Well, if the magnet sticks, it ain't aluminum and it ain't the famous "death fork". Personally, I have an early lugged Lambert which still proudly sports its Death Fork. I don't really buy most of this "Death ___" (fill in the blank) stuff. I also ride old aluminum frames (ALAN and Vitus), AVA "death stems" and "death bars". Never had any of these fail, although I did detect a crack in a pair of AVA's on a used bike I bought, but then I found the same sort of cracking on some Pivo bars I bought on eBay. In addition, I own a couple of pairs of Cinelli "Death Pedals'.
I think the terrible reputations of items like these is usually based on very small percentages of actual failures. The odds are very good one can ignore the hysteria, ride these items, and never have a problem. That said, a little common sense is always in order. Aluminum is subject to stress fatigue, so it is only sensible to subject aluminum parts, including bars, stems, forks and frames to regular inspection for cracks, especially if riding them at high speed or in steep hills. As Lambert forks apparently had design issues as well as potential fatigue, it is probably better not to use them on steep descents, just as with the Hi-E hub skewers we were discussing recently. Cinelli M-71 pedals are probably best used on the track.
I do find one great irony in all the "Death __" stuff. Campy NR/SR cranks are well known to have failed, both at the crank spider and at the pedal hole, at a higher rate than many competitors, Including Stronglight and TA. In the case of the spider, this was clearly a design defect, and even in the case of the pedal hole, one could argue this was a design defect, as Campy used a harder alloy that was more brittle. So why aren't these called CAMPY DEATH CRANKS? Why does everyone hasten to point out that the failures weren't really all that frequent or normally catastrophic? That's true enough, but also true about AVA/Vitus/ALAN. But only Campy gets the benefit of sanity as opposed to hysteria. Why? Simple. There is, long has been, and probably always will be, a double standard, one set of rules for Campy, and another set for everyone else. Personally I thing "Campy Death Cranks" has a nice ring.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Houston, TX
Dan Kehew <dan.kehew@gmail.com> wrote:
> Maybe I've got the history wrong, but I thought the
> "death forks" were in the early years, when the
> bikes were still branded Lambert. I thougt the
> fork failures were one factor that forced an
> ownership change and the name
> change to Viscount.
Adopting for a moment the credo, "It ain't online, it's bunk," ('cause after all, pretty much all I really know of Lambert/Viscount and Yamaha-Viscount I learned online) I quote Tim McNamara and Sheldon "Bikes? No Comment..." Brown:
"The bikes (both Lamberts and Viscounts) came with a cast aluminium (aluminum) fork which was pinned to a steel steerer tube. Early production didn't even have the pin. This fork was the main problem as it had a tendency to snap off the steerer tube with predictably unfortunate consequences to the rider....
"Yamaha purchased the Viscount in 1978 or so and promptly recalled every cast aluminum fork ever sold on a Viscount or Lambert, replacing them with a chromed steel Tange fork."
This info, and the sworn blood oath that attests to its sincerity if
not accuracy, found at:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/
Me, I dunno. I just got a Viscount, and a magnet sticks to the fork, and the fork paint is an exact match to the frame paint. As a blind man feeling the elephant's toe, I believe the death fork to be X-Games marketing hype and feel completely ripped off. Okay, didn't pay diddly for the bike, so let's amend that to "righteous dissatisfaction and a nagging cough."
Dan (I'll believe it's a death fork when I tumble from it at 30 or 40 m.p.h.) Kehew Davis (like I could ever get going that fast around here) CA