Frame Builders for Steel Forks

captain_oakley

A couple of days ago my beloved Eddy Merckx was hit by a car (with me on it!!), and amonst the damage are the forks, I would very much like to replace 'like for like'.

Steve at 'Whiskers' has suggested contacting a frame builder re getting a new set made, or at least the 'blades' replaced. It looks very much like an "insurance job", unfortunatley he does not deal with frame buildes any more. So who best to contact or where to start, any help or advice would be very much appreciated.

The frame is a 'Corsa Extra' with Columbus SLX tubing (in Motorola colours)


'Father of the Babe'

andyp

I'd email the Merckx factory first - they may still have some.

robbarker

I don't know where you are but I'm sure that Argos Racing Cycles in Bristol would do a superb job.

ride_whenever

i'd second the argos suggestion if all else fails.

Roadbike

I'm with AndyP on this one. That's a really nice frameset and you should tell your insurance adjuster that in this case, "like for like" means another matching Merckx fork. Go to the Merckx site, click on "distributor" & call or email the distributor for your country. Or call/email the factory direct. It's a current frame so the fork should be available. If the Merckx fork is not available, they owe you to replace rather than repair the bike.

Know this - insurance policies owe the cheaper of repair or replace. If for some reason you cannot get a matching Merckx fork (a proper repair,) they owe for a for a new bike of like kind/quality. Understand that if they do replace the bike they have the option of claiming what's left of your old bike.

Either way, insurance owes to "put you back where you were." You should push that an aftermarket fork or custom-made (non-Merckx) fork fails to put the bike back where it was before the crash. Good luck, hope it all sorts out!

bill57

Captain Oakley wrote:

Steve at 'Whiskers' has suggested contacting a frame builder re getting a new set made, or at least the 'blades' replaced.

From this it sounds like the crown (which carries the Merckx logo) is OK. If so, framebuilders like Argos, Bob Jackson etc, can do just about anything with steel - you should investigate having them rebuilt using the existing crown and dropouts.
I used to have one of these in Columbus SL, which to my shame I eventually chucked out. Great frame, definitely get it sorted properly.

broachboy

Morning forum people,

I can very highly recommend Trevor Jarvis

http://www.tjcycles.co.uk/

He did all the work on my Columbus EL Daccordi to a very high standard, he offered to make me a complete set of new front forks. He still totally handbuilds complete frames, forks and lugs in steel by hand, and for an older guy he is pretty hot on the email side of things . Contact Ceeway to see if they have the tube you require - they were quite willing to sell to me direct, then I would pass it on to the framebuilder.

http://www.ceeway.com/

captain_oakley

Thanks for all the advice folks, I contacted the Merckx factory in Belgium and they replied saying that they no longer make those forks, which I find odd as you can still
buy that frame in limited numbers.

I will try some of the other frame builders mentioned.

'The Porn Birds'