I was on my first ride in almost two months on my \u201973 Eisentraut track bike (fork un-drilled \u2013 using a replacement fork). If you are thinking about drilling a track bike fork - there is a safety issue involved as well as the significant alteration to what was an original bike.
I have personal experience with the safety issue. I believe that in some many cases track bike forks were designed for their intended usage, which didn\u2019t involve strong rearward forces that could be involved with the use of a front brake. Fork blades are often round rather than oval and the crown may be lighter. I am still recovering from a biking injury caused by a fork failure on a ~\u201995 Waterford lugged steel track bike. This was factory drilled, but apparently, the fork wasn\u2019t strong enough for braking stresses, and bent at the crown when I was breaking, impacted the downtube, and stopping the bike very abruptly.
So thing about not only the cosmetic issue, but also about the potential safety issue when thinking about drilling a track bike fork. Obviously some non-drilled forks are strong enough to be drilled and used with a brake, but I know from personal experience that there are others that aren\u2019t.
Ben Sanford
Falls Church, VA
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