Bent ? or Not ?
 

Spotted this on a local auction site ,
I know what I think . seller says " It's special design for the forks and not damage.'':wtf:


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9ab88981b7.jpg

Does the front wheel match the rear wheel. If a different wheel, might indicate a replacement wheel due to a front end collision that killed the wheel and bent the fork. Cause that fork looks bent to me.

Bent. And the paint is falling off where the metal stretched as it bent.

I bet it was on a roof rack when the sleepy driver drove into his garage. To me it looks like the top of the door hit where the paint is missing. That fork is aluminum so it won't bend back as nicely as steel will bend.

Maybe the seller is willing to pay your future oral maxillofacial and plastic surgeons.
Phil

While it may be lens distortion, it looks as if the top tube is bent around the cable insertion. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot indeed.

It's a used bike, anyway. When in doubt, pass.

You seem to be doubting. Used bikes are a dime a dozen.

Is that how the fork looks in the catalog picture?

It is the Pinarello fork before Pinarello conceived the idea.

Custom by Crash

Yes I was doubting , but seller was adamant about its specialness !
Cheers

That seller has some nerve!

Or maybe he hit his head when he bent those forks ! :rolleyes:

Pads are bottomed out and also ready to burn a hole in the tire.

Could be an honest mistake but doubling down isn't a good look.

Ouch! I hurt just looking at that.

Especially bent.

Looks like a Vitus 787 Futural, downmarket cousin of the 979. Quite a few, relatively speaking, were officially imported into New Zealand in the late 80s and perhaps early 90s. Not a single one had anything other than a forward-raked fork when new…

They’re out there.

The fork is definitely bent. As another forum member indicated, the cracked and released paint indicates where the bend is. The owner might, for whatever reason, believe the fork to not be bent but he or she is wrong. Many times, over the years, I have been unlucky enough to run across bikes with bent frames or forks. The cracked paint, though not always present, always indicates that damage has occurred, as can be easily seen on this old Bottecchia...
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d03aa37f7c.jpg

Cracked and flaking paint is not always present at a damage area but the damage is there, none the less. Can the damage be repaired? Of course it can. The question is, "is it worth it". In my mind, the damaged fork on the Legnano might not have been a deal breaker, but the damage, coupled with all the rust, meant time to pass but I bought the bike anyway...
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9527bb524a.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0fd92c5155.jpg

Why buy such a damaged bike - you can't have too many Legnano headbadges, or Universal 61 brake sets... You get the idea...
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5bef35bce8.jpg

And if you follow the straight line of the shifter cable near the shifters, you can see the bend in the downtube. Maybe a good donor bike.

Sure looks bent to me. If it weren’t for the Vitus tubing, steel(?) sticker on the frame I’d say pass. But I’d be interested in trying to get a deal on it if the frame looks OK just because I’d like to try a nice steel Vitus frame.

someone I think a roof rack collision would force the blades forward no?

For once, I'm going to disagree with Doug. That looks like straight on "hit something while riding" damage. Paint failure at the bend is very common. Some finishes are more flexible than others, and this fork took a good whack. It is also not at all unusual for the fork and/or frame to bend, but the front wheel to come through things just fine. Strength in steel is a bit like static vs sliding friction, in that once something starts moving, the resistance to that movement goes down. The bending starts where the structure is the weakest, and once it does the load everywhere else goes down, potentially staying below the point of failure.

In other words, the guy rode into something. Also, Hetchins may have built frames with curly forks, but I'll be glad to apologize to the seller if he can show me a catalog photo of this model with a bent fork. Otherwise, he's either willing to make up "facts" to push damaged product, or he's a bald-faced liar.

When I read the title, I thought it might be about those forks that were built with the steerer tube aligned with the front blade edge (some Peugeots?). That could make the fork look like it's bent when it's actually straight. But this one is so evidently bent that it shouldn't even be discussed IMO.

The stocker on the side of the fork blade says aluminum. The sticker on the down tube near the shifters looks like the same sticker? So does that mean the frame is aluminum too? I'm not very familiar with many production bicycles and certainly not this one.

To me, it’s fascinating that this question even needed to be asked.

I’m 100% certain the fork is bent. I’m almost as certain the frame is an aluminium Vitus 787 Futural. Let’s say 99.75%. It’s not steel. Neither fork nor frame.

The small raised sections on the fork crown and under the top end of the down tube are characteristic of Futurals. As is the painted finish, which was factory production for many of these frames.

Edit - found the listing. It’s a wrecked 787 Futural.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6a532c8296.png

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c215c784e2.png

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...65d6a3a401.png

Nothing says stolen like a high-end bike with a nearly bottomed-out saddle. And a bent fork and frame.

You can report fraudulent listings.