Replacement forks for a Dave Russell bike

[Adam]

Someone (not me) forgot they had a lovely road bike on their roof rack and had a slow speed impact with a barrier. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XRWJaoA4G21VMVtW9

The frame itself looks ok, but the front wheel got pringled and the forks are very slightly bent.  Any suggestions for a decent replacement set of forks?

[rogerzilla]

Threaded, I assume?  It's a case of searching the Bay Of Thieves for one with the right steerer and thread length.  If it has a funny offset (race forks are almost always 43-45mm) you'll probably have to get one made.  Then there's paint, unless you get a chromed fork.

Argos will make a nice new one for £250 including paint, which could be competitive with buying a 531 fork from eBay and having it sprayed.  A new steerer is about £60 (plus paint) if you can't find one in the right length.

I can't believe the wheel crumpled like that.  Radially, a wheel should be stronger than the frame - or roof rack!

[drossall]

A good frame builder may be able to straighten the forks. Worth asking. Steel can be good like that, within limits.

Wouldn't hold out the same hope for the wheel mind.

[giropaul]

Any of the steel frame builders could make a set of forks.

Before going too far with this though I’d do a very thorough check of the rest of the frame with a straight edge etc

[rogerzilla]

My concern would be that the down tube is crumpled or the head tube has ovalised at the bottom cup.  A good tubeset will make the fork sacrificial but not all do (531DB would trash the frame before the fork in a head-on collision).

[zigzag]

turn the forks around and ride into a wall few times, job done

[Sergeant Pluck]

The wheel must have been rolled under a square-section cross-bar, with a corner impacting first. Maybe.

Could be artifact but does anyone agree that it looks as if the crown is not sitting parallel to the bottom cup, suggesting a bent steerer?

I and some other members here witnessed a similar roof-rack event at the end of a FNRttC many moons ago.

[rogerzilla]

I bought a Raleigh Twenty that had been ridden into something immovable.  The forks were scrap and the lower cup was partly dislocated but the head tube was actually fine.

If you do get new forks built, the DR crown can be re-used.  Crowns are pretty unaffected by brazing unless it's done by a neanderthal.

[Brucey]

A good frame builder may be able to straighten the forks. Worth asking. Steel can be good like that, within limits....

+1.  Forks can usually be cold-set.  Obviously check the rest of the frame carefully too.

cheers

[sojournermike]

My concern would be that the down tube is crumpled or the head tube has ovalised at the bottom cup.  A good tubeset will make the fork sacrificial but not all do (531DB would trash the frame before the fork in a head-on collision).

Loctite (638 iirc) is your friend in the latter case. My Gillott’s lower cup was removable with a finger and opposing thumb, or gravity:( 638 fills small gaps and ‘retains’ bearing, cups etc.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H5987No-F7A

[Adam]

Thanks for all the above comments.

The wheel must have been rolled under a square-section cross-bar, with a corner impacting first. Maybe.

Could be artifact but does anyone agree that it looks as if the crown is not sitting parallel to the bottom cup, suggesting a bent steerer?

I and some other members here witnessed a similar roof-rack event at the end of a FNRttC many moons ago.

Yes, the steerer is bent.  The actual forks look absolutely fine, with no visible evidence of damage.  I'll do some dismantling to check if it's no longer circular around the lower cup.

[Brucey]

if the steerer is bent, the crown race will 'swash' when the forks are rotated.  If there is no 'swash' the steerer is straight and the deformation in the forks lies elsewhere.

There is something of a knack to straightening forks; generally speaking more can be done than you might at first imagine.

cheers

[rogerzilla]

I've straightened them by hand, but that was just to correct a couple of mm of twist, where one dropout slightly leads the other.  Not when both are bent back.