Richard had a rather horrible fork failure. He assures me he noticed it before it caused him any damage,for which I am most glad. Anyway he asked me to make him a new fork and after discussing the need to fit a 36mm tire and a long reach brake caliper we decided on the crown you see. These sloping fork crowns bring a lot more rigidity to the design than older flatter ones because they shorten the blades somewhat but that was by the by, Richard needed the clearance.
Richard’s broken forks
New Fork bits
Dropouts
Blades and crown
New fork complete
A coat of black
Steve, who has done a lot of km’s on his beloved Dawes found a bulge developing in the bottom head lug along with a developing crack. I discovered that the head tube and head lugs were actually part and parcel. A single formed item. So, we decided to replace both the down tube and the head tube and lugs. Steve has asked me to do a couple of other bits and pieces to the frame as well so I will update the pictures when that happens
Steve’s Dawes
Bulge and crack
Removing the downtube
Gone
Removing the headtube
New headtube and lugs
Down tube / BB
Complete and on the road
Work continues on the Raleigh and it begins to look like a real bike for the first time https://gdukehandmadebicycles.com.au/2016/02/29/rebuilding-the-raleigh/
