osmium

Hi all,

Have a quick question. I have a Basso Gap road frame. I am assume it is a mid 90s model. It is a lugged frame with custom slx tubing (I think. I don't have it in front of me right now). The curious thing is that the doesn't have a forged fork crown. The fork arms are welded on the steerer. Anybody have any ideas how old this is? Do other Gap frames have welded fork arms?? Just curious. I'll try and post pictures later.

Cheers,

Roland

HigherGround

You might try posting in the Classic & Vintage forum as well.

Basso has used the name "Gap" to designate many models over the years, in honor of Marino Basso's victory in the 1972 World Championship Road Race in Gap, France. That model might be from the mid 80's through the mid 90's or so, but it's hard to say without more details.

Are you sure that's the original fork, or is it perhaps an aftermarket one? I had a Basso with a lugged fork crown, but it was on the Ascot model with Columbus MS tubing.

osmium

Hi,

Here are some pictures. The tubing is 25 Chromo4sx. Any thoughts anyone?

Roland

skinny

This type of crown you describe was called a unicrown, and was an intermediate step in the process of eliminating fixtures and manufacturing steps in the construction of a bicycle frame. The fork crown was eliminated, but the design never truly achieved it's goal of eliminating a manufacturing step like tig welding did because the fork blades still had to be formed into a curve or radius at the intersection of the steerer tube and blade to be mitered and welded to the crown, ergo adding a step in the process. It may have been a smidgin lighter than a fork with a crown, but not much. The design was used and still is used on steel forks of all levels of quality, from cheapest to highest quality. Here is an example of the same fork design on a top of the line Bianchi that is a replica of the bike Gianni Bugno used.