UK / EU custom straight forks & their makers "well" inspired by US builders

manuelschafer

Old School Hero
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HI there to bring some light in the "lesser known fork-iverse" this thread may help some of us for fitting adequate forks with our frames of restoration.

So for a start maybe you guys enjoy these two types (here straight unicrown fillets) supposingly beeing made in UK examples.

Names of builders who made similar forks ala taper gauge in the US would be Steve Potts (that style occasion only), Paul from Rock Lobster, Land Shark, Moulden and Vertebra Cycles in fillet braze stylus or Vicious Cycles in tig welding manner. All slightly different construction and tapered, yet beauties all alike hence these here have no reference whether they were actually really of Overbury`ian build origin (as both sellers have guessed). In the likely case these two were of overseas US fabrication it becomes ever harder to backtrace the makers, but anyhow they are nice and forks like them are sought after these days.

First pictured fork is stamped 89 and has columbus dropouts (really the kick of year for straight taper forks, partly because columbus and Koski had released special tubing for the purpose)
2nd fork of reference with Campa dropouts and should in theory be older by that signature
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Edit,
While the first fork eludes to be tandem forkblade tubing of still unknown origin, the 2nd fork most likely came from Moulden when comparing dropout brazing and filing styles. Funfact, most all of their fillet work varied vastly and that apparently not only from fork to fork but also on a given framset itself.

Good old days....

THNX M.
 

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Just tagging along to see what you find 😊
 
There are some to avoid - in my experience. One took a deposit and was talking about a delivery last October - and then went on building thing for 'other projects'. Not the first time I've experienced an artisanal mood swing - but I wouldn't recommend some of them to friends.
 
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