Bob Reid wrote:
>
> The most recent Flying Scot I bought (circa 1959) came with those rather
> lethal looking fork ends - the ones with a sharp pointed tip on the trailing
> edge curving back towards the rear of the bike. My instant thought was
> that these would allow quicker wheel changes - no real need to be spot on
> locating the wheel as the spinsle will get pushed into the centre of the
> slot anyway.
>
> Anyone like to comment ? I'm particularly interested in the story behind
> the introduction and the eventual demise of these ends.
>
> p.s. If no one knows what I'm talking about I've posted an image on my
> website, at http://freespace.virgin.net/
Bob,
I have the same fork ends (without eyelet) on my two Gillott path racers (Road/Track iron?) that are from 1954 and 1955.
I don't know the back story other than someone figured they had a better idea than the plain fork end and added some metal to facilitate a faster wheel change as you said. Then, at some point everyone decided that the extra metal / weight wasn't worth the slightly easier wheel insertion and we are back to the plain fork end once again.
Chuck Schmidt
South Pasadena, California