boneshaker78

Is this Kinesis Crosslight aluminum fork safe with this hub? The hub spacing is probably 100mm, it’s an old sealed cartridge bearing Suntour. There is a space between the the hub nuts and fork ends. Are these forks intended to be spaced to 110mm? Is 110mm spacing for 20mm thru axles only? I acquired someone’s botched together bike and many parts haven’t been assembled in a safe or sensible manner. Can I just safely force the fork ends to contact the hub with the skewer? Seems like it might be a bad idea considering the fork is aluminum. Can I space the hub to fit better? Would there be enough axle and skewer? Why do I keep finding front forks that are spaced much wider than the hub? Does this happen from people using trainers? Strange

veganbikes

Not in current configuration but that is not the on the fork or the hub but the user who has not done up the quick release properly. It looks to be in the open position and the wheel might not even be seated in the dropouts all the way.

Here is a good video on QR skewers and maybe a bit in depth and nerdy but will tell you everything.

It would be a very odd and ultra rare thing to find a 110mm spaced non-thru-axle fork. Boost spacing is relatively new or is old DH stuff but this fork is probably designed for a standard 100mm hub.

Now would I want to ride on a aluminum fork, not really if I can avoid it. It is not unsafe but just no real springiness or vibration dampening you would get from say steel or carbon respectively but still perfectly rideable and fine.

boneshaker78

I opened up the skewer to show the extra space between the fork and the hub. I’m aware that the skewer is not secured. I’m pretty convinced myself that this fork was intended to be 100mm spacing. Why it is spaced quite a bit more than 100mm is what surprises me. I wouldn’t ride an aluminum fork either, but I’m poor and this is a budget build, so I got what I’ve got. Still not sure if it is wise or safe to force the fork ends together to secure the hub, but I’m starting to think it doesn’t matter all that much. It would appear that the fork was forced into this wider position at some point, but perhaps they were just made this way and I’m being overly critical.

veganbikes

I wouldn't worry about it. Just do up the QR skewer properly and you should be fine.

boneshaker78

Okay, thanks for the reply. Knowing that aluminum doesn’t like to flex without cracking is what concerned me, but these are pretty beefy forks.

Andrew R Stewart 

I don't think the small amount of pull up will increase the fork's chance of cracking. Certainly not anytime soon. I suspect the fork just widened during the welding and was "good enough" for the QC pass. What I would do is to add a thin axle spacer on each side/end of the axle, under the lock nuts, to widen the "working length" to closer to what the drop outs are at. Do take care with the retightening of those lock nuts. No bearing likes to be overly preloaded.

I also would get rid of that external cam QR skewer. At least you don't have disk brakes though with that skewer Andy

boneshaker78

Thats more than once now that someone has mentioned ditching external cam skewers. I purchased a Shimano Deore for the front after your post, but what’s wrong with that style of skewer? Why aren’t they recommended?

FBinNY 

This is a standard 100mm fork. Either it was made this way, or was spread at some point, it's now slightly too wide.

There is NO SAFETY ISSUE here, but there may be an inconvenience factor, in that the wheel might not easily slide in without backing the QR open more. If it were mine, I would double check the alignment, then bend (cold set) it back to where there's a correct slide in clearance for the hub.

Otherwise, feel free to use this fork as is.

Andrew R Stewart 

For a few reasons. External cam QRs generally have less gripping ability. Between the plastic surface the cam acts on (and its compression under pressure) and the usual Al ends that bare against the dropouts (that won't embed as well into the DO surface, at one time the CPSC required a QR to emboss into that drop out) these types of skewers do a less able job at securing a wheel in the frame.

A common issue bike shops see is a "modern" replacement rear wheel that has been installed in an older bike that has horizontal rear axle slots. These QR skewers can slip forward on the drive side from the tension of the chain (when pedaling hard). While the resulting tire on chainstay rub is not a major safety issue (although paint and rubber will be lost and you'll be slowing down from the braking nature of this rub) if this were a front wheel with a disk brake (on a more modern bike) the reaction force the disk brake creates can eject the axle from the drop out. Sure most forks these days have dropout tip retention tabs (called lawyer lips) and more and more disk brake forks have the dropout slot angle changed to one that resists this reaction force better but still those are your back up systems, not the primary reason why you don't crash. The last issue with these skewers is that the plastic cam loading surface can get gauged up and deformed (especially is the rider is too ignorant about not using the QR lever like a wing nut) with less than best use. So over time the skewers ability to provide a strong clamping ability decreases.

My comment about your not using disk brakes was an attempt to let you off that hook. Andy

boneshaker78

Thank you everyone. I’m an anxiety ridden guy who likes everything to be as right as possible. I appreciate all of the advice.

Bill Kapaun

I would verify it's the fork just to be sure.
100mm = 3-15/16" if you don't have a metric scale.
I think you mentioned budget build which, to me, says some parts may be sourced from places unknown.
It'd be a bit silly to discover the spacing on the hub is "undersize".


IF the hub is undersized, I would add equal spacers on each side to better match the fork.
One can't tell from your pics if you have an equal amount of spacers on each side of the cones.

In the end, you want the fork end flats bearing parallel" to the locknut flats.
Too much of an angle and you'll bend the axle slightly when clamping.

boneshaker78

The parts were sourced from a non-profit community cooperative bike shop in the Buffalo, NY area, so they are old, used and someone had hotrod put them together at some point. I had to sort through the parts that didn’t fit right and make things work in a proper manner. I’ll take another look at the hub, but it looked like all of the spacers and nuts were even on both sides. Thank you

2old

I have used that same fork intermittently for 15+ (probably more like 20) years on a rigid MTB (used as a spare bike for guests), without any problems, and consider Kinesis a well respected manufacturer of quality aluminum components. My fork has a dropout width of 100 mm, and I suspect that if yours is different, it was "cold set" somehow. I would be careful when adding spacers to the axle since you'll reduce the width of the axle ends that protrude into the dropouts. If the fork is only a couple of mm's too wide, it should be OK since FME, these are overbuilt (but inspect it frequently, especially the dropouts).

