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Off centre front fork
Sat, 16 Aug 2003 02:31:09 +0200,
, "sparker" wrote: The bike is new, and I don't recall if this was the situation before shipping, I didn't look or notice. I did notice that it was a little more difficult to put the front wheel on when I was putting my bike back together. If it was shipped without a chock spacing the fork ends it's possible a fork blade was bent. Also, if the fork is slightly bent, what problems can this cause? Is the structural integrity of the fork compromised? Assuming it's a rigid steel fork, no. Just have it re-aligned. They'll simply bend it back into shape and it will be fine. But, the ride is great, it's just annoying to notice that the front tire is a little to the left when I look down. Chapter eight of Barnetts Manual covers fork and frame alignment. It's a job requiring specialised tools not every shop has. -- zk |
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#2
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Off centre front fork
If the forks are not bent, it's possible that the spokes on the wheel are adjusted so there's less slant on them from the hub to the rim on one side. This would shift the rim laterally. This is commonly done on the rear wheel to provide more space on one side for the gear cluster. It's also possible that there are more washers and spacers on one side of the axle than the other. Sometimes, these might be positioned outside the locking nuts on the bearing cones and secured by a second nut or they could be placed between the cones and their locking nuts. These are all things you should explore when analyzing and fixing the problem. If you do remedy the off-center alignment, the front brake will probably need to be readjusted. Steve McDonald |
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Off centre front fork
Thanks for the information.
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#4
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Off centre front fork
"Steve McDonald" wrote in message ... If the forks are not bent, it's possible that the spokes on the wheel are adjusted so there's less slant on them from the hub to the rim on one side. This would shift the rim laterally. This is commonly done on the rear wheel to provide more space on one side for the gear cluster. It's also possible that there are more washers and spacers on one side of the axle than the other. Sometimes, these might be positioned outside the locking nuts on the bearing cones and secured by a second nut or they could be placed between the cones and their locking nuts. This is called "dish". On a front wheel this is VERY easy to check. Just rotate the wheel 180 degrees vertically (e.g., move the quick-release handle from the left to the right or vice-versa). If the tire stays in the same "place", it is the fork alignment. If the tire shifts and is now closer to the other side, then this is wheel "dish" (of an amount 1/2 the shift that you observed). In plain terms -- if the tire is 1 cm too far to the left, and you rotate the front wheel and it becomes 1 cm too far to the right -- then you saw 2 cm of shift and the wheel has 1 cm of "dish". On a rear wheel you can do the same thing (but obviously you can't ride the bike because the cluster would be on the wrong side). This is also a bit less interesting because the rear wheel is SUPPOSED to have some "dish" (but ideally to compensate for the size of the cluster -- resulting to center the rim between the dropouts. How close this actually is to reality I don't have a clue. Perhaps Mike J. can enlighten us with what really happens). - Skip |
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Off centre front fork
Chapter eight of Barnetts Manual covers fork and frame alignment. It's a job requiring specialised tools not every shop has. -- zk BTW, if I were to buy one manual for do-it-yourself maintenance, would you recommend the Barnettt's Manual? It is expensive (89 Euros on amazon.fr), but does that mean it's good? Thanks Alex |
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Off centre front fork
Sun, 17 Aug 2003 17:08:00 +0200,
, "James Thomson" wrote: Barnett's is very thorough and clearly written, but it's aimed more at the professional grease-monkey than the home mechanic. It's written for the student of bicycle mechanics. In that regard, it's a great book for beginners though it's probably more comprehensive than what most home mechanics require. The step-by-step instruction will give a person the ability to better judge whether they feel capable of performing the operation. -- zk |
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