New Fork For the Raleigh Commuter

From this:

To this:

I liked the fact that the gray fork I had on the Raleigh was lugged, both at the crown and the fropouts. But, the fork was suspension-corrected, which left a sizeable gap between the top of the tire and the fork crown. The gap was so large, I had to fashion a hanger to suspend the front fender low enough to actually give some coverage to the front tire.

The original fork which was supplied with these frames was not suspension-corrected. I picked this stock fork up from a fellow on eBay, for $14.00. It looks much better to me.

I actually had to use a different front fender, because there isn't enough clearance on this fork for the one I had on the bike. The shorter fork lowered the front of the bike, and quickened up the steering a bit. Combine that with the fact that the steer tube on this fork is 1-1/2" shorter than the steerer on the gray fork, and the handlebars end up quite a bit closer to the ground.

The bars are only slightly lower in relation to the seat, and the bike feels fine (on the test ride, anyway). I'll know more, after the commute, tomorrow.

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