A Cycling & bikes forum. CycleBanter.com

Go Back   Home » CycleBanter.com forum » rec.bicycles » General
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Off centre front fork



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old August 16th 03, 03:20 AM
Zoot Katz
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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
Ads
  #2  
Old August 16th 03, 08:12 AM
Steve McDonald
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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

  #3  
Old August 16th 03, 12:33 PM
sparker
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Off centre front fork

Thanks for the information.




  #4  
Old August 16th 03, 05:24 PM
Skip
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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


  #5  
Old August 17th 03, 10:29 AM
sparker
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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


  #6  
Old August 17th 03, 07:57 PM
Zoot Katz
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
The bikes in front of the library Claire Petersky General 9 August 16th 03 12:39 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 11:15 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 CycleBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.