2006-06-28 09:05:51 · 3 answers · asked by mrknositall 6 in Sports ➔ Cycling
A "threadless fork" refers to the steering tube of a bicycle fork, which passes through the head tube of the frame and is connected to the frame by the head set or stem, dependent upon system.
Threadless forks are now the norm, and typically come in a 1 1/8" diameter. They are held in place by the stem, which clamps around the top of the steerer tube.
Years ago (and still available on some Wal-Mart bikes) steerer tubes were "threaded" and the bicycles head set threaded on to the fork and held it in place instead of the stem. This system is fairly clumsy to work on, more time consuming to maintain, and has steadily went the way of the 8-track tape over the last 6 or 7 years.
2006-06-28 09:59:45 · answer #1 · answered by jscottmeans 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
While the above poster (jscottmeans) is correct, he and I differ about the threaded forks but that is just opinion, nothing more. Nonetheless, "threadless" forks have been done on French Cyclotouriste bikes in the '50's, but it didn't take off becasue once you clamped the stem on and cut the steerer down, there was no adjustability.
They are very common now because it's easier to set up production lines without having to thread different size forks, and the installation/assembly goes much quicker (=less labor, and thus cheaper).
2006-06-29 08:36:10 · answer #2 · answered by JD K 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
holds the tire on but is not threaded...meaning it shouldn't require tools to remove the front tire (for anti theft reasons)
2006-06-28 16:08:07 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