1989Pre 

If you're getting 110mm as your front spacing, then something is amiss, and you want the best opinion you can get. If someone tried to "re-space" this fork, then it is compromised. Talk to the manufacturer:
https://www.kinesis.com.tw/en/

79pmooney

boneshaker78, in your first photo, is the open QR forcing the fork in at all? Or is the fork relaxed? If that is its natural state, I would absolutely not sweat forcing the fork in with the QR (though I would drop calipers over the hub and check for 100mm).

I would not (ever) coldset an aluminum fork, simply because I have lived through one aluminum fork failure. I know first hand how aluminum can crack instantly into two pieces long after whatever event that triggered the crack. When you force those blades in enough to bend them, the highest force will be at the weld of the blades to the crown and steerer, Not a place where you ever want 2 pieces instead of one. And it will almost certainly happen while riding if it does. (Mine on a routine bunnyhop I'd done hundreds of times on three bikes.)

Now, I do not have an issue with spacing out the hub a little with spacers so it drops in easily with no additional opening of the QR nut. Yes, you want enough axle protruding that aligning the wheel is easy and certain but after that, it doesn't matter. A proper QR with hidden cam and steel skewer tightened correctly is all you need. I see that QR is on its way. And yes, that hub with additional spacers is a "botched" job, but - not breaking aluminum forks comes first! (Now an 'incident" like mine is now no big deal Every local hospital has a CT scanner. It took the hand of the Almighty to put me within 20 miles of the only available one in the country and in addition, have a dad who knew what they were and where it was.)

boneshaker78

Thanks for the reply. Yes, the fork is in a relaxed position in the photo. I’m not going to attempt to coldset an aluminum fork, I don’t like that idea myself. I fear getting injured from a nasty crack in the fork as well, that was the reason for my post in the first place. I’m just going to use the new skewer and leave the hub as it is. I’m going to switch the fork out down the road when I’m in a good financial position to do so and I determine whether or not I like the bike enough to invest in it some more. I have no plans of keeping this fork longterm, I don’t like the way aluminum rides, I’ve always been a chromoly guy. I have very little invested at the moment, but relying on disability means managing my finances very carefully.

boneshaker78

I agree, it would be the very best option to ensure my safety. Im sure they would tell me to ditch it because most manufacturers will always err on the side of caution if the safety of their consumers is involved. Thanks

2old

Primarily if the safety of their bottom line is involved because a lawsuit may occur.

Camilo

Is there 110mm front hub spacing that someone would have re-spaced for? And could it even be done on an aluminum fork? I If there is a 110 mm hub and IF it was repeatedly spread to cram the wheel in place, would it set that way?

I'm asking that because my initial thought was that it was an immaterial deviation from perfect.

I won't discourage the OP from whatever safety decision he makes, but it looks like something I'd just clamp down. But I'm not the expert on this.

1989Pre 

The wrong bearings in this hub could have dropped the o.l.d. to 96mm, and to boot, that hub body looks pretty short to me.

boneshaker78

I measured the hub last night and it was 100mm. I suppose it is possible the fork was manufactured to this wider tolerance, but it seems like a lot to me. After looking the fork over and sensing how robust it is, I’m going to clamp it and forget it. That being said, I was preliminarily shopping around for solid, affordable options to acquire a different fork. A used Tange Prestige TB fork caught my eye, I will probably try to source something similar when the time comes I can afford something.
https://aroundthecycle.com/products/...-quick-release

1989Pre 

Give Kinesis a call though, and find out if they ever made the Crosslight in 110mm spacing. For what it's worth, I recommend Kinesis aluminum forks. I run the Maxlight in summer on my mtb and the Road-D on one of my road bikes. Definitely throw a 2mm washer on each side before you tighten the quick-release.

boneshaker78

Okay, I’ll experiment with their customer service and see how responsive they are. I think I’ll try to send them an email and see what their response is for the good of the Bike Forums community at the very least.

boneshaker78

So before contacting their customer service I decided it would be best to give them accurate measurements of what is going on here. In the process of doing so I discovered that the fork spacing was about 101.15mm to 101.34mm. The hub spacing more accurately was 99.25mm at a slight angle due to the interference of the spokes, which leads me to believe it might be slightly less if completely straight on, perhaps closer to 99mm. It sounds like it is off by about 2mm all together, that’s not nearly as bad as it appeared or I was making it out to be in my mind. I think I’ll add two 1mm spacers to either side and it will fit much better. I feel much better about the whole thing once taking accurate measurements. I certainly don’t see the point in contacting Kinesis about the fork ends being about 1.5mm wider at the most.

The lesson for myself in this instance is that accurate measurements should always be taken prior to making any assumptions. I shouldn’t be so lazy next time and I should investigate what is really going on with the use of measuring devices. I’ve noticed that angles can play games with your mind when viewing certain things, optical illusions can occur when trying to sight if something is straight, or in this case, what the distance between something truly is.

Sorry to drag everyone down this investigative path due to my laziness and thanks for all of your help everyone. I appreciate the persistence of the community to see what was truly going on here, it led me to the conclusion that the fork hasn’t been as damaged as I once thought.

boneshaker78

Here is an image of the amount of axle left after spacing it out, which I hope and assume is enough for the fork ends to sit on. The other image is of the hub sitting between the fork ends after it has been spaced. Much better IMO! Thank you everyone.