Dual Fork Ends? Is that a thing?
 

Ross Gran Tour ii

http://i50.tinypic.com/288xg87.jpg

Mayhaps for using either 27in wheel or 700c wheel?

I've seen some GT mountain bikes with adjustable fork ends, but they open at the end, not in the middle like the one you pictured.

It was Ross's response to Schwinn's "lawyer lips", patent 1979.

I think it has something to do with legal issues

dang,
I saw a bike with skewers and some legal brackets to make sure the skewers were useless!

so happy to be away from the world of Lawyer/Doctor/Insurance/Sue-me B.S.

A-ha! Lawyer lips, that makes sense. So what do I do? The original wheelset is long gone. QR Skewer seems to be clamped in perfectly fine on the top. Is there extra hardware I should be using or do I just make sure there's proper tension on the skewer when closing? I cant see how it would be any less safe than a normal fork-end without any extra hardware.

You ain't kidding - I've been seriously considering enjoying my retirement outside the US for exactly those reasons - plus a couple more :)

DD

I would just roll your eyes and ignore the bottom part. But I'm not your lawyer.

Marketing. Did not Bridgestone do this at one time?

I remember seeing a fork on Prolly a while back with two separate dropouts, one facing down (mad barspinz bro) and one on the front. Having trouble finding it right now.

There is no extra hardware. You should tighten the QR as usual at the TOP of the dropout, but if you forget, the hooks at that bottom are there to catch it. The opening faces forward because as long as your moving it ought to keep the QR biased towards the rear. It does not require a special hub/wheel set with the odd cones and brackets, so in that regard at least, it is a better design than Schwinn's. (My Ross Aristocrat (below) has the exact same DO's and I am running a set of wheels off an old Cannondale.)

I don't recommend you test it by forgetting to tighten your QR however!

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...979/Ross_8.jpg

Idiot-proofing things merely produces a breed of more-determined idiots bound and determined to kill themselves anyhow.

I swear, the flies and mosquitoes are getting faster.

True. But it's "job creation"...for lawyers, mainly, but a few engineers got a few bucks.
Nothing terribly bad about this "safety" fork end except for how ugly it looks: works about as well as the "lawyer nubs" that became the industry standard...less complicated than the Schwinn engineer's (equally ugly) solution.

Not as nice as Auchencrow's but here's a pic of the finished product. For the sake of completeness.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7256/7...02a1e3_b_d.jpg

good bike. Lawyer lips, that makes sense . haha ;) http://www.okhealthy.com/image/56.jpg

We didnt have it long, we sold it today. Too bad, it was smooth as silk with an updated 7 speed ramped freewheel and a new chain...and it was my size!