Thanks,
I've had my LBS cold set a rear triangle before, but never a fork. In this case, the whole fork is chromed (the whole frame is, actually), so I was worried about the chrome at the top of the fork cracking, as well as the potential damage that might occur to 45 year-old brazing on the fork crown lugs. No worries there?
Originally Posted by
TenGrainBread
Don't be afraid to spread the dropouts. Get a piece of threaded rod that will fit into the dropouts. Lock the rod into one dropout using two nuts on either side of the dropout. Put a nut on the inside of the other dropout and thread it outward, spreading the fork legs. You will need to spread around 10-20mm over 100 to account for springback, maybe even more considering the stiffness of the Schwinn blades. Go slow and use washers between dropout faces and nuts to disperse the load.
The nice thing about this method is that it applies the exact same force to both blades, as opposed to doing it by hand where that is dependent on the operator's estimation.
I've done this method on a 1972 Schwinn Sports Tourer fork with chrome socks and it was quite easy. And it did not affect the chrome.