Custom steel fork builder recommendation

[skiezo]

I am thinking about a straight leg steel fork for a frame that I have laying around. I run 27/28 tires so a fork that will clear 30 max. A carbon steer tube would be nice but not a necessity. It will be caliper brakes.
I would like to stay below $400.
I was looking at Gunner's web site but will be looking at others as well.
Thanks Brian.

[rwsaunders]

I believe that Eric Estlund at Winter Bicycles builds quite a few forks...he's located in Happy Valley too.

https://winterbicycles.com

[prototoast]

I don't think I've ever seen anyone make a steel fork with a carbon steer tube.

[oldpotatoe]

I am thinking about a straight leg steel fork for a frame that I have laying around. I run 27/28 tires so a fork that will clear 30 max. A carbon steer tube would be nice but not a necessity. It will be caliper brakes.
I would like to stay below $400.
I was looking at Gunner's web site but will be looking at others as well.
Thanks Brian.

No such animal..steel with carbon steerer BUT Gunnar a great choice.

[pdonk]

If you like the segmented crown look - waltworks may be worth a try.

[PacNW2Ford]

Barco Cicli makes a stainless fork with carbon steerer. I’d go Winter or Igleheart for steel. I have Waterford and IF too

[kingpin75s]

Gunnar, Waterford and Waltworks will all do a nice steel fork in the price rage you are looking for.

Just picked up a paint match Waterford steel fork for my father's R33 at $400 out the door.

Another great option is Joel at Clockwork bikes. Great work. Great value. Save a little $ and equal quality work at a minimum IMHO. I currently have 2 steel forks built by Joel.

[FlashUNC]

Eric Estlund at Winter.

[gomango]

Eric Estlund at Winter.

For sure.

The fork he built for the newer CSI I have is top shelf.

In fact, all of the work he did on that (disc converted) frameset is very, very nice.

[gomango]

Another great option is Joel at Clockwork bikes. Great work. Great value. Save a little $ and equal quality work at a minimum IMHO. I currently have 2 steel forks built by Joel.


Joel has done exceptional work for me as well.

Had some rack issues with my wife's MAP and he handled that quickly and efficiently.

Nice guy!

[skiezo]

No such animal..steel with carbon steerer BUT Gunnar a great choice.

They do exist. A friend had one built a few years ago but not sure by whom. He has since passed away tho. It was a steel fork with a carbon steer tube epoxied in. If I remember it weighed about 560 grams.
I did send emails to winter,clockworks,gunner and waltworks so it is in the works. With Winter I can take the frame to him as he is only an hours away.
Thanks for the recommendations.

[mhespenheide]

I picked up a Waterford fork second hand here on the forum and continue to be impressed with their work. Enough that they're now on my short list for a custom bike, if I ever go that route.

I know Peter Dreesens also does one-off forks. People on the "steel is real" Facebook group have spoken well of him and his work.

[skiezo]

I did not think that Peter Dreesens was doing any more work and retired.
He is semi local to me and I would consider him if I had contact info as I am not on the evil facebook.
I will post a WTB in the classified first before I jump on getting one built.

[jmoore]

I have a Della Santa built fork that I'll sell you cheap. It was on my MXLeader, but the guy who bought the frame didn't want the fork.

You'd just need to get it painted. It was on a 61cm MXL, so plenty of steerer tube.

[Spoker]

Doing the opposite; carbon legs-steel steerer will give you an excellent straight leg fork in a Woundup. Bullet proof too.

[oldpotatoe]

They do exist. A friend had one built a few years ago but not sure by whom. He has since passed away tho. It was a steel fork with a carbon steer tube epoxied in. If I remember it weighed about 560 grams.
.

Hmm, never knew that, never seen one. Seems like a lot of work($$?) for some weight savings and possibility of 'glue' coming apart..Not a great place for a failure..

[mnoble485]

I got the itch for a steel fork a few years ago for my Hampsten. Natural choice was to call Steve. Straight leg fork delivered and the Enve has been gathering dust since.

Mike

[choke]

I got the itch for a steel fork a few years ago for my Hampsten. Natural choice was to call Steve. Straight leg fork delivered and the Enve has been gathering dust since.

MikeHampco will build them for other bikes too....I asked Steve about it recently.

[Doug Fattic]

If you want to change out your boring bicycle tire for the comfort and stability of a car tire, you will need a new fork and I'm your guy to build one for you! The Tire Rack in South Bend, Indiana wanted to advertise the advantages of a snow/winter tire over a multi-session tire by putting car tires on a pedal trike and riding it in an ice rink. It makes for a pretty impressive demonstration because the trike with normal tires slips and slides all over the ice while the one winter specific tires grips much better.

This is the fork I built for them this week. Bob on the right is a graduate of Notre Dame and is the Tire Rack's engineer. He took my bicycle frame building class over 25 years ago. The other guy is his boss. Once I finish another fork they are going to rent the hockey rink at NDU to video how different these tires work on ice.

[AngryScientist]

that's really neat Doug!

[pbarry]

Doug, that is awesome! What’s the biggest tire that will fit? ;)

[Doug Fattic]

Doug, What’s the biggest tire that will fit? ;)Bob the engineer asked me to make the distance from the center of the wheel axle to the bottom of the "fork crown" to be 12.5". That provided an inch of clearance with the wheel/tire they brought as an example. They didn't want to disturb the geometry of the pedal trike much. They are obviously having fun with this project. However it was a pretty effective demonstration when they were slip sliding around pedaling on ice with normal tires and had much better grip and control with winter tires.

[AngryScientist]

i hope they let you take a turn doug.

tirerack really seems to be a model for what online business should be. they actually do testing, have their own fact based reviews and customer service from my perspective has always been top notch. I've been a customer for years.

[Doug Fattic]

On the subject of making forks, here is another interesting fork project (at least to me) we are doing making bicycles for pastors that live in the eastern part of Ukraine where getting around is difficult because of the war like conditions with Russia. To make the forks in a cost effective way, we designed laser cut twin plate fork crowns to be used with less expensive round fork blades. I’ve always liked twin plate fork crowns. My ’69 Hetchins and ’72 Italian Masi both have them. Actually making them turned out to be more complicated then I anticipated. The plates themselves have to be brazed so they are the right distance apart and not twisted on each other and at an exact right angle to the steerer. This was a challenge to do efficiently without a lot of fiddling. Eventually I made a rather complicated fixture to braze them in a time efficient manor. One of my framebuilding class students Nolan helped with the design of this fixture. More about him later. Because we had access to laser cutting we also thought it might be wise to put little stainless steel crosses on the top of the crowns that might make a thief think twice before stealing it. Well that is the hope anyway.

Before I was a full time bicycle framebuilder/painter/teacher, I was a high school teacher. It is with that background that years ago I set up a plan to pass on framebuilding knowledge to those that want to learn the trade themselves. After they take a 3-week class, they have the opportunity to spend a few months in Ukraine brazing these transportation frames together. The repetition on fairly heavy-duty materials refines their brazing skills.

My student Nolan was a pilot before he got cancer at age 34. Bicycling was part of his recovery plan. He really got into it and wanted to make framebuilding a career since he could no longer pilot. It was obvious to him that the best way to achieve that goal was with my program. He got a good start but didn’t get too far before he lost his battle to cancer. A small part of his legacy lives in the twin plate fork crown making fixture.

[bikenow]

Hunter cycles makes some really nice forks aesthetically, I've never ridden with one though. Image from Bike Rumor