for a schwinn/curb collision!

Any definite way to tell? Serial number should be located on the dropouts, hopefully there will be some decals left on it...the lousy picture doesn't give any clues.

I hear a Schwinn Varsity side-swiped that one.

-Kurt

Were the 30's BBs oversize compared to modern ones, or is that just an illusion? Just another cost to consider if it is.

https://www.bunchobikes.com/serialnumber2.htm

I'm quite convinced by the dropouts that this is an early 1930's machine - same dropouts were used on the Autocycles and similar balloon-tire frames of the era. Problem is that I can't locate any diamond-frame machine from the mid/late '30s with similar dropouts.

It's just a run-of-the-mill Ashtabula BB.

-Kurt

Serial numbers are not available prior to 1948 due to a fire at Schwinn warehouse. Only way to date it would be pulling a crank(missing) and look for the year that would of been cast on it.
or find some reference that looks like it.

https://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1893_1940/index.html

Schwinn Frame but not a Schwinn fork.
I don't think the fork is bent. I believe Rollfast used to us a fork like that.

I learn something new everyday !

Should make a great winter cool fixie project.

I'm sorry....But IMO...Not only is the fork pictured above bent but it is also turned around backwards so that it is still relatively usable...

The fork isn't bent, it's on backwards. Or rather just needs rotated 180 before you mount the stem.

I'm sticking with bent. Not the best with the ol' MS paint but it looks clearly bent to me against a straight line...

Something tells me this is a sarcastic remark, fellows.

-Kurt

Oops...Straight over my head. Sorry for getting all bent. Pun intended.

Nope, I am serious. I am trying to get more info. What would be the difference if you curved out or curve out and down, as long as the dropout end is in the same spot?

In the mean time here is a pic of a custom bike with the same style fork.

I agree with Kurt that, judging by the photo, this frame takes an Ashtabula type crank; but there were Schwinn lightweights around that period that took a standard English BB and had cottered cranks. I have a New World from about 1940 with English BB threads. I'm pretty sure it has forward facing dropouts, though.

The difference is that the fork was not manufactured that way. It isn't supposed to be like that. For that matter, bends of that magnitude generally bend the steerer tube as well, and/or the frame. Surprisingly, the red balloon-tire frame you post here seems to be intact from the fork crown up.

It's bent too. Whoever thought that the bent fork makes it "custom" is a moron. It's on the same level as calling a smashed car fender or a vehicle with a twisted chassis as being "custom."

-Kurt

I think that fork is bent and reversed to clear the frame...