another reason to hate lawyers

"hold my beer and watch this..." wrote in message
...
Those little tabs that come on all forks now that you have to file off.


Those things have been called Lawyers' Lips for awhile. When was the last
time you bought a bike?

hold my beer and watch this... wrote:

Those little tabs that come on all forks now that you have to file off.



This is one of these cultural things that shows up here every so often
and make me wonder which planet I'm on and which planet everyone else is
on...

Those little tabs that come on all forks now that you have to file off.

"hold my beer and watch this..." wrote in message
...
Those little tabs that come on all forks now that you have to file off.



IIRC, they were thought up by the good folks at the Consumer Product Safety
Commission. Not all of them are lawyers, but the CPSC lawyers no doubt
drafted the rule.

It seems the rule has been relaxed or done away with. I have a Marin
Treviso built in Italy by Billato in 1999 that does not have the lawyer
lips. The Cannondale CAAD5 frame I bought in 2002 has them. Maybe the
Cannondale lawyers are to blame for that.

"Carl Sundquist" wrote in message

Those things have been called Lawyers' Lips for awhile.

Locally, I've heard them referred to as 'lawyer tabs.'

When was the last
time you bought a bike?


About 30 days ago.

And I filed off some lawyer tabs about 29 days, 23 hours and 55 minutes ago.

"Carl Sundquist" wrote in message
...

"hold my beer and watch this..." wrote in message
...
Those little tabs that come on all forks now that you have to file off.


Those things have been called Lawyers' Lips for awhile. When was the last
time you bought a bike?

I know that bike have had those things for many years now, but isn't it
still possible to get a fork (as in putting together your own frameset and
build kit) without the "lips"? Does literally every fork sold in the US now
have those things, or just complete bikes?

hold my beer and watch this... wrote:
Those little tabs that come on all forks now that you have to file off.

It's not just the lawyers, they have help from guys like US
cycling legend John Howard who was willing to lie under
oath in order to earn an expert witness fee.

http://www.swhlaw.com/cyclwin.htm
---------
Howard said secondary retention is more important on mountain bikes than
on road bikes. The adjusting nut on the skewer can vibrate loose over
time, he said. "Mountain bikes see more abuse. Those threads will
back-off after a time. The process by which that occurs is not entirely
clear to me, but threads do not stay tight under constant vibration and
I think I successfully convinced the jury of that," he said.
---------

What horse****!

Bob Schwartz

"Chris" writes:

"Carl Sundquist" wrote in message
...

"hold my beer and watch this..." wrote in message
...
Those little tabs that come on all forks now that you have to file off.


Those things have been called Lawyers' Lips for awhile. When was the last
time you bought a bike?

I know that bike have had those things for many years now, but isn't it
still possible to get a fork (as in putting together your own frameset and
build kit) without the "lips"? Does literally every fork sold in the US now
have those things, or just complete bikes?

Admittedly they are a nuisance, but probably a necessary one.

If they really annoy you, file them off or find a fork that doesn't have them.

--
le Vent a Dos, Davey Crockett
Six Day Site: http://sixday.741.com/
Latest news at http://sixday.741.com/news.html

B. Lafferty wrote:

IIRC, they were thought up by the good folks at the Consumer Product
Safety Commission. Not all of them are lawyers, but the CPSC lawyers
no doubt drafted the rule.

16 CFR 1512.12(c) says

"Front hubs not equipped with lever-operated quick-release devices shall
have a positive retention feature that shall be tested in accordance with
the front hub retention test, Sec. 1512.18(j) (3), to assure that when the
locking devices are released the wheel will not separate from the fork."

Perhaps I read that incorrectly but I think that exempts quick-release
wheels.

wrote:
Admittedly they are a nuisance, but probably a necessary one.

If they really annoy you, file them off or find a fork that doesn't have
them.


15 or so years ago, I was second in line in a group heading south on US 101
and as we crossed over the Refugio Rd. bridge going 25-30 mph, the guy in
front went to bunny hop the little lip in the pavement and, jeezus h, his
front wheel came out. You can imagine the nightmarish physics of what
ensued. What goes through your mind in that split second between when you
realize your wheel is out and when your fork tips hit the pavement?

In his case, he had changed a front flat about 20 minutes earlier and
somehow just didn't finish the job.

I don't file mine off because the chance of a brain lapse is not zero, and
the need for a 30-second wheel change versus a 40-second wheel change is not
that critical for 99.9% of us hacks.