loftus

I have a Gazelle tour populair, the step through model, 57cm frame. I had a crash last week and the forks are not repairable.
I can't find a frame number on the frame so when I call up anywhere asking for replacement forks they say they can't really help.
The other complication seems to be that the bike has rod actuated drum brakes. On the front fork this requires a hole above the left fork to bolt the linkage onto. Every fork I've seen online only has a central hole.
Does anyone know where I might get replacement forks?
Or can I buy forks and drill the hole on the left where I need it? Bit worried this might weaken them... Let me know what you think.
Or does anyone else with a 57cm tour populair step through want to share there frame number with me? Forks seem pretty standard size, ie suit bars of 22.2mm and a steererttube is 1 inch diameter. Steerer tube length is 262mm and wheels are 28 x 1 1/2
Any help much appreciated.

dedhed

Buying a replacement fork is a little more complicated as frame geometry also must be considered.
https://www.cyclingabout.com/underst...rame-geometry/


Do you own a Gazelle bicycle and are you looking for replacement Gazelle parts?
Want to make sure these parts fit your Gazelle bicycle?
Send a message to sales@hollandbikeshop.com including your frame number,
photos, additional information and/or other parts you\re looking for.
The frame number is usually located either on the seat tube, near the bottom bracket or on the chain stay.
The Gazelle frame number (bar code) often starts with a 'G'.
We'll be happy to assist you



You could probably also easily fabricate a bracket to mount on the central hole and offset to the brake rod.

madpogue 

BTW, there's only one fork. Each side is a blade.

How have you determined that your fork is not repairable? There are seasoned frame experts all over the country who can straighten a bent fork, up to a point.

If you wander around the forums and make five more posts, you'll be able to post a pic. That will help a lot. Or, go ahead and try to post the pic, and the forum will prevent it (before you have 10 posts). But in the process, it will put the photo in your gallery, and another user can post it to this thread. You may be able to buy a "generic" fork and have it customized with the hole/mount needed for the rod brake.

Lascauxcaveman 

Indeed, if it's plain old steel, it may well be repairable. Aluminum, TI or carbon fiber; then maybe not so much

loftus

Hi all, Thanks for the responses,
The forks have folded back on themselves by approx 45 degrees seriously distorting and folding the metal tubes of each blade below the crown. As this is my daily commuter I would feel far more confident with new forks than these being repaired, though I seriously doubt they are repairable given the comments from the two bike shops that have seen them in my search for replacements. I know steel is more repairable but there's a point of no return and these I think have passed it.

My question really is that without a frame number (and even if I do have a frame number the fact my frame is from around 1984) is making finding replacement forks difficult as I have no frame number to link a replacement part to.
When I search online for a step through Gazelle the old models look identical to the more recent ones. As an example look on google images when you search
Gazelle Women's Tour Populair 3 Black 2017 Amazon
and compare it with the result if you google
Gazelle - Impala - Road bicycle - 1982 - Catawiki

My hope is if I can get a new ish frame number from somewhere .... anyone? then I can use this to link to the correct fork.

I have tried Hollandbike shop, sending them dimensioned images of my forks and of the bike and they returned suggesting a set of forks with a steerer tube 40mm too short so am not convinced by their service at the moment. I need 262 ish mm and they suggested product code 8717118044285 (i can't paste links yet either but you can search for this code on Hollandbike shop com if you're curious.
If anyone has a 57cm step through gazelle and are willing to share the frame number that's be great, otherwise my hunt continues, I might be able to find one in a store in London somewhere too.

loftus

I've uploaded a picture of the fork to my account as suggested but not sure how anyone can find it, it's there if you know how to link to it?

madpogue 

Pic assist




Wow. I'll leave it to those more experienced to confirm, but that appears beyond repair.

Options that come to my mind are - (1) Have the fork "rebuilt" with new blades, using your crown and steerer, or (2) find a generic fork of the right dimensions, and have the hole for the rod brake drilled and tapped.

Is that also a light bracket or some such brazed on to one of the blades?

Mr. 66

Oh my gosh! You sound ok, were you hurt in the crash?

loftus

Thanks for linking in the pictures. That'll help everyone see what we're talking about here.
There's no point rebuilding as the steerer tube is bent too.
About 2 inches up from the base of the steerer the tube changes wall section - where the ID (internal diameter) changes from 18.9 to 22.2 - at this change in wall section there's a bend. With a quick bit of mathsthe bend looks to be approx 1 degree, or 1mm in the 2 inches to the bend point
Next check is to see if that has translated to the frame too, that's this evenings job.

loftus

Was wearing a helmet, have a slight graze to my cheek, some bruised ribs and a small cut on my elbow. Gloves and helmet helped. Bike seems to have come of worst. Amazingly the wheel has been trued up and is straight.
The design of the spoke fixings was such the the spokes are held as pairs either end of a slot. There's a hole in the center of the slot, large enough for the "head" of the spoke to go through. If there's a large compression/impact the spokes slide down the slot and pop out. 3 spokes popped out! The rim is stainless steel so that probably also helped.

dedhed

With that kind of damage, I'd suspect the frame is also bent and would check that over very carefully as well as likely replacement of the headset.

loftus

Frame looks straight, I think being the step through frame version allows for some flex without bending the top tube.
Headset cups look to be parallel also. With some careful measuring and aligning with some steel rules and straight edges I reckon I have between 0.3 and 0.5 of a degree out of parallel.
There's no obvious signs of damage to the cups. I guess i'll only know for sure when I get some new forks and see if I can feel any indexing or tightening on the steering.

dedhed

It's not like that is the type of bike will be going down hills and corners at 40 mph either.

nomadmax 

Of all the times I've said this in jest; that fork is BENT

loftus

No it won't though It has had a bafang 250W mid-drive motor fitted to make it a bit easier to ride everyday.
I was going to post some pics in the thread about converting vintage bikes to ebikes but it's looking a bit sorry for itself at the moment.
One thing I'm pretty pleased with is that I've managed to keep the completely enclosed chainguard whilst having the mid drive motor so it looks very discreet (well at least from the right hand side) as the motor is pretty much hidden behind the chain guard.

loftus

The bike is all back together and just clicked over 1000 miles since being converted to electric.
A bit of history and some pics here
https://school-commute-work-repeat.blogspot.com/