Worried about my steel fork's reliability...

duke01
duke01 Posts: 4
edited January 2016 in Workshop
Hi folks

I've been reading this forum for a long time, but I'm new on it as a participant. I say hello to all of you; this particular topic is about steel frames.

I grabbed an old Eddy Merckx frame a few months ago and noticed -well afterwards- that the fork was dented (see pictures): someone tried to take out a frozen stem by forcing with a pipe...
Bad idea...

I've been riding it for months, but I am concerned since a tech doubted it was safe...
What do you guys think? Is it safe to ride? (I must say I am not heavy nor really powerful, just the random racer)

thanks in advance for your help

Comments

  • keezx
    keezx Posts: 1,322
    I would ride it without hesitation, but keep an eye on the stability is'nt a bad idea......
  • kajjal
    kajjal Posts: 3,380
    I would swap it out for a replacement. The problem is you can't tell the extent of the damage or when / if it is likely to fail. If it was a mountain bike it would be replaced without a second thought.
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    It's steel, don't let the nay-sayers worry you. There isn't really a crease / stress raiser that would lead to a crack propagating. In days of old, you'd get your local frame builder to fill the dent with braze, polish it flat and touch-up the paint.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    +2 - I'd be happy to carry on riding that. Steel's pretty forgiving.

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