Thanks Tom!

Dave Bohm tandem.

Jonny Cycles!

Thanks Caspar.

Pretty cool crown from the white album.

Too few bikes are green. This bilenky was spotted at the nahbs.

Spotted on ebay tonight. Galibier track frame.

Thanks Hans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sadilah

It's nice to be back after a long break. I need pics. My supply is running low so if you have anything to contribute please send them on. I'm starting a contest...if your the 1,000,000th visitor you'll win an unbrazed plate fork crown. How about that????? so tell your friends and spread the word!!!!!

Frejus atmo!

Tom and Nick are they eyes and ears of this blog. Thanks guys!

Cecil Walker crown

Golda crown.

I hope this beautiful old condor makes up for not posting much in the last month. This bike has the Davis crown that aspires to be a twin plate. Works for me.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

Curt Goodrich is the MAN

This is an updat from April 13th. TP sent this great shot of his Masi Pista. That is a special bike. Thanks TP.

Rensch tandem with plate crown. Interesting brakes I say.

Wade at www.vulturecycles.com sent this pic of a Mclung mtb. I love the "newsboy" style.

Masi Pista. As my friend says, "a pista Masi is a good Masi". This was submitted/snipped by atmo.

Rotrax

Tournesol by Hampsten Cycles. This is the Rivendell crown that is seen on bikes here and here by Richard Sachs and Curt Goodrich down the site a little bit. These guys at Hampsten really know what they're doing and if I could generate any business from this tiny blog for them I'd be thrilled. My own Giro 88 found here is a joy to ride. My buddy Happy Harrell is doing a tour with the Hampsten guys to eroica in the fall. It's killing me knowing I am not going.

not a true plate crown, but it is good enough for me. this repaint looks too much like a sachs though.

luigi ganna crown.

This is a better pic of the baylis crown from Jan 3rd. Roman doesn't know it, but he contributed it. I'm always amazed at the paint BB puts together.

This Geminiani pick is also from Fred, Thanks Fred.

This Elgin Balloner from Fred is way cool. Three plates are way better than two.

Custom twin plate crown from Vulture Cycles.Check out their work here. This is a unique design that takes more work than it looks.

Crome Herse spotted at the Cirque.

Richey crown and modified Sachs Newvex lugs adorn this Bob Brown MTB. I really like this look.

The third of many pics to come from the 2006 Cirque.

Brian Baylis "Aerotour". This bike has to be seen to be believed. It is a prototype that Brian is using to experiment with in a randonee style of bike. Parts of it are beautiful, and gaudy, unique, and stunning. It is over the top stylistically, but I really like it.

We like track bikes at the PFC headquarters. This Avanti is stunning. Thanks Mark for the pic.

TS in MI spotted this lovely condor Path Racer on Ebay. What a nice clean bike.

Pic # 1 from the Cirque. This beautiful old ratty frame was just propped against the red wall. PERFECT!

Mark Stonich sent this crown. He didn't trust a regular crown for his recumbent tandem, so he added a plate to strengthen things up. Check out his website here.

TT cut this Heron crown down for Roland Della Santa. This is cool stuff! It seems like all the kids are doing it now.

This is one of the most interesting submissions to date. Sachs Richieissimo fork crown, drilled and then sawed. Cool!

I love these old warriors. Picture taken outside the shop of Doug Fattic.

Jonny Cycles day 2....In the raw .

This Jonny Cycles crown was built for a 2"+ tire. Jonny Cycles had good press at the recent Handmade bike show. For a better look at his edgy and cool bikes click here. I had a discussion last week with a frame builder about how builders like Jonny and Sacha White are not only the next wave in frame builders, but they are selling to and attracting a younger crowd. Way to go Jonny!

This omelchuck has been making the rounds lately. It's a beautiful bike for sure. Thanks for the submission Steve.

I'm not a big Masi fan in general, but the track bikes are extra special. This bike is perfect.

From Byron comes this crown adorning a french Tandem. Thanks Byron!

A FREAKIN WORK OF ART!!!!!!!!!!

I like this picture. I hope the rust is from use rather than abuse.

This Pegoretti crown is from friend Steve Hampsten @ Hampsten Cycles. Check these guys out here. Steve will make it easy to buy a bike or take a tour.

I love these painjobs from the 40's. Make note of the indexed shifting.

I'm not sure where to start admiring this beauty. This singer has the prerequisite forkcrown but integrated headtube headlugs is a bit more interesting. Gotta love the integrated lighting and racks too. I saw some metax headtubes recently that would do this arrangement well. This would be a cool look with Sachs Newvex lugs.

This is a great crown, but I wonder sometimes if the builder didn't cut things too close on accident sometimes. Note that the fork has been stripped of matching paint.

Hellyette with twin plate fork crown. I curious to know whose picture is on the seat tube. I may ask one of my goofball CR pals.

This was emailed to me by someone who did not leave a signature. I'd love to know more about this crown and who built it. What's not to like about it?

Pop Brennan supplied many east coast 6 day racers. This is an attractive example of his work. It's sad that equipment decisions today relate more to marketing than performance. We need more modern day Pop Brennans.

This Curt Goodrich has an awesome Rivendell Crown. If I were in the market for another made to measure frame this guy makes the top two. Goodrich is the real deal McNeil! Check out his website here.

I've been idle the last few days. Today we were outed on the ibob list. Steven Sheffield accused me of being a goofball from the CR list. Well I'm not gonna dispute his claim, but if you have seen his signoff you'll see that dude is definitely a goofball. Anyway, here is a Duerkop. Enjoy and I'll be on the ball for the next month or so getting loads of pics up.

