Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Classic & Vintage
Reload this Page >

Mis-spaced fork

Notices
Classic & Vintage This forum is to discuss the many aspects of classic and vintage bicycles, including musclebikes, lightweights, middleweights, hi-wheelers, bone-shakers, safety bikes and much more.

Mis-spaced fork

Old 08-16-09, 01:16 PM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Andy_K's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 14,787

Bikes: Yes

Mentioned: 522 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3228 Post(s)
Liked 3,854 Times in 1,436 Posts
Mis-spaced fork

The fork on my 1977 Gitane Gypsy Sport seems to be improperly spaced. That is, the distance between the dropouts is correct, but they aren't the same distance from center.

The spacing used to be 94mm or something strange like that. Then some bonehead (me) just grabbed them and pulled to get the extra 6mm he needed.

Is there a good way to fix this myself? If I took it into my LBS do they have some absurdly expensive Park Tool gizmo that would do it in 30 seconds? Should I just buy the Sunlite chrome fork from Niagara?
Andy_K is offline  
Old 08-16-09, 03:06 PM
  #2  
Bianchi Goddess
 
Bianchigirll's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Shady Pines Retirement Fort Wayne, In
Posts: 29,724

Bikes: Too many to list here check my signature.

Mentioned: 191 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2912 Post(s)
Liked 2,836 Times in 1,460 Posts
Hello let me start by saying "way to go bonehead" *giggle* here is what I would do. assuming the paint was in relativly good shape to start with, I would inspect the tops of the blades where they meet the crown. if there is no evidence of stress ie. cracked, chipped paint and they look straight front to back. I would take it to my bs and have them fix it. go to the shop with the guy in his mid '50s driving a car that cost half what his bike do. chances are he has done this several times and it will be alot less than the buying the tool.

now if you are looking for a good excuse to buy the chrome fork.....
__________________
One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"

Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
Bianchigirll is offline  
Old 08-16-09, 03:25 PM
  #3  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Andy_K's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 14,787

Bikes: Yes

Mentioned: 522 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3228 Post(s)
Liked 3,854 Times in 1,436 Posts
Actually, I'm thinking about replacing the whole frameset in a couple of months, but I might not and in any event I'd like to be able to ride it in the mean time. It's not an especially good frame, and the paint is terrible (scuffed all over and a bit rusty with flaking chrome on the tips of the fork), but I've bonded with it to an extent that defies logic and reason.

So anyway, I'd like to keep it cheap. If I replace the fork, it would be with the $13.58 special from Niagara, though I'm worried that will be worse than what I have.

What do you think the LBS would charge for something like this?
Andy_K is offline  
Old 08-16-09, 05:36 PM
  #4  
aka Tom Reingold
 
noglider's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,691

Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem

Mentioned: 510 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7287 Post(s)
Liked 2,365 Times in 1,382 Posts
This is easy to fix. Clamp the steerer tube in a vise.

Make some sort of gauge out of a stick that you clamp onto the steerer tube, and keep it parallel to the steerer tube so that it comes down to between the fork tips.

Measure the distance between each fork tip and the gauge-stick-thing. Bend as necessary. You may be surprised at how much force this requires.

This is what the bonehead should have done in the first place.

All other bends on forks are tricky, but this one isn't.
__________________
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog

“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author

Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
noglider is offline  
Old 08-16-09, 11:10 PM
  #5  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Andy_K's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 14,787

Bikes: Yes

Mentioned: 522 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3228 Post(s)
Liked 3,854 Times in 1,436 Posts
Well, under-equipped bonehead that I am, I lack a bench vise. So I resorted to throwing an old stem and handlebars on there, putting my foot on the fork end and pulling/pushing until I got it lined up. I'm guessing that's less than ideal for the integrity of the steerer, but given the quality of what I'm working with I decided to try it. It looks like it worked.

The main reason I'm updating is to share what I used for checking my work. My wife has a bunch of quilting rulers hanging in the garage that look something like this:



So I grabbed a long rectangular one, lined the steerer up between the hashmarks and voila...precision!
Andy_K is offline  
Old 08-17-09, 07:47 AM
  #6  
Bianchi Goddess
 
Bianchigirll's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Shady Pines Retirement Fort Wayne, In
Posts: 29,724

Bikes: Too many to list here check my signature.

Mentioned: 191 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2912 Post(s)
Liked 2,836 Times in 1,460 Posts
Hello good glad to hear thigs worked out for you. when I was working in shops (depending which one) if you were a regular we might not charge for that. I had even seen the owner do it and not charge as a 'good will' gesture (and to prevent liability) but back in the early '90 I bet it would have been less than $20

but I am glad you got it working. it can be along drive to shop out there
__________________
One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"

Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
Bianchigirll is offline  
Old 08-17-09, 08:56 AM
  #7  
aka Tom Reingold
 
noglider's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,691

Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem

Mentioned: 510 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7287 Post(s)
Liked 2,365 Times in 1,382 Posts
There you go! Good old fashioned ingenuity saves the day. I have NO PROBLEM with the method you used. It worked.
__________________
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog

“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author

Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
noglider is offline  

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

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.