Here is the fork in better times (2005 pajarito punishment race):
click for big (photo credit scott?)
The deceased:
Whole fork
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Nifty low rider and fork mounts. Kelly whipped this one up for me when I was leaving california, I think I got it in late 2000 or early 2001. It did exclusive duty as my MTB fork from 12/2001 until 3/5/2007. I was going to customize a double mounting for a Paul's rack back in aught one, but never got around to it. It did not ride great loaded up front. Something something trail...
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The cracked area from afar, left fork leg, running around midway of the front leg, toward the back. Powder has been removed to look at crack. Rust is from nasty winter commuting with crack in the paint.
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This gives you an idea of what it looked like (the left, still painted side) when I noticed it. It still was not this obvious, there was a thin thin line of rust along the weld there. It just looked like a slightly rusty long crack in the paint only, the give away was how long it was. It was hard to see among the winter commuting slush, dirt and salt spray.:
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Here is what happens when you use a vice to squeeze the dropouts about 20mm closer together. This can not happen when you are riding as the hub is in there, but it sure looks extra nasty:
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I am not really sure how this one started. If I had to guess, there was an undercut or wonky weld bit in the center of the crack and it propagated over the last year. I am pretty certain it was not detectable last year at this time when I was getting the bike ready for '06 racing.
Lots of dumb races and crashes int the last year, and the last 6 of hard riding and racing. I got my money's worth out of this fork. In addition to numerous over the bars type crashes, there was one memorable wipeout during the pajarito punishment that could have been a good starting point. I think I rode the front wheel in sliding mode sideways about 50 feet downhill before I finally went over the bars. But really, for 5/6 years, I am pretty pleased. The fork could have been bent/buckled/torked any number of ways in crashes that were avoided or not.
The lesson, check the equipment fairly often. Winter is helpful in introducing rust so you can see the crack. Winter is frustrating as it hides cracks amongst slush salt and dirt. The same thing happened with beakham, no joke, that GIANT crack was hidden below over half an inch of encrusted ice dirt and who knows what.
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