Classic & Vintage - Does this fork look bent?

http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=d2f9b9fdce&view=att&th=1200246c0778a468&attid=0.1&disp=inline&zw

I'm thinking of acquiring this bike, but it sort of looks like the fork may be bent. Does the fork look bent to you?

No pic?

No. Infact it doesnt look like much of anything to me.

Looks like no pic. That's stoopid!

That's a mail address, not a pic address in your image reference

good work,

krems81, if you save the jpg file from your email then post it here you should get some answers. good luck :crash:

Funny, the pick shows up for me when I look at this thread. Here ya go.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f240/kremebr/-1-1.jpg

Hmmm. There is a very slight bend to it, but it could be the picture. The wheel is turned slightly to the left.

Can't tell.

Bring a straightedge with you when you go to look at it.

Also feel under the top and down tubes near the head lug for 'wrinkles' as this is crash damage.

Not bent.

The forward sweep of the bottom of the fork puts the angle of the fork at the top of the tire in the relative angle to make it look like the fork is bent. If you put a straight edge along the head tube in the picture (like I just did on the computer screen), there is, if anything, a slight forward angle to the fork.

Cameras have a way of making a fork look bent. Part of it is that in a flat projection the eye looks at the wrong visual cues to determine whether the fork is straight or not. In real life, your eye tends to focus on the line down the head tube; in pics it tends to focus on the spot where the fork crosses the tire, and if there is any rake at all on the fork it gives the illusion of a bent fork.

Hmm -- I'm surprised that cudak888 hasn't dropped into this party. He's the resident steely-eyed missile man regarding bent forks diagnosed from blurry photo. And he seems to have a high on-target percentage score, too.

I think the wheel is to the left. Indeterminable.

I think you should be more worried bout the bent chainstay.

I think you should be more worried bout the bent chainstay.

Made you look.

Yes. Yes, you did.

Looks slightly bent to me. But determine if it really is with a straight edge.