Originally Posted by Velo Mule

Hello, my name is Velo Mule and I have a problem. I saw this thread and despite knowing that I have issues, I ignored it. I even checked out this thread a few times to see how things were progressing. Well, I have a bike related issues that bug me. It doesn't just bug me, it bother the heck out of me. It gets me all worked up and want to rant. I want to bend something.

Straight forks. I am fine with them when they are carbon fiber, but on a bike with a steel fork, it is just wrong. I meant to say that "I think it is wrong". Forks should have a curve. I understand that to get from the fork crown to the fork end you could either make a straight path or a curved path, however that curved path has so many benefits and just plain looks good. It looks elegant. It looks like something that was planned and then carried out by a skilled builder.

Every time I see a straight steel fork, I just want to get a conduit bender and tweak those things. I look at bikes all the time and there are some nice new bikes out there, but if it has a straight fork, I not only don't like it, I question the designer or builder to the point that I would loose respect for that builder. I know that is not fair or reasonable. They may have some reason to use it other than it saves a bunch of money in tooling or having to buy it from a manufacturer that has making curved forks down to a science. To me, it seem like straight forks are a shortcut and has the added benefit that they may resemble a more expensive carbon fiber fork.

Would you eat your food off of a fork that was flat, with no curve? In both cases the curve is there for a reason.

It is my peeve. I am trying to control it and admitting it openly will hopefully help me.

Thank you, for reading this, I think, with your understanding, I will be able to at least control this well of energy that I get from seeing straight steel forks.