I just went through the exercise of trying to replace a Raleigh 531 fork that did not exist for a frame I received (thanx Gordon Wagner!) Here are some of the results that I found.
1. E-Ritchie loves to make forks - its one of his passions - and has a lot of classic crowns available. To just "make a fork" (e.g. no plating, no painting), he quoted me $325 for a vintage 531 fork with the vagner crown i need.
2. Mercian cycles will also make forks to specification, and they have the in-house facilities to chrome and paint them if needed. They quoted me a cost of $270 including 6" of chrome but no paint.
3. Franklin Frames of Ohio quoted me a price of $185 painted, and $150 unpainted (no chrome in either case). However, they are not sure if they can find the right crown.
4. Here are some extra CR recommendations that I didn't get around to trying:
Steven Maasland - "Try Bike Specialties in Toronto" Mike Schmidt - Try "Stephen Bilenky in Philadelphia"
------ at this point i was able to find a NOS fork on ebay with a ------ steerer tube that was too short. I figured it would be ------ possible to drill out the pins and install a longer steerer. ------ There is no chrome on my crown, so deplating is not necessary.
1. Franklin frames quoted a price of $65 to change the steerer tube.
2. Brian Baylis quoted a price of $125 to change the steerer tube. slightly more to deplate the crown.
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA