Drilling Forks

So ive decided that im not going to be able to get enough dedicated used out of my Terry Dolan bike as originally wanted. This being as i live pretty far from the two nearest tracks and am working long hours at work.

I have been riding the bike brakeless for small journeys, usually under 2 miles as im not comfortable with a bigish gear, no brakes and traffic.

As the bike is far more comfortable, lighter, a better fit and prettier then the Bianchi Pista, im thinking of drilling the forks and fitting a decent brake, so it can be used for commuting and longer saturday and sunday cycles, safely.

As i have never drilled a fork before, can anyone confirm if the current fork is suitable to be drilled and whether this is something i should do or definately for the LBS.

Pics below;

buy a cheap drilled fork, save those if the're the originals or ala moi a clamp on brake, I got a used one from a forumunger for £45 i think.

Drill it. It's not as if it's some beautiful proper track fork. It's just a bog standard aluminium fork that doesn't look like it's been drilled.

Easy. Just use a set of HSS drillbits. Start out small and slow and gradually work up to bigger drill bits. At least that's what the pornstars suggest.

You're missing the key shot in your photography. Take a look at the steerer tube from under the fork crown and make sure there isn't some kind of reinforcing screw where you want your brake bolt to be. Some of the track specific 4ZA/Alpina forks have one, even though they're otherwise identical to the equivalent road fork.

Assuming you've haven't got one of the ones with a screw in the way, doing it at home is easy if you have a pillar drill and a suitable drill vice to hold the steerer. If you want to be neat, you'll need a counterbore bit too. If your home workshop doesn't run to this, get a cheap road fork like this
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/productdetail.asp?productcatalogue=ITALFORR450 (assuming you need a 1-1/8" fork)
for example

oooh i forgot about clamp on brakes, ill take a look first at these if not ill double check if it can be drilled and do this

Edwardes of Camberwell have a tame engineer with pillar drill.

Cycle over there, leave bike for a while, job done.

Not sure how much they would charge- they did if for free for me because I was buying a bike from them.

if you're worried about safety, then don't get a clamp-on brake. They're just not as good as a proper brake. Also, the forks might be really flexy under braking. Buy some drilled carbon forks. they'll be better and will improve the ride comfort of your bike too.

drill it, the forks look as though they are designed to be drilled if you wanted. the cut out at the rear must be for an allen bolt fitting, surely?

drill it, the forks look as though they are designed to be drilled if you wanted. the cut out at the rear must be for an allen bolt fitting, surely?

You would have thought, wouldn't you? But as I said, the 4ZA/Alpina track fork looks exactly like that, and definitely can't be drilled.

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