Originally Posted by
Koyote
Huh. So, how do you deal with that problem, Andy?
You align the fork best possible. Part of the process is to check splay (hub/axle not being on center WRT the steering axis) and blade lengths being the same (wheel sits fully up in slots and is centered between blades AFTER splay is corrected).
Carbon forks don't lend themselves to the bending (Oh, I mean cold setting) to correct splay but any fork I have seen will allow filing of a drop out slot deeper (or taller to shorten that blade effective length).
It is a false assumption that a molded fork (carbon) is going to be straight and well aligned. We hope it will be. We hope that the cost to create the mold convinces the maker to also take care about the mold's alignment and that the actual production is done in a competent way so that every fork pulled from that mold is also straight. But my experience with production bikes having carbon forks tells me otherwise.
Just because a fork is not straight does not meant that the bike will have shimmy. just because the fork is straight does not mean the bike won't have shimmy. Andy