At 11:58 AM -0500 6/23/08, John Thompson wrote:
>Brian Samson wrote:
>>I recently picked up a 1972 Cinelli SC with a damaged fork crown.
>>With these SC forks, the weak link seems to be the the sloping part
>>of the crown, which has been bent back and cracked. The frame,
>>fork tubes and steering tube seem fine. I am wondering about the
>>feasiblity of repairing the fork by replacing the crown. Would
>>anyone know whether these fork crowns are available anywhere, and
>>who might be willing and able to take on this repair?
Ask some builders that used to offer the Cinelli crowns. When I ordered my Mercian in 1990, they offered the classic Cinelli crown as an option. Perhaps they have some left?
You probably will want to replace the fork blades, too, but those should be easy enough to find. Or just have a new fork made, which has the advantage that the old one can serve as a template.
When you have the repair done, make sure you go with a restorer, and not a framebuilder. Most framebuilders have their own styles of doing things, and they do not always match the style used by Cinelli. The distinction is fluid, as many builders are restorers as well, but make sure you communicate clearly. Most "restorations" I have seen really were made to the restorer's style, not the original builders, and that is probably not what you want.
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.bikequarterly.com