Oscar Watsyn of Chicago was known for his 6 day bikes. This is a beautiful example of what he could do.

This old bates with plate crown is loaded with mojo. There is serious atmospere between those plates. The background is most certainly British, no?

Rivendell Crown. This would go great with the EX- Riv lugset now offered by Kirk Pacenti @ PCD. Maybe Kirk will save this one also giving the frame building world a twin plate crown.

Great fork crown on a Velox. Didn't Diacomp invent that headset 40 years later?

3 speed Humber with rod brakes. I love these crowns found on old British bikes. Thanks Marten.

Not a forkcrown, but it is bad ass. This is a modern recreation of a 20's-30's board racing motorcycle. The motorized version of our own track racing. I'll be back with fork crowns after the MLK holiday.

Jack Taylor and crown. The color and pinstriping give it away, right?

This uppadine Tandem must be from the 40's or 50's. Show your buddy riding the fancy carbon frame that internal headsets are old technology. The faux twin plate crown makes this a nice package.

This Werks has everything a cool bike should. Lugs, great paint, head badge and twin plate crown are all there.

Automoto crown. More interesting than the twin plate crown is the fillet brazed lower head lug. I wonder what problem that was a solution for?

This pic of a sieber track bike was borrowed from the frame builders list. The patient is on the operating table.

From Annibale Osti comes this oh so sweet Traccia Bike with plate crown. Thanks Annibale

Brian Baylis crown on a track bike. Typical Baylis paint and typical Baylis craftsmanship. This picture was taken at the North American Hand Made Bicycle Show in Houston TX. Brian mentioned to me this bike was used for a record attempt of some distance.

Either you love it or you don't. I don't but it is interesting.

This Bill Hurlow is on display in Cycles De Oro bike shop in Greensboro NC. Davis Sand cast crown with Hurlow embellishments. This is the perfect crown to start the new year.

This is my personal Richard Sachs track bike with a twin plate crown. The Painting is 20x30 oil on canvas. This was painted by a family member and given to me as a birthday present. It's amazing that Richard Sachs red can be captured with a brush. Thank You JK

This beautiful Urago has typical French plate crown. Two plates, a column for the crown race, all brazed to the fork legs. I find this style so much more appealing than the typical cast Hetchins crown. This is a classy bike!

Fixed Gear English Witcome in a way cool paint scheme. Did the boys in CT do any Track Witcombs?

This Groene Loeew is a sexy little #. Lets hope TH dosn't sue me for posting a pic of his bike without permission.

I think this is a Davis sandcast crown. Note the fuax twin plate look of this crown. The bike is Richard Sachs #11.

Day 4 of Hetchins week brings this Magnum Opus. This bike is from a late series of Hetchins. Love that crown!

While technically not a plate crown, this Davis sand cast crown is plated and we needed to keep Hetchins week going. This is one of my favorite crowns.

Day two of Hetchins week brings this 1954 Experto Crede. Note the lack of embellishments on the crown.

This crown Starts off Hetchins week, BLING BLING WOOHOO !

This 1930's SKS shows that lightweights have not changed much. Note the integrated headset and "indexed" shifters.

1936 Stepa with the brightest paint I have seen from that era.

1949 Swiss Tigra track bike. It has "that" crown.

1949 Alex Singer with twin plate crown. This bike was listed on ebay and did not meet reserve at $11600. Singer is the epitome of constructuer bicycles. This is a Bad ass bike. For more pics click here. Note the unusual brake.

I think this was an April Fools Joke.

Another view of a Masi crown. This faux crown was more popular than the twin plate crowns. This bike is in new condition, and it really shows.This will be the last Masi pic for awhile. I'm sick of Masi.

I've always thought that the Hetchins Magnus Opus was over the top as far as lugs go, in a good way of course. I have thought those embellishments down the outer side of the fork blade were probably brazed on after the fork was built. No evidence of that here.

This Hetchins crown picture was donated by Dale Brown, proprietor of Cycles de Oro and of the Classic rendezvous.

From Pal Nick Z in Atlanta comes this very early CA Masi and crown. Nick knows his bikes, he sold me this track bike found here.

Nick, I still owe you a few beers!

This is a sweet crown from a Dick Power track bike. All chrome with Nervex lugs. It's a shame to see a brake hole on a track bike, but oh well, such is life.

This tasty plate crown has classic french lines. The fork blades look modern so I'm guessing this bike is not very old. Any thoughts?

This 74 Carlsbad Masi and crown(left) came from Masi nut Bob Hovey. Bob has a great Masi site that can be found here. Bob says these crowns were regular cast crowns that were sawed in half. The same style Masi crown on the top also came from Bob Hovey. This fork and crown has been repainted by Brian Baylis

This 1961 Masi with twin plate type crown is one of the best examples of the plate type crown. This picture partly inspired my own track bike found here and here. If you know who cast this crown please let me know as I'd like to mention that fact.

This modified Rivendell crown is off the personal race bike of Richard Sachs. While not a true plate crown it still has the looks. To read Richie Sachs's thoughts on fork crowns click here, and for general Sachs info click here and here.

JG

This is the first and only web address I know of dedicated to the plated fork crown. I'll be posting images and descriptions of crowns as I see them or have them sent to me. The first crown is a triple plated version from an original Wright Flyer on display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Orville and Wilbur knew how to do it Wright.

Enjoy,
JG