”Straight forks were used on highwheelers as well as boneshakers. A curved fork does somewhat smooth the ride, because it is springier than a straight fork -- however, its effect in smoothing the ride is much less than the effect of the pneumatic tires or the highwheeler's large front wheel.

The factor in the comfort of the fork, its springiness or compliance, the degree to which it will bend in response to a bump in the road, is the horizontal displacement of the fork tips from the straight line passing through the head tube. A curved fork and a straight fork with the same position of fork tips will have about the same compliance. By "straight", I think John means in line with the head tube. There are road forks which have straight blades which are angled forward so that they have trail.

DouglasKline
kline*at*head-cfa.harvard.edu

©2003 Succession Marcel Duchamp, ARS, N.Y./ADAGP, Paris. All rights reserved.