What's with this fork??
 

I recently paid 20 bucks to dip my toes in the world of road bikes. I enjoy fixing things and making old things work better, so a C&V road bike appealed to me. My body proportions (longer legs, shorter torso) make typical "men's frame" bikes a little tough for me -- if I get a good seat post length, the top tube length feels too long and I feel very bent over. If I get a good top tube length, the seat tube is pretty tall, and I have negative stand-over clearance. So I sought out some type of low-step frame (conventional women's or mixte) and this Schwinn women's frame showed up. Guy was asking $30 or best offer, and a crisp $20 bill bought it. It's a 1984 Giant-produced Schwinn World Sport, in a 19" low-step frame version.

I cannot figure out this fork. It seems straight vertically (neither fork blade runs off to the right or left), and the steerer tube seems straight. The crown seems straight and nothing on the fork indicates any damage. But the way the fork tines curve REARWARD is very strange to me. The lower fender tabs are to the rear of the fork ends, so I know this is how this fork is supposed to be. The problem is it pretty much closes any gap between the pedal and the tire when turned, and I have a ton of toe overlap. It's essentially unridable for me at this point, unless I'm very cognizant of it and always paying attention to my feet.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4524/...9964e9f5_k.jpgschwinn1 by jnjadcock, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4529/...58d15c15_k.jpgschwinn2 by jnjadcock, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4558/...6b32c857_k.jpgschwinn3 by jnjadcock, on Flickr

The catalog page for the 1984 World Sport doesn't really show (or describe) such a fork. The specifications page that includes the 1984 World Sport describes the fork only as "hi-tensile steel, sloping crown". The wheelbase is the same 40" for all frames in this line.

Why would they have such a fork on this bike? Is it to increase trail? To decrease wheelbase? In the long run, I think I'm going to look for another frame (possibly a true mixte), but I'm super curious about this fork and if anyone has ever seen one like it.

Is this a joke? That's very obviously bent.

Rare Schwinn "Canti-Flex" fork. Designed for both comfort and style.

The curve that is about 4-6 inches below the brakes should not be there. That section should be straight. Surprisingly, there doesn't appear to be any frame damage, but you should look carefully at the joints behind the head tube for any cracking in the paint. Also check the front wheel for flat spots.

If everything is copacetic (no cracks, etc) flip the fork around and ram it into a sturdy wall (with the tire in naturally...). Repeat until the sockets in the crown are inline with the fork legs roughly halfway down... Then repeat the check for cracks/damage.

It can be bent back less crudely with a tubing bender--most large bicycle shops should have one on hand, but you need a sturdy pipe vise to hold the steerer tube to apply the pressure.

All of that done at your own risk, of course.

^^^^^^
This.

Lower end bike with a bent fork. You paid too much. Strip parts and scrap the rest

That's a good example of the strength of old chromo steel Schwinns right there! :thumb::lol:

Not a joke. See below.

There is ABSOLUTELY no other evidence of damage, which is why I quickly dismissed the possibility that the fork was bent in a catastrophic event. The front tire and wheel spins pretty true. I re-trued the front wheel to take out a small bit of lateral runout, but there's no radial runout at all. I figured that if the fork and frame were involved in an event that bent it so severely, there would just have to be other evidence, such as an issue with the frame, paint damage or even just paint cracking/crazing on the fork where the bend happened.

I figured an event which would bend the fork like this would result in a more randomly deformed shape, rather than what appears to be a perfectly smooth curve.

I'll see about bending the fork blades back, but I'll probably just keep my eyes out for a mixte frame and swap the parts over.

Thanks, all.

those world sport frames actually make great city bikes. chromoly frame tubes and plenty of clearance for decent size tires if you go 700c. go to your local co-op, they will probably have a cheap fork that will fit. i now mine would.

Might make a good criterium bike, now that the wheelbase has been shortened an inch or two. I'm sure that front end is quite "responsive" now, but the small tire clearance up front may limit your choice of tire size a bit. :)

:lol:Yeah, bend it back, or replace the fork. Either way somebody will be riding around on that thing when [MENTION=114473]bikeforums[/MENTION] is just a vague memory of electrons floating through space!:lol:

But if you do part it out I call dibs on the dork disc:thumb:

I figure even the Suntour AR derailleur set is worth 20 bucks. I have the rear one off for degreasing and such, and have an old Shimano unit in its place just to try the bike for now. The Sugino No.5 40-52 crankset appears to be in excellent condition (also worth at least 20 bucks on eBay). And the chrome rat trap pedals are pretty cool to me. No, I'm going to keep all the parts, and will probably replace the fork if I can't bend it back. I've had the fork out of the bike and the steerer tube is, to my eyes, completely straight. You guys are obviously right that this fork suffered a large bend, but I'm still amazed that there's no collateral damage.

