slaikan

Hi everyone

Looking for advice on getting a vintage 1973 Raleigh fork repaired. A few weeks ago, my girlfriend got into an head on accident with another rider riding in the opposite direction. Girlfriend is fine, the bike isn't unfortunately. The handlebars were tighter at the turning extremes and when riding, steering heavier. I removed the fork from the frame and discovered that the steering tube is bent, seemingly in two directions, slightly back and slightly to the side, I assume its ended up like this because she was in a turn when the collision occurred. The run of the mill bike shops in NYC can't or won't assist. Finding a replacement fork has proven to be difficult as the bike has 24" wheels and almost all of the forks I'm finding are for 26" wheels and up.
Would love to try get this fork fixed if possible as she loves this bike because its a kinda vintage and she loves the look.

Would a bike builder or a machine shop be able to replace the 1" steel tube by removing it from the rest of the fork and re-threading the tube?
Is attempting to bend it back an option given that its slightly bent back and to one side?
Would I be able to use another fork from another Raleigh bike? I found one on ebay for a Raleigh Colt, the title of the item says its for 24" wheels, but looking at back catalogs, the Raleigh Colt seems to have had 26" wheels? Cant post a URL yet, but the description of a potential replacement fork on ebay is "1970s Raleigh COLT Fork 24 Inch Wheel 3 Speed Vintage Nottingham UK BSA"

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Miele Man

Where are you located?

Cheers

slaikan

Hi

Located in New York City at the moment

Andrew R Stewart 

First thing is to assess the frame's condition. It would be sad if much effort/$ was spent to get the fork right and then find out the frame is bent back or twisted.

No surprise that most shops want nothing to do with this. Today's litigatious society is too quick to blame others for mistakes in judgement and insurance companies are wise to the liability exposure frame work involves.

Replacing the steerer is possible. But the common Raleigh fork your bike likely has is not the easy crown/steerer fabrication that lend to steerer removal and replacement. It's multi piece construction is not the more common one piece crown design we see on most other brands (excluding unicrowns). Cutting off the steerer and adding a new portion is also possible but not cheap or easy. Both could be done by an experienced person, who likely is not cheap.

Straightening a bent steerer also has it's challenges but is likely to be less expensive, if you can find someone to do it. Back in the day we did this stuff without much doubts but as we old guys have gained assets most are hesitant. Remember it's not you that we are worried about suing us. It's your family or the hospital you are treated at but isn't fully paid for that we worry about.

Using another fork is possible. But the dimensions that are commonly available will be rather different from the OEM one's. Expect a bunch of secondary parts changes if you go this route, headset, brakes, hub/wheel are the first I think of.

To the foundation of the issue- Does the GF need this bike? Is it a size issue? A style one? I would want more data on these aspects before I could advise a lowest cost and best result. Andy

slaikan

Hey Andy

I'd have to find a way to determine whether the frame is straight, I think I saw a youtube video on how to do this with string...
Basically the other cyclist clipped the front wheel, we took the wheel to a bike shop to get the dent in the steel wheel taken out, they did a pretty good job on that.
The GF doesn't "need" the bike, but she loves it because of the style and the fact that its vintage, she has an affinity to vintage things in general. She's okay with riding a heavy steel bike slowly and comfortably taking pictures of it in a beautiful setting in nature etc..
She's 4'11 so finding a modern bike with a vintage look is not as easy. I'd post a pic when I get to 10 posts, but I'd like to exhaust our options before giving up on this one. Shawn

WizardOfBoz

One thing that you should do is get a very good straight ruler (a machinists ruler or straightedge, if you can get access to one*) and test whether the top tube is "humped". That would be a slight bend in the top tube (an exaggerated example is shown below). A humped frame could be fixed but its expensive and may not be worth it given the bike's value (that's your call).

If the head-on was truly head-on, with no sideways force, and your frame is not humped you could focus on the fork. Find someone to straighten it or buy a used fork or frame or bike.

slaikan

The frame looks okay, its a step through. With the collision, the other rider basically hit the front wheel with his pedal, which is why we needed to have the wheel straightened. Will post some pics as soon as I can

thumpism 

slaikan, I suggest you post in the thread below and put "Raleigh Colt fork" in the first sentence. Lots of Raleigh nuts over there and someone might have the part you seek or know where to find it.
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...peeds-917.html

slaikan

Thanks thumpism, will head over there and put in a post

Fissile

Sorry to pee in your corn flakes, OP, but I agree with a most of the others. Back in the day it was common for bike shops to straighten bent frames, forks, etc. Drilling, cutting, tapping, threading, brazing, machining, etc. were day-to-day things at the local bike shop. Today almost no bike shops have the tools, the experience or want to risk the liability.

thumpism 

You might also start looking for a Raleigh Space Rider. I think they came in a 24" wheel.

slaikan

Hi all

Thanks for all your input and insight. I managed to find a bike shop who was willing to help with (Drilling, cutting, tapping, threading, brazing, machining, etc.) the repair of the fork the old fashioned way. Fork has been in the shop a few days and its now ready... going to pick it up soon. Hopefully all will be good!

Thanks