I have no opinion on whether fork crowns significantly affect ride, but the old "wisdom" was that since the legs proper were slightly longer on flat crown forks, they would be more resiliant. At least the added length would be on the end with the greatest bending moment so it seems possible perhaps. I've read onlist that essentially all the flex actually happens in the steerer tube (though the bottom HS bearing should constrain that to a large degree I would have thought).
In any case the actual geometry would (surely?) have greater affect than the fork crown.
Kurt Sperry Bellingham WA USA
On 7/23/07, Jerry Prigmore <robinjer@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Chuck quotes the auction text for said De Rosa:
>
> >...fork crown is the signature flat crown that Eddy Merckx used on so
>
> >many of his race bikes. Eddy once told me in a visit to my shop in
>
> >1986 that the flat De Rosa crown was his favorite for cobbled
>
> >roads...more supple...
>
>
> Is it all flat crowns that are supple, or just those on older De
> Rosas? Or
> just Eddy's bikes? I'd sure like to know where to get one of them supple
> fork crowns. Do they use a more supple steel alloy, or is there a special
> annealing involved? Is there any way to make my own fork crowns more
> supple? Rub neatsfoot oil into them or something?
>
> Also, is not some of the most, ahem, creative and entertaining writing in
> the world found in eBay auction copy?
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry G. Prigmore
> Clovis, California, USA