A question about pencil-thin forks. Dale was gracious enough to e-mail me a comparison done, between a Hetchins 54' with pencil stays and forks and a 97' redux Hetchins without such pencil tubing, from Cycling Plus- written by Paul Vincent sometime in 2000.
Here's as quote from the article: "Handling: Here the old bikes pencil stays and fork blades led to a feeling of insecurity when braking hard into a bend coupled with an undeniably flex-inducing steel cottered Williams C34 chainset and thin wall tubing, the handling left much to be desired on fast twisty descents. On the positive side comfort levels were impressive due to the high degree of vertical compliance in the period fork blades....The sensible trail figures are negated on the old bike by the fact that the fork blades have poor lateral stiffness. This aspect would be magnified for heavier riders though its an insignificant criticism for those riders who are content to ride at a steady pace."
Does anyone else have experience with such pencil-thin blade forks? Do you agree with the Cycling Plus author about their poor lateral stiffness, and poor braking into bends? Or does anyone believe that many makers (from the UK and elsewhere including many bikes from Hollands) in fact did make pencil-thin fork that did handle fast decents well? If so, is there a way to make such forks more laterally stiff while leaving the vertical compliance alone? A special crown?
Thanks,
Jeremy Lieberman
New York City