Originally Posted by mudboy

Not one bit. Traditional track bikes with round-bladed forks wouldn't have had brakes at all, so this would be a moot point anyway. But put a 200# rider on a "track" fork with round blades and a brake, and a "road" fork with oval blades, and with the same speed, braking force, etc., you'd be amazed at how much the front hub on the track frame moves "backwards" from braking force. I've seen it. It happens.

Originally Posted by PDXaero

Taken from "The Custom Bicycle" in 1978 by Kolin and De la Rosa

Since a road bike is fitted with brakes, the fork blade must be oval to eliminate the shuddering which would otherwise result under hard braking. Track Bicycles, which have no brakes, have round fork blades due to the greatly increased stresses caused by centrifugal force and side-loading caused by the banking of a track. Since tracks have a smooth surface, the neccesity for a fork to act as a shock absorber is reduced.