Project Lazarus: Alas it was only a Grail shaped Beacon

Excuse the Monty Python reference.

On Sunday I fitted the replacement fork but first I wanted to do some comparisons, you can see the side by side above.

And in profile, ah there is that nice fork rake I have been missing .

Checked the width at the Canti -posts and it was the same.

Then I checked the length of the steerer tube and huh, the replacement fork from the Schwinn Passage is about 2 cm longer than the original Cresta fork.  Well how big of a deal could that be?  Note that the length of threaded section of steerer tube is the same for both -about 3 cm long.

Tange 6J

Tange 5I

Hmmm the Tange marking on the fork steerer tube is different too, and I recalled having a conversation about the markings on Bike Forums so it was knowledge I had and forgot but to be fair I was convinced the Passage fork was from an identical sized frame so I think I would have bought it regardless.

So in the end I had a replacement fork with threading that didn't go far enough down the steerer tube to allow me the snug up the headset, no matter how I sliced it I had a gap and a fork that didn't work.

I reached out to a long time frame builder, 45 years in Seattle, Davidson Hand-built cycles  to see if adding more threading to the Passage fork was an option.  Their reply

Sometimes you can add, but most times it doesn't work well. When it had to be done

no matter the cost and perfectly we have had a machinist do it at a cost of about

$200-250

Not the answer I was hoping for but also not unexpected.  Working on vintage bikes can be allot like life; you live, you make mistakes, you learn, you forget, you pick yourself up and keep moving.

So I plan A is to keep searching for a replacement Tange, 27" wheeled, canti fork where I will ask for more info next time and seek an exact match to the original Tange model 6J fork.  In the meantime I can ride the Cresta as is with the runaway mustang feel and if I get tired of searching for a canti fork I can always get a replacement non- canti fork, mount a center pull brake up front and see how a franken-Cresta handles.   And I can probably recoup some my cost of the Passage fork by selling it.

Ride. Continue the Search for the Grail. Sigh. Smile. Repeat

In the meantime I keep putting Kilometers on the Trek 520.