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Prewar Schwinn Klunker Fork Question

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Mack the fork

Look Ma, No Hands!
I have lusted for some time, for an earlier fork for my ‘40 Schwinn Excelsior DX Bomber.
I don’t know what it is, but I just love the appearance of the earlier trust forks - with the forward facing stanchions/braces for the truss rods.

I’ve never actually seen one of these forks in real life, therefore I don’t know how they’re made, or if they’re very strong compared to the postwarforged, Ashtabula blade-type trussed forks.

From vintage photos, it appears that the earlier prewar truss forks ( with the truss rod braces )were solid near the top , but became tubular towards the axle. Again, having never seen one, it looks as if they welding tubular fork legs onto a forged fork crown, then ground the welds smooth to give the the appearance of being a one piece fork.
Am I right about this ?

In the movie trailer “Klunkers” (on YouTube) there is a brief glimpse of a badly bent 1936 - ish truss fork with the narrator mentioning how they experimented with ballooner parts that were not up to the punishment they were exposed to on Mt. Tam.

Then, while watching another YouTube video about Repack Mountain bike history, I noticed most of the early Repack bikes used prewar frames, but postwar, forged Ashtabula blade truss forks.

My understanding is that at the time (about 1977 ), the “founding fathers” of mountain biking simply experimented with various assemblages oavailable prewar and postwar balloon bike parts; ultimately settling on the most durable combinations.



question #1 :
How were earlier Schwinn truss forks made
( such as on a 1936 “Double Diamond ) ?

question #2 :
What year was the forged Ashtabula flat blade fork introduced into the DX line ?

question #3 :
Is the later, forged, one piece,Ashtabula blade-type truss fork considered to be stronger than the earlier prewar truss forks ?
 
question #3 :
Is the later, forged, one piece,Ashtabula blade-type truss fork considered to be stronger than the earlier prewar truss forks ?
Probably more robust. Fattire Flyer book by Charlie Kelly, pics show mostly klunkers built with blade type forks. I imagine preferred due to strength. Later, tubular forks came along and robust.
 
Ashtabulas bend but don't break. That's why so many were pressed into service in early BMX, before crownless tubular forks took over. The wreck will be much less severe if the front wheel stays on. Sometimes reinforced ones sold by Ashtabula were used, sometimes non-reinforced ones recycled from old Schwinns if the budget was lower. No doubt Ashtabulas were used on klunkers for the same reason.

On one hand, the truss rods really have to have the stanchions to act as a truss, otherwise how could they add any strength? The truss rods on Ashtabulas without the stanchions are in my opinion just decoration. The stiffness of the Ashtabula setup is probably less, but the overall strength much higher.

I don't believe the fork you speak of is anywhere near as strong as an Ashtabula.
 
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