Though the spokes are a bit chalky/rusty in some places, all the nipples turn free and the brake tracks cleaned up nice with some 220-grit abrasive paper. I may have passed on the bike if it had chrome steel wheels, but I like these Araya alloy pieces. The 6-speed Suntour freewheel appears to be in great shape with no wear that I can measure or see. I threw on a KMC Z7 chain just to ride it around, and it seems to ride and shift great. It does have a bit of a weird feel with this fork situation, but I figured that at least half of the odd feel is just me not being used to drop bars.

I live in the country, and the nearest bike co-op is an hour and a half east of me in Alexandria, VA. I'm not in a hurry with this bike, and next time I'm in town, I may swing by to see if they have something. Otherwise, there are some nicks in the paint, but it's in pretty clean shape over all. And it seems to fit me okay so far. I have all of about $30 in it right now, including buying it. I'll continue to go slow with it, being sure not to get upside down in it financially. Without the bent fork, bikes like these sell for $150 in the DC area; I could put a new $50 fork and tires on it and still be on the plus side with it.

So true! These old Schwinns are burly steel beasts. My neighbor has one that's a little older, and she loves it. Pulled it out of a dumpster over a decade ago, stripped it, built it with random junk, and it keeps on rambling.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4443/...6c5e4846_c.jpg

That IS a weird bend.
I don’t think it looks quite like a regular fork that’s been bent in an impact
IMO a normally shaped fork would have the intentional forward bend further down.
This fork is straight where I’d expect to see that bend - or the remains of it.
Then there is the very obvious bend where I’d expect a fork to be straight.
I’ve seen some early/mid-80s team time trial bikes with reverse forks to allow the riders to slipstream better, but it’d be real odd to find such a fork on that bike.
So impact damage is the most likely thing anyhow.

In a head on collision, you can bend your fork or your frame or your wheel, and the other two might be perfectly intact. This happens commonly.

That's the Hetchins-Schwinn joint venture fork. Ended up flopping like an Edsel..

Doesn't need to be any. You only have to check two things.

1) is the fork a strange shape?
2) does the bike have really bizarre geometry with this fork fitted?

When both are true, your fork is bent. Nobody would build a bike like this on purpose.

There's probably only one CroMo tube in that frame, the seat tube. Fork is hi-ten. And, yes, it is bent.

If you decide to go shopping for a used fork, take the bent on with you. You will want to match up the length of the steerer tube pretty closely. Also check steerer I.D. and distance between ends (where the hub mounts).

The Schwinn catalog notes that the "main triangle" is cro-moly. In the case of a women's frame like this, I reckon that's the head tube, the seat tube, and both down tubes?

Yes, roger this. The steerer tube length is about 7.1" from the base of the crown race to the top of the threads, which is exactly 180mm. It's a standard 1" OD, 7/8" ID steerer tube. I think I have ID'd a used Fuji fork with the correct dimensions online. The steerer tube on that fork is 7-5/8" long, so an extra 15mm perhaps? I should be able to add a few spacers between the headset's cone nut and the top lock nut to account for this small difference, right? Other than that, all the other dimensions appear correct, and the dropout spacing should be 100mm I'd think (though it wouldn't hurt for me to ask).

My fork also uses the 27.0" JIS crown race standard, but I imagine that a Fuji fork from this era will as well.

In the event of a collision, the weakest part is what fails. In this case, it was the fork blades. They absorbed the impact energy and thus spared the frame itself from damage.

Straighten the fork as suggested, or replace it.

I have a (fillet-brazed) '74 Schwinn Super Sport frameset with the exact same type of "curly-blade" damage. I acquired it sans wheels, but it has no other apparent damage to the frame.

Looks like a Pinarello Dogma fork.

As pointed out above, not likely chrome moly steel, but yes, evidence of a strong, well built bike. The suggestion above of the fork being somewhat lesser quality is believable. But this is also another example of why I choose to ride only steel forks. This fork clearly not only did not break but it absorbed some real energy at impact, sparing the frame and likely the wheel. Perhaps also the rider. (We have no way of knowing if the wheel that came on the bike was involved in that crash but it could well have. I've done that - not quite as neatly - and had the wheel come out perfect.)

My experience - crashes often pan out better for the rider when the fork stays intact.

Ben