Help Finding a New Fork? Frustrated...

[coxch1]

I made the mistake of buying a used bike on Ebay. I guess I won't be doing that again.

In any case, what I picked up was a 1991 (or maybe 1992) Tri-Colorado. It appears to have been ridden quite a few miles, and may have been in a minor crash. Or two. I took it into my local shop for an overhaul and cleanup. It needed a new headset, which didn't shock me, but I have come to learn that the steer tube is a bit bent. It's not bent inward, as though from a crash, but rather outward, as though from a lot of riding maybe, or being dropped in shipping maybe. Who knows? Maybe a gorilla sat the bike.

The short of it is that I need to find a new fork for this thing. I am told it's a 185mm steer tube, though a 180mm might do, 1" thread. The wheels are 650C. I'm not terribly picky about the paint job - chrome is fine with me. Is Serotta still able to supply replacements for this old of a bike? Does anyone have any recommendations for a third party replacement? I hate to be stuck with an unridable bike. :-( Any constructive suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks,
-Chris

[pitcrew]

Might be a little tricky to find a used fork to fit the bill, but there are numerous builders who could build the needed fork without any trouble.

[Ken Robb]

Welcome to "our gang"> search the archive here as there have been a few threads on replacement forks.

[coxch1]

Any suggestions on who might be able to do so? Do you have any idea of what kind of money I would be looking at?

[David Kirk]

I hate to say it but I think you are going to have a heck of a time finding a fork that will match. You might get lucky and someone will have one in their basement but, as you might imagine, the chances seem slim.

You could have a new fork made to the proper specs so the handling it true and have the new one made threadless so you can use modern stems. This will cost more than finding a used one but would get you on the road.

dave

[pitcrew]

If you send Dave a PM, I'm sure he would be happy to let you know his availability to build such a fork and discuss the cost as well......Good luck.

[Louis]

Given that it may have been mistreated in the past, does the frame justify the expense of a new fork, or would you be better off just starting over? (And seeing if you can return the bike to the original seller.)

[Keith A]

Chris -- I do know that Serotta no longer produce steel 650 forks...and the available 650 forks that are good are rare. However, all is not lost since Serotta will soon (production expected to start around the first of the year) be a offering their own 650 carbon fork and this will be available in both 1" and 1 1/8" sizes.

Although this isn't something that you can purchase today, it should be available in the near future.

[AndrewS]

I'll bet the handlebars went into a garage overhang while on a roof rack. I'd return it (had to do the same once myself).

[Pete Serotta]

Give Dave Kirk a call or send a note. He has done this for many folks and also he is first rate. Additionally, he was with SEROTTA when they were building steel forks.


There are other builders of forks but if I was getting one for my SEROTTA at this time it would be from DAVID> PETE