--- In KOG@yahoogroups.com, "Kogswell Cycles" <kogswellcycles@...> wrote:
>
> A couple of things have come to my attention in the last
> day.
>
> Dave from Anderson Custom Bicycles in Saint Paul:
>
> http://andersoncustombicycles.com/index.html
>
> sent me an email telling me about a new 9/8" True Temper
> steel steerer that he and J. Kendzie are using. I tapers
> from 1.65 at the crown (2.0mm is normal) to 1.14mm at
> the top.
>
> They've made steel forks that weigh 650g. That's about
> 2/3 of what a Kogswell fork weighs. It's heavy compared
> to a 350-450g carbon fork. But it's STEEL:
>
> http://kogswell.com/images/650gFORK.jpg
>
> Hank has them and I'm gonna call him and chat him up
> today to see what he knows.

There is an interesting thread on the Framebuilders' list that
somewhat relates to this topic:

http://tinyurl.com/2pxhxq

Specifically, Curt Goodrich states:

"I agree with you about 28.6 steerer steel forks. For the life of me,
I don't understand why anyone would build a 28.6 steel steerer
fork. It's just heavier. Now, 28.6 carbon steerers make sense. The
additional diameter is needed for sufficient stiffness and yet
there's a net weight savings."

Hmm.


> The other thing is that I noticed that Shimano has a new
> brake disc mounting system called Centerlock. This isn't
> of interest to most, but for those who like the idea of using
> a disc hub and having symmetric flanges, this new hub
> is a very nice way to get that:
>
> http://kogswell.com/horked/deoreCENTERLOCK.jpg

The thing that intrigues me the most about these hubs is that, unlike
their non-disc counterparts which require a large black rubber boot
over the left/non-drive-side locknut and bearing cone, it appears you
might easily re-space these hubs (since they don't require that rubber
boot) from 135mm to 130mm for use on normally-spaced road frames.

-Jim G