What exactly are Ashtabula forks?

[Robert Troub]

Are they just bmx forks?

 

[Roger Henning]

The term is used for Schwinn cast iron forks. Come originally from a foundry in a place called Ashtabua Foundry and I do not remember the state but think Ohio is right. They came on most of Schwinn's like mid priced models like the Varsity Suburban and many others. BMX riders used them because they are strong with stood a lot of abuse. Roger

 

[ozzie]

I may be wrong but I believe the most of the Ashtabula forks are forged steel.

 

[Oilit]

Ashtabula Forge produced the forks in Ashtabula Ohio, along with stems and cranks. The parent company was the Ashtabula Bow Socket Company, later known as ABS, and they had a lot of manufacturing operations at one time. "Bow Sockets" were the pieces that the ends of the hoops in the top of a covered wagon fitted into. They grew with the auto industry, making fittings for soft top cars and then got into bike parts, from what I've read.

 

[all riders]

correct, forged steel. Specifically, drop forged where the hot steel is beat into a series of progressive dies. The dies leave lines of "spill-over" material very similar to the parting line on cast material--it is sometimes hard to tell the difference. In this case, only one would be appropriate to the use.

 

[bloo]

One-piece drop forged Schwinn forks like these. The chrome piece is just a stamping slid over the top. Some were forged with a caliper mounting boss, and some without:

Used on all sorts of Chicago Schwinns. Also, in the BMX era, Ashtabula sold them to the public specifically for BMX use, but with a reinforcement welded in like this:

And sometimes a logo forged right into the side, though I don't recall seeing near as many with the logo:

Early BMXers liked them because they were tough. Also, they might bend, but wouldn't break. Tubular chrome moly forks (Tange, etc.) replaced them when they became available.

A bunch of old standard Schwinn forks (without the welded reinforcement) got pressed into BMX duty in those days. A stingray (or similar) frame does not have enough ground clearance for BMX, so a 24" or maybe even a 26" fork would have been used.

Ashtabula also made bomb-proof drop-forged one piece cranks for Schwinn, and for the BMX market later on.

From another CABE thread:

~ ASHTABULA Fork Questions ~ ANSWERED! Thanks Folks! | General Discussion About Old Bicycles

These are the only pictures I have sorry! Anyone have an idea the age/application for this interesting and looks like very heavy duty fork? Thanks, Nate

thecabe.com

 

[sworley]

I've seen (and repaired) bent Ashtabula forks on Schwinns but I have not seen a broken one. That must say something.

Ashtabula also made one piece crankarms and quill stems for Schwinn. Their later black oxide? parts are very desirable among the BMX crowd.

 

[SirMike1983]

They were a moderately durable, cost-effective product that worked from a production standpoint and was acceptable from a user standpoint. They're fairly good at resisting fore/aft stress, but side-to-side the arms have a fair amount of flex. You'll see this if you bank steeply into a tight turn - from the saddle you can see the top of the wheel shift as the fork flexes side-to-side in the bank. Regular fork also may flex a little, but I find these flat forks have a lot of side-to-side movement compared to the regular types.

On some bikes they were actually a "downgrade" - for example, lower-end 3-speeds might have the flat fork, but the better ones had tubular types. But for your average 14-year-old just riding around, they're usually OK. Remember when you set up a front hand brake to leave a little extra space between the pad and the rim to accommodate the extra side-to-side flex. I don't mind them, but not my first choice for a fork.

They are fairly straightforward to fix or straighten if you need to do it, within reason.

 

[Xlobsterman]

They were a moderately durable, cost-effective product that worked from a production standpoint and was acceptable from a user standpoint. They're fairly good at resisting fore/aft stress, but side-to-side the arms have a fair amount of flex. You'll see this if you bank steeply into a tight turn - from the saddle you can see the top of the wheel shift as the fork flexes side-to-side in the bank. Regular fork also may flex a little, but I find these flat forks have a lot of side-to-side movement compared to the regular types.

On some bikes they were actually a "downgrade" - for example, lower-end 3-speeds might have the flat fork, but the better ones had tubular types. But for your average 14-year-old just riding around, they're usually OK. Remember when you set up a front hand brake to leave a little extra space between the pad and the rim to accommodate the extra side-to-side flex. I don't mind them, but not my first choice for a fork.

They are fairly straightforward to fix or straighten if you need to do it, within reason.

Yes, pretty easy to straighten with the proper tool. The park tool works great for tweaking them when they do get bent.

 

[1817cent]

Neat post! Learned something...