Fork alignment service?
 

My fork is very slightly "tweaked" and I'd like it to be realigned. The bike currently does not track straight when riding no handed. It's a 531 fork, full chrome under paint. Is there a recommended frame builder or forum member who can do this for a reasonable fee? What can I expect to pay?

I had plans to have the bike refinished by Allan Wanta, and his service includes realignment, but I think I'll wait another season before doing that.

If you dont find someone I'll do it for free, I have the appropriate tools and experience.

Are you 100% sure its the fork?

I think I have the same problem on a bike I brought back to life as a single speed. Riding straight, the top of the fork angles slightly to starboard. I was just going to replace it with a cheap eBay 1" threaded fork. What else besides a warped/misaligned fork would cause this?

Yes. This bike has never been super stable, but I love it dearly. I threw it in the stand at the shop one day to check the dropouts and...

http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/...A537241D6A.jpg

So I nervously adjusted them to this:

http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/...A556194705.jpg

and the bike started pulling violently to the right. With this bike being my "baby" I don't have the guts to yank and pull the blades to get it right.

Jim, free? Not even beer/coffee money? That doesn't seem right!

Any decent shop with a guy who remembers working on DT shifters should have the tools and knowledge to do the job. FTwelder just straightened a fork for me he was replacing the steerer on. Now to chrom or not to chrome....

Fork alignment service?
 

Not riding straight can be caused by any of a number of reversible bends in the frame and fork. I've found full frame alignments by local higher end shops to cost $75 or less and make a huge difference in how the bike rides. They need to have an alignment table - ask!

If you're going to strip down the frame anyway, get it done. It will put your bike at it's best.

Hi Jason,

Alex at A Train in Mpls.

He has done some fantastic work for me.

He is in the same building in Mpls. as Peacock Groove and Dominguez.

Right off the Greenway.

Pm me if you need more info.

No need for cash....just pay the shipping.

That's the best deal, right there.

Indeed, PM sent to miamijim. Thanks for the recommendation for A-train though, I have wanted to check out his shop.

Very cool place to visit.

There are multiple builders in the same building and there is an open floor plan.

I saw some mighty nice bikes when I picked up my frame.

Island Park Cycles over in Fargo ought to be able to do it. I was aligning entire frames there a million years ago. Hopefully they did not toss out all of their decent tolos when they built their new building 10 years ago or so.

Not "riding straight" is symptomatic of any of a multitude of problems, not limited
to frame and fork alignment. Wheel dish and centering come to mind as well as
headset play.

In the case of wheels, anything that causes the rims and tires to not track in
line and on center with the frame centerline will generally throw you off a little.

If your problem began when you straightened the fork drops to align them (?),
then if I had to guess, I'd guess that you yanked one of them farther outboard
from the centerline than the other one. But it's only a guess.

It's certainly possible to have a perfectly aligned fork, put it into a frame that
is either misaligned or has a tweak in the steering head and still have issues,
so you might want to get someone to look at the whole thing as a unit.

Anyone in the Chicago area that can be recommended for a similar problem?

I've got a Raleigh SuperCourse with a similar problem, when the crown and handlebars are lined up straight, the wheel is till tweaked to the right and checking the alignment showed me the same issue as in the photo above. What do I do?

Ron Boi, RRB Cycles, Kenilworth, Illinois.

Precisely, this is why I suggested a full frame alignment. Something as small as the head tube being out of plane with the seat tube can cause the front wheel and rear wheel to not track the same. I had an alignment on my Trek 610 done by Ron Boi in Kenilworth, Illinois, and it made a huge difference!

The 3D alignment is based on the steerer tube axis/ CL, and the fork crown plane..

but at least you have the tips parallel now.

maybe a way to stick a Laser pointer down the steerer tube to get a rough axis line.

In this particular instance the OP tweaked the ends so the tools were in alignment, looking at the pic the left leg was probably bent back. My tools will get it back in line.

