Fork bent during shipping
 

My longtime-lust bike is a Schwinn Ontare (I'm a little odd in other ways, too :) ) I finally found one and had it shipped to me, only to discover the fork protruding, unprotected, from the bottom of the box when it arrived. Visually, the dropouts are a little scratched but when I measure, the spacing is about 14mm too narrow. Can the fork be re-set simply by forcing it outward again? I'm thinking threaded rod in place of an axle, washers and nuts inside the dropouts, turned to spread the forks back to 100mm nominal. If not, what's the best course of action?
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a642aff220.jpg
too narrow
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...dedc0922ff.jpg
Thanks, UPS.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...37db969a6c.jpg
Thanks, UPS.

IF you are going to straighten the fork, shouldn't you determine how far each leg is bent and correct them separately?
Looking at the box I'd bet it's the NDS.

Barry

It doesn’t look like a UPS problem, it looks like careless shipper problem.

I think a bit of both. It's apparent that the carton was on its side for at least part of the journey and possibly dropped on the end where the fork was packed. But there seemed to be precious little packing to keep the fork from coming through :(

I agree, just not sure how to go about doing this. I've reached out on a local (San Diego) FB group to see if there's a reputable local frame builder who might be able to do the work if I can't do it myself.

If you have a front wheel that you know to be true and dished on center, then you can use it as a reference to correctly straighten the fork one blade at a time.

Note that fork bends can be tricky, with not only side bends, but also such that one top is higher/lower or forward/behind the other.

The wheel is a reliable reference, but you'll still need a good eye and decent hand skills.

Try Adams Ave Bicycles in North Park. https://www.aabikes.net/ They may not do frame straightening but if they do they are one of the best repair/service shops in SD and know vintage stuff.

Joe Bell in Spring Valley https://joebell.net/Joe-Bell-bicycle...or-charts.html Mostly does high-end frame painting but doesn't always have a frame straightening guy available but may be able to recommend a place nearby.

Cyclesmiths in Ranchita https://cyclesmiths.net/index.html Frame restoration/repair and painting. A long drive but may be worth it.

Ye Olde Bicycle Shoppe near University and College Ave. Services - Ye Olde Bicycle Shoppe They also may not be able to do what you need but may recommend a place.

Is returning it for a refund or exchange out of the question?

For me, yes. The bike is a 1988 Schwinn Ontare - there aren't many out there. I've been looking for one for about three years. As long as the fork can be repaired, that's what I plan to do.

ask about a frame shop on the Frame Builders sub-Forum .... and Andy Gilmour is up the road in L.A. IIRC... he's one of the best for this sort of thing..

he usually hangs out on "STEEL IS REAL !!! - Classic Vintage Road Bikes" on FB... great bike builder, savior of crashed machines, and great guy, too. ;)

Yes. For that, you'll want a tool like the Park FT-4 or VAR -478 to check that things are centered.:
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7423b6415c.jpg

That's the kind of thing I was envisioning. I even toyed with the idea of making my own... but decided a pro would be a better choice.

If it were mine, I would take a guess which blade might be the problem (it could be both, but it is probably the left). Then I would put my foot above the crown and my right hand on the stem and my left on the fork blade just about the dropouts, and pull with my hands while pushing out with my leg. A lightly bent fork blade will have a tendency to follow the same path back that it bent in the first place since it was not connected to a hub. When you hit 100mm, put a wheel in and see how it looks.

Keep in mind that you are likely to have a slightly bent dropout as well, so be ready to use an alignment tool as well. You can make one out of an axle and cones/locknuts. Clamp into the dropout and aim the end at the center of the other dropount.

If that doesn't work, send it off.

Thanks to the idiot that packed it without protecting the dropouts with a spacer and also without doing something to keep the fork from poking through cardboard. Bike packaging 101. This is totally on the seller, not UPS. I'd ask the seller for reimbursement for repair.

^^^^ this

If you are interested in making your own alignment tool, here is a YouTube video showing how to make it and use of it, only a few dollars for the materials

You don't need anything as elaborate as a length of all thread. 😁 Remove the fork, lay it on the bench on a large sheet of paper, with the crown flat on the surface. Using a square transfer the position of the steerer top and bottom both sides, and the inside faces of the dropouts. Now you can draw a centre line through the steerer, and a line square to that where the axle should be and mark 50 mm from the centre on both sides: compare with your dropout marks. Clamp the steerer in a bench vice, pull the fork legs sideways to correct them - you can put the fork back on the drawing to check your progress. Once the width and centre is about right put the fork back on the bench with the crown flat, and the steerer supported parallel to the bench, and measure the rake on both dropouts - if it's wrong (either unequal or not to specification) repeat the leg bending, but this time fore and aft rather than sideways. Go back to check the lateral alignment, correct as needed, check rake, correct as needed ...

Bike was packed by a reputable LBS, not the seller. LBS claims the fork had a shipping spacer inserted along with padding, when it was packed. There was certainly plenty of padding elsewhere - all frame tubes foam wrapped, etc. The box was definitely beat up. Shop has been very responsive, so I'm hoping for a good resolution.

I just looked the Ontare up - what a cool bike! Fade paint, Sprint drivetrain, RGC brakes, medium profile welded and smoothed aluminum tubing.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b8db803081.png

It's very later 1980s in a good way, and the yellow pedals are the cherry on the cake. I hope the seatpost clamp isn't weird and prone to failure, and I don't think you'll get 28 mm tyres to fit.

your seller did a terrible packing job and owes you a partial refund

/markp

Based on what we can see and read, this fork is quite fixable. There's a very good chance only one blade has moved, but we can't assume that at this point. I'd want to pull the fork to do a best assessment before I'd write up a repair estimate. Back in the day we would align a fork a few times a season for one reason or another and having the VAR or Park aligning tool sure made it faster and more impressive to watch (a very important aspect to maintain when charging real $ for easy work:)). But with a true/dished wheel and some small creativity this stuff can be done by many at home with common tools. Here's a link to a many year old post I did that describe this method. Front wheel turns hard right. - Bike Forums post #6. Andy

Hope it works out - that's a great looking bike. I might have to start looking for one myself!

I don't know. I really don't know but ... 14mm and no other damage that I can see ... do all of ya's really think the og spacing of that fork was 100mm? I don't. I don't know what it should be, I've done a cursory search via the usual suspects but they are all obsessed with the rear hub old. I'm not spending any more time down the rabbit hole but the o.p. should. My limited experience with steel bicycles says something should have broken, with that much deviation from nominal and I personally would not have accepted the freight if it was so visibly damaged. But fixing that fork is going to require more than 'cold setting'.

Here is another approach that make a couple of assumptions.
1. the steerer is not bent
2 The crown is not bent relative to the steerer.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4009d51036.jpg


The grub screws and nuts determine the off set. so you need to adjust them with a straight edge using the QR as a reference point
This tool was made by a gentleman who makes his own frames, so the fork is "freshly" assembled.

I successfully used it to straighten the fork for the Trek 760. It is a unique fork in a couple of ways with the critical one being the off set of 83 mm, track fork like dimension.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ec04c3de76.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2b01fc7c34.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...173c480f22.jpg