Ugh. Very glad _you_ suffered no damage! I've seen so many photos of those forks cracking, yet it seems like nobody gets hurt.
Grant would crow about it, at least back in the old days: steel fails gracefully! I do think the VO minirack I had on it helped quite a bit to keep things together as well. As for your bike - examine it carefully! Maybe even put on the brakes and push the bike forward to watch the fork flex. You might be able to see cracks if they open up under flex. Although, I'll say I saw absolutely nothing, and based on examination of the rust in the cracked surfaces, it seems they may have started from the inside and propagated out, so there'd be no way to see anything until they come through.
Originally Posted by
gugie
I like the Pacenti MTB fork crown for super wide tires, I used that on my gravel bike build with RTPs on it. They also sells pre-bent fork blades that are fairly good. That relieves you of the need for another jig as well. Since you're not using disc brakes those blades should work just fine.
Thank you so much for the detailed write-up! I really appreciate it.
I have made a fairly ghetto re-raking jig made of plywood. Do you not think I should go full-rando and try out these Jan Heine flexy fork blades?
Kaisei Toei Special? I guess they are a different oval and only work with his crowns, but you can smush them down in a vise to make them fit ordinary continental oval crowns if you want a different option. Do you think that's silly? Or maybe the cantilevers will give me brake judder with the flexy blades, all over again?
Also, what do you recommend for a steerer? Columbus splined, or some Jan Heiney Toei stuff (surprisingly cheaper)?
Originally Posted by
verktyg
"It's just a flesh wound"....
A question for JT, was it ever determined was caused so many failures in those Trek Ishiwata forks?
JT as in @
JohnDThompson ? Would love to get his opinion!