In a message dated 12/24/03 10:18:04 AM, heine93@earthlink.net writes:
>Ernest Csuka, of Cycles Alex Singer, claims that a fork curved at the
>bottom can deflect upward when hitting a bump, while a straight
>(modern) fork can only deflect backwards, thus lifting the rider (and
>causing discomfort). He may be wrong, but his bikes ride like no
>others!
With all due respect to M. Csuka this canard has been repeated so often it's now taken as the truth. It ain't true. Forgetting real science for the moment, if flex was occurring at the bend even with steel's forgiving nature you would think that you'd see at least one fatigue fracture due to bending at the curve and I've not only never seen one I've never even heard of one. I am ready to be corrected. The last line from "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence" comes to mind: "When legend becomes fact, print the legend." Phil Brown It's letting up and I'm going for a ride in san rafael, calif.