r0ckh0und 

Looking for ID help with this Columbus fork. Looks like full chrome under paint, inside lug has a heart cutout and Suntour Pro fork ends.

francophile 

Do I notice rifling inside the crown opening?

I almost always associate hearts with Derosa or Benotto. But not familiar enough with either to know if they ever built anything with Suntour ends & DOs

EDIT: Almost forgot about J.P. Weigle.

r0ckh0und 

Rifling........yes

unworthy1

But, what sort of "rifling"? 'Cause I could think this might just as well be a Japanese fork as Italian, despite the Columbus decal. The forkcrown looks fairly "Tange" and a good bet the paint is not original. Not many Italian builders ever used SunTour forkends (AFAIK)!

Hudson308 

Sure looks an awful lot like the chrome Tange #1 fork I've got. This one has Tange dropouts, I believe. Very lightweight (1.54 lbs.). What does your steerer say? I've never seen a Tange fork that didn't have Tange stamped on the steerer.

T-Mar

Agreed, it could be an aftermarket decal. The number of ridges and style (straight or helical) would allow us to identify the steerer manufacturer but since it's a loose fork it's easier to just check the outside of the steerer tube for the manufacturer's name or logo. A Columbus steer will have their dove logo. Tange or Ishiwata will have their name or logo and also an alpha numeric date code.

Pending that evidence, when I see a reported Columbus fork, with SunTour dropouts and that colour, my immediate thoughts go to the high end Lotus models manufactured by Tsunoda in the early 1980s. Some did use that crown and sometimes they weren't embossed, though I can't say that I've seen any with the heart cutout in the blade reinforcing tang or that style of blade end treatment. Assuming the the Columbus decal is OEM, it could be a USA brand.

r0ckh0und 

Thank you all for the responses thus far.

I did not see anything on the steerer except 4J. Upon closer inspection I now see the Columbus dove logo as well as TANGE MADE IN JAPAN. I also see 5 helical ridges inside the fork crown.

T-Mar

I've never seen a steerer tube with both the Columbus dove logo and 'Tange Made in Japan'. The 4J indicates October 1984 for Tange and would have me leaning towards Tange but you say there are only five ridges inside the bottom end of the steerer tube. That would indicate Columbus, as Tange used six ridges. This is definitely conflicting evidence and I'd appreciate pictures.

repechage

A Japan built Allez? I know tossing darts.

JohnDThompson 

Tange's pre-fab operation (forks and rear triangles) was separate from their tubing mill. The pre-fab facility would build to order, using whatever tubing and components the customer specified. So it's entirely possible for a Columbus (or Reynolds, or Ishiwata) tube fork to have a Tange pre-fab stamp on the steer tube.

N.B. Tange steer tubes, from their tubing mill, were not stamped at all unless they were brazed at the pre-fab facility.

r0ckh0und 

Difficult to capture these markings as they are faint. Capturing the ridges even more so.

T-Mar

I'm leaning towards a 1985 Schwinn Peloton.

Edit: It's definitely Tange built with a Columbus steerer which would be correct for a Peloton. The date code is October 1984 which would be a 1985 model and the Peloton was spec'd with Superbe Pro that year, which would explain the dropouts (the 1985 Schwinn catalogue states SunTour dropouts but not the model). The colour is correct, as is the blade end treatment, dropout chroming, fork crown style and absence of crown embossing. The only thing I'm not sure about is the heart cutout in the blade reinforcing tang.

r0ckh0und 

r0ckh0und 

That appears to be spot on........thank you kind sirs

Hudson308 

Wow... great detective work, and an interesting fork!

r0ckh0und 

Here's another pic that shows the heart cutout detail

unworthy1

That WAS some impressive deduction thanks be to T-Mar! So there is such a thing as a Tange-built Columbus fork with SunTour ends...what a hybrid!