RE: [CR]WANTED - Chrome Fork and restoration of harmony

(Example: Framebuilders)

Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2007 12:43:01 -0500
From: "Martin Walsh" <mowalsh@verizon.net>
Subject: RE: [CR]WANTED - Chrome Fork and restoration of harmony
To: "CR List" <ClassicRendezvous@bikelist.org>


Dear CR Listees, I FEEL A "little" RESPONSIBLE FOR WAYNE'S PLEA FOR AN ALL CHROME QUALITY FORK,for his Italian made,CR "approved",frame. Wayne gave me the "correct and original", Colnago front fork, from a COLNAGO FRAMESET,that I bought recently. The frame had an "off topic" staight carbon front fork on it and I said to the Owner who was selling the bicycle,"I really wish you had the fork still". He said, "I sold that fork a long time ago"!!! The owner said,"I sold it to a guy named WAYNE BINGHAM".......I thought BINGO,I know Wayne,as it turned out the man selling the bicycle knew Wayne and his wife. It also turned out we knew several of the same "bicycle people",here in the Washington DC area. To make a long story short,Wayne still had the oringinal fork,for the COLNAGO AND IT WAS UNCUT! Wayne gave me the fork last week with the CAVEAT,THAT I LOCATE him a suitable replacement fork. WE SHOULD BOTH BE AT THE WESTMINSTER BICYCLE SWAP MEET ( STOP,SWAP and SAVE),on SUNDAY,FEBRUARY 4TH,2007. Please contact either WAYNE BINGHAM or MARTY WALSH concerning the frameset needing an all CHROME QUALITY FRONT FORK. IF ANYONE ON THE LIST HAS A GOOD QUALITY (REYNOLDS 531,COLUMBUS etc.) NOT a heavy,clunker chrome fork AND NOT A FRENCH FORK (because of threading). I'm going to COPY Wayne's original post to the list (from the archives): So please contact WAYNE BINGHAM or MARTY WALSH in VIENNA,VA.,U.S.A.( A.S.A.P.) LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING CR LIST MEMBERS AT THE BICYCLE SWAP IN WESTMINSTER,MARYLAND,U.S.A. THIS WILL BE THE EIGHTH YEAR of this swap meet, and second year in the new AGRICULTURE BUILDING. DALE HAS A LINK to the SWAP MEET on the CR MAIN website under EVENTS! SO TO KEEP,the bicycle KARMA thing going,and to make WAYNE'S BICYCLE,A COMPLETE BICYCLE please check your FRONT FORK STASH and see what you have in a QUALITY 56CM. chrome fork. Thanks CR listees! Yours truly, MARTIN WALSH IN VIENNA,VIRGINIA, in the U.S.A.

Wayne's original post IS COPIED BELOW: "I'm in need of a quality fork, preferably an all-chrome one, for a project I'm working on. The intended frame is 55 cm, so I need a fork with about a 180 to 190 mm steering tube, with about 50 mm of threading. I would prefer sort of a generic fork with a "proper" flat or semi-sloping crown, because it would best match the frame style. The frame has a gray, marbled paint job and half-chromed stays and rear drop outs. The paint would be hard to match, so an all-chrome fork would look most original. I can live with English or Italian threading, but no French please. I can probably manage a fork with a longer steering and English threading, and cut additional threads and trim if necessary, as long as the steerer is not fully chromed. I'd rather find something that works as is though, if possible. Some years ago I had acquired a fork from a Colnago Super that had been parted-out that I had intended to use. I hadn't really done anything with the fork because it didn't really meet the criteria as well as I wanted, being from a 59 cm frame and having a chrome steerer. As fate and bike karma would have it, the Colnago donor frame that had provided that fork recently ended up in the hands of list-member Marty Walsh, who learned from the original owner that I was in possession of the fork. With the intent of keeping harmony in the delicate Karma of the vintage bicycle universe, Marty and I struck a deal to reunite the Colnago frame and fork. In restitution, Marty's task is to help find me a suitable fork for my project frame. Hence, this plea is from both me and Marty. Marty's on the hook to pay for another fork (although may also have items to trade, including a chrome Super Vitus fork from a Peugeot), but I thought it best to provide the description of what I needed.

A few details of the intended frame can be seen here:

http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/Wayne-Bingham/Frames-and-Parts/IMG_7 094.JPG.html

The frame is NOS, so I'd like to find a fork that looks as new as possible, but I'm also willing to compromise if necessary.

So, if anyone out there has a wayward fork, it will find a good home with my frame. Please let Marty and me know if you have something available that might fit the bill.

Small price to pay for keeping the world of vintage bicycles in harmony.

Thanks in advance -

Wayne Bingham Lovettsville VA USA"(posted by MARTIN WALSH IN VIENNA,VIRGINIA,in the U.S.A.)