Are my forks cracked boardman comp.

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Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
Not really, aluminium is a soft more pliable material than steel. The fork is a critical load bearing component and gets a lot more abuse than any other part of the frame.
If you read the OPs initial comments he says ‘I did hit a curb and have to bang down afew curbs on my route’. I’m sure this has contributed to the damage.
Steel or carbon would be my choice but they too are not immune from damage through abuse.
 

Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
The benefits of aluminium as a frame material (mainly weight reduction) cannot be realised in the smaller dimensions necessary for a fork blade.
This site (with only a modicum of bias) sheds light on the aluminium v steel considerations (but not for forks): https://wheretheroadforks.com/steel-vs-aluminum-bike-frame-pros-and-cons/
Text (adapted): "Aluminum can suddenly crack and fail without warning. A catastrophic failure of your aluminum fork could cause serious injury. Imagine bombing down a hill at 30 miles per hour when your frame or fork suddenly fails under you. While this isn’t likely, it is possible. Steel tends to crack more slowly and give you more warning before it fails."
Disclosure: My 'glued and screwed' ALAN (1981) has a fork with aluminium blades/tubes. It has not failed yet, and shows no sign of so doing (lugged crown).
 
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Almost certainly fork replacement time.
With a metal fork you can sand the paint away to see if the crack is in the metal. Engineers use a blue dye to penetrate and show cracks but this is not repairable.
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
The benefits of aluminium as a frame material (mainly weight reduction) cannot be realised in the smaller dimensions necessary for a fork blade.
This site (with only a modicum of bias) sheds light on the aluminium v steel considerations (but not for forks): https://wheretheroadforks.com/steel-vs-aluminum-bike-frame-pros-and-cons/
Disclosure: My 'glued and screwed' ALAN (1981) has a fork with aluminium blades/tubes. It has not failed yet, and shows no sign of so doing (lugged crown).
Having said I'd never buy a bike with an aluminium fork your post reminds me I have. I also have an Alan (bought here for very little money) and despite being 40 years old shows no sign of failure.
 
OP
OP
B

bleubolt

New Member
I removed the paint and I can't see any crack. I guess I need to ride it done more to see if the crack opens up
 
OP
OP
B

bleubolt

New Member
Hard to photo
 

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battered

Guru
Can you get any ink or say petrol and black engine oil where the crack used to be or still is? Then clean it off with a dry clean rag. If there is a crack the ink or dye stays in it and can't be cleaned out. If the crack was only in the paint then you can clean ink off smooth metal.
 
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