Mountain Biking - Bent Steerer, replace fork?

Hey I posted this in the mechanics forum but I didn't get an answer, so what do you all think?

So I picked up a CL bike today. There was a little play in the headset (or so I thought) and when I took things apart to inspect, I noticed the steerer is bent. Noticed it right away too, so it's pretty cock-eyed. Is it a must that I replace the fork, or can a shop align this for me? It's a RockShox Dart1. Cheep I know, but I would rather not replace if it isn't necessary. Thanks for the help.

Alan

This will be a commuter and a bike that my girlfriend will ride (hopefully). I can see myself using it from time to time as well, so my gut is telling me to find a cheap replacement fork. FYI, its a GF Wahoo disc.

If you brought it to my shop, I wouldn't even try to fix it.

chuck it, replace with rigid fork. You don't need a suspension fork for commuting (nor do you want one, actually).
Rigid fork = <$30 if you shop around.

Many shops that pride themselves on getting commuters back on the road will have an entire rack of take-off forks that will do exactly what you want.


I recommend finding the "least commercial" shop you can find, and see what they can do for you.

Yeah that's what I figured.

Any ideas on what to do with the bent one? I'd hate for this thing to end up in a landfill. I know of one place around here that fixes bikes for and with underprivileged kids. I think they get the bike when they're done with it. I'll see if I can get in touch with them first, but if anyone has an idea, I'm all ears.

Thanks.

It is possible to replace only the steerer, though on inexpensive forks such as yours, it is usually inadvisable and more costly.

If I'm not mistaken, it usually involves CO2 on the steerer and heat on the crown to get them apart and together again. Expansion and glue is how they are joined in the first place.

Otherwise, sadly, this is junkyard fodder. Cheap shocks are the most wasteful and foolish thing on new bikes, and ride much worse than rigid forks. Sadly, it is what sells bikes.

you can replace just the uppers as well.. the lowers and internals should be fine, no?

Can't think of a situation when that would be possible. I assume by uppers you mean the fork crown? On some forks there are screws there to remove the crown, not likely this one.

It is possible (though more work than it's worth) to remove the crown in the same manner I described.

If you mean the upper stanchions, than no. Because then you would have two usable forks... it's just a spring and elastomer in there.

Is something like this (http://cgi.ebay.com/NOS-Replacement-Rock-Shox-Judy-fork-crown-1_W0QQitemZ320202620493QQihZ011QQcategoryZ58086QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)readily available? I know this fork is cheap, but like I said, I'd rather not dispose of it. Trying to reduce waste and all...