Hmm,
Regardless if the blade was bent or curved the axle ends up in the same place. The material, steel, is very rigid, even more so when the axle is installed. This results in a box like structure that has no movement that could be construed as a "suspension". If in fact the blades did move as the implied logic states then the steel would become brittle from work hardening and fail in short order. That simply has not occurred. Dampening, as such, is a result of mass, frame angles, wheel & spoke deflection, and a pneumatic tire primarily.
The bend or curve is there to achieve a desired caster (trail) or to accommodate fenders, mud flaps and toe clip clearance. IMHO
DaveP
frogeye@porterscustom.com
Porter Customs 2909 Arno NE
Albuquerque, NM USA 87107
505-352-1378
1954 BN2 1959 AN5
Porter Custom Bicycles
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http://www.britishcarforum.com/
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-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of donald gillies Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3:51 PM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: Re: [CR] Ralieg frame in Team Colours 0 Ebay 400032976224
Harry,
I think I know what Norris Lockley is referring to in the 'Competition
Team Pro Bike' on Ebay (which, according to its serial number, is a
1979 comp gs model painted in red/yellow/black paint, with a yellow
head-tube.) By the way, after 1974 raleigh (but not ilkeston)
continued to produce bikes with yellow head-tubes; for example, the
Raleigh-Record level bike ALWAYS had a yellow head-tube, it never had
a black one.
Reynolds produced 2 versions of pre-raked 531 fork blades. The
earlier "curved" blades contained a smooth and continuous bend, all
the way out to the dropout eyes. Example :
http://img.auctiva.com/
there was a latter type of fork blade, where the blades seem to have a
135 degree bend at 3/4 down the blade, from whence they go straight
out to the dropout eyes. So these blades are "bent" at a single
location, about 3/4 of the way down the blade :
http://img.auctiva.com/
Norris is complaining that these "bent" blades do not absorb shocks as
well as the original "curved" reynolds blades. In my opinion, the
reynolds blades are half the value of a reynolds 531 frame's ride, so
he may well be correct. However, I'm not sure the bend is creating
the problem, it may be that the bent blades are not "taper gauge"
which was a process that produced uniform wall thickness throughout
the earlier blades.
In any event I have no firsthand knowledge about which blades produce
a harsher ride, and why ...
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA
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