motobecane jubile sport forks, circa 1985
 

I am in need of a good set of forks for a circa 1985 Motobecane Jubile Sport. The forks that I have are bent and no one wants to work on them because of liability. or they tried and still can't get them straightened. They are French threaded 1" fork with 8" or 200 mm . any help I can get on where to obtain a replacement would be appreciated. I am not a bike expert so remember that as you answer.

thanks

If you're at all mechanically inclined, you could try straightening them yourself. The idea is to exactly reverse the forces that got them bent. You have to improvise with tools you have at hand, but a press or hydraulic jack can do the job. You need to clamp the steerer tube right above the fork crown, mimicking the support of the crown bearing, and apply force directly to the dropouts. Try with moderate force, check for reduction of the bend, and, iteratively, apply gradually increasing force until it is straight.

Let's have a picture. Maybe what the shop really means is "even if straightened they won't be safe to ride".

With a French bike the best bet may be to find a similar vintage Moto donor bike and salvage the fork just be sure the frame is the same size or you will have issues with the length of the steerer tube and threading (ask me how I know) The other choice would be to hang out on French ebay and hope for a fork only but again measure the steerer tube and length of threading carefully. I wouldn't be fussy about color as paint is much easier to fix than finding the correct length for steerer tube threading and the whole French thing.