thenomad

No wrinkles, no glaring issues to visibly point out which one is off.
I reassembled the fork and realized that when the wheel and stem are aligned the top crown is cocked a degree or two. I should have realized as I had to spread the forks ever so slightly to fit the wheel on.

So anyway, I can't tell which leg is "out of spec". Seems like only one is slightly back of the other.

Best way would be to yank on the fork legs to make them equal? Should this be done in a vice?
I read of people just doing it on the bike, I can't seem to get it to change but I'm sort of afraid of really hauling on it.

Any tips on aligning?

Ex Pres 

Have you tried laying a strightedge next to each leg?

Also if you have an solid axle or other threaded rod around you can tighten it up in one dropout and see how it aligns with the other. One probably will stick out on this test.

randyjawa 

I would advise not "yanking" on anything until you are sure what and which way to yank. And when in the process of yanking, do not put stress on the brazed or silver soldered joints.

You will have to access an old bike shop that has a fork gauge. I have all of the tools for straightening old frame set except the fork gauge and it is incredibly helpful in determining what is bent, where it is bent and how much it is bent. Armed with that information, you can gently yank the forks back into place if the bends are not too great.

The only picture I have of the tool you will need to access are these. I was in the process of straightening out the forks on my 1963 Peugeot PX10. Good luck with this quest.

thenomad

Yeah, that sure looks helpful.
I'll call ALL the LBS in my area, I have a feeling none of them will do it but maybe I'll get lucky.

Used a straightedge and could not tell exactly. The change is slight over the length of the fork so it is very hard to detect. I suppose i could just get them both identical and then it wouldn't matter but I want to have a good finished product. The fork isn't much heavier than the carbon replacement I can afford so I'd like to just use it for now.

thenomad

LBS says "sure we can, come on down". So I get there and the dude looks at it and says "we don;t have a tool to measure and bend it all back perfectly and besides it won't really be perfect so its probably best to leave it as is.

Ugh, I have been able to get it closer but what a waste of time.

Then, I ask for prices on any 8 or 9 speed cassettes and the guy says "they don't make those, everything is 10 speed, there is SRAM Red, Campy and Dura Ace and they don't make anything but 10"

Ugh again, every time I start to think this is a bike shop they reaffirm that it is merely a bike "storefront". I bet the sales guy was wondering why my Shimano aero brake "brifters were so small...and what the heck are these little levers on the downtube?"

Road Fan

First, you really need a better shop.

I've usually checked fork alignment by using a dished wheel. If you have a dishing guage (not an expensive tool, you can check if a trued rim is actually centered between the locknuts. If the wheel is correctly trued and dished, you can use it to check the fork.

Remove the stem from the fork so you can sight down the steer tube. Clamp the wheel into the fork with the axle ends fully seated in the fork ends. Sight down the steer tube, and note if the wheel is offset to one side or the other. You can assess how severe the problem is this way.

You also probably need to ride it to see if it pulls.

If your local shop can't even understand the problem, you have a hassle to effect the repair, and if it isn't maddening and doesn't pull to one side, maybe you can just leave it alone. If you want to send it out for a correct repair, I know a few places I would choose.

thenomad

Yeah, Its only a degree or two out so I'm going to build the bike, ride it and see how it feels. I'll then probably call a few other places farther away and do some slight aligning of my own.