Drop outs are one of many ways for a frame builder to impart their own style, character and craft to their frames. One of the things that I do to front drop outs is square up and angle the opening of the drop out. It’s a very old technique that has it’s origins in racing. Builders used to do it to speed up wheel changes. The profiling of the tips allows the wheel to hit the slot a little easier and acts as a wedge between the axle and the quick release. It does help but that’s splitting some fine hairs. I like how it looks and that’s important. Still one of my pet peeves is aesthetic considerations that negatively affect the function or performance of the bike. My point is that this aesthetic touch comes with no disadvantage.
I hesitate to blog about this because I suspect I’ll start seeing other builders doing this. But it’s not like I invented it. So give it a look.
| « A recent interview- | Frame & Fork painted Team Blue » |
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 6:43 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Dear Curt,
Recently I had some issues with an older steel frame and fork coming out of a fork-mounted roof rack on my car. Apparently the newer fork dropouts have a little lip that keeps the wheel in place, a type of safety feature. Well, my old Bianci fixed-gear lacks that lip and caused a little trouble. Can these beautiful detailed dropouts you picture and describe be mounted securely to bike carriers that lock the front fork in place, like Thule or Yakima?
Joel,
The tabs that you’re referring to are often called lawyer tabs or my favorite- lawyer lips. They do act as a safety feature when one improperly uses the quick release. If the quick release is set too loose then the lips or tabs prevent the front wheel from falling or in your case the fork from coming out of the bike rack. At first blush, the tabs seem like a good idea. But when properly used, quick releases have proven for least 50 years to be reliable and safe. So the reason your fork slipped out of the roof rack was because of improper use of the quick release. My angling and squaring of the drop out tips do not negatively affect the clamp and hold of a properly used quick release.