I agree with MJ, the left leg is bent back or right leg forward. The axle no longer shares the same alignment as the crown and/or steerer tube.

I recieved Jason's fork last week and straightened it today. I'm going to divide my post into 3 parts, initial assessment, straighening and final results. If you look at the pic above, Jason's 'before' straightening you'll notice that the left leg is bent back in relation to the right.

So, is the left leg bent back of is the left end bent?

Tools: Var fork jig, dropout/fork end alignment tools, fork/stay straightener, vernier calipers, vice

http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps2ed77fe1.jpg


Assessment:

Fork is placed on flat surface with the shoulders of the crown resting on the surface. Some forks have a more pronounced center section of the crown where the brake bolt goes through thus preventing the crown from lying flat. If your fork is like that place a quarter or 2 under each shoulder.

Pics 2 and 3: Place a stack of pennies under each leg and slide them towads the crown until there's no gap. Notice that in pic 2 the pennies dont go up as far. The left leg is bent back.

Pic 2
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps85410b8d.jpg

Pic 3
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps64ed11f3.jpg


Pics 4 and 5 show height of ends from granite counter top. The number is irrelevant because the steerer isnt level, what's importent is the difference in height.

Pic 4
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...psc1dc249f.jpg

Pic 5
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps5b0912a1.jpg


Pics 6 and 7 show fork in jig. Fork is placed in jig, T bar rests on crown squaring up the crown, steereer is then clamped firmly in jig.

Pic 6
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...psa70ef023.jpg

Pic 7
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps4bbd9f79.jpg

Pics 8 and 9 show the end of jig extension. Cross bar on extension slide up and down. I double checked the cetering of the cross bar in pic 9

Pic 8
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps4c51dbbf.jpg

Pic 9
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps3a6dad7b.jpg

Pic 10, 11, 12 and 13 show how much the left leg is bent back in relation to the right leg. Pic 10 is up high by the Reynolds decal, pic 11 is just below the paint line, pics 12 and 13 are at the tip. Pic 14 shows initial end alignment.

Pic 10
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...psdf7b8422.jpg

Pic 11
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...psaf56a40d.jpg

Pic 12
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...psd5aedaba.jpg

Pic 13
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps786d7d6f.jpg

Pic 14
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...psa316702f.jpg

So my initial assessment is that the left is bent back and with the fork ends being aligned to compensate for the bend.

STRAIGHTENING
Pic 15 Because the left leg is bent back close to crown I'll place the fulcrum point of the straightening tool up high . Pic 16 I bend the leg until both tips hit the cross bar.

Pic 15
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...psdd27b056.jpg

Pic 16
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps9bd21eb8.jpg

Pic 17 After the tips are level with each other I use the dropout aighnment tool to make sure they're on the same plane. They're not.

Pic 17
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...psd42bebd7.jpg

At this point it's just a matter of going back and forth. I aligned the ends with the dropout tools then check their heights with the cross bar. Pic 18 Lastly I made sure the spacing was 100mm. It was a tick narrow.

Pic 18
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps27cdeeea.jpg

Final Results

Something is tweaked with the left fork end, either the legs have different curvatures or the left fork end is brazed out of alignment. Pic 18 shows that both ends are even. But, as soon as I slide the t-bar back the legs are NOT even (pic 19) and this continues all the way up the leg. If I aligned the legs the ends would have been off....a lot. The Var tool ultimately aligns the ends with the crown and steerer which is what you want. I think Jason will find his bike rides much differently than before

Pic 20: The cross bar on the extension simulates an axle, it easily slides into the fork ends like an axle, ends are equaly spaced from center of extension bar.

Pic 18
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps069c68df.jpg

Pic 19
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...psc50613ba.jpg

Pic 20
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps37f6ea89.jpg

Great thread! I'm learning an enormous amount! It's always good to learn at least one new thing per day! (I've learned at least a fortnight's worth of new things from this thread!) Thanks everyone!

:thumb:

- Wil

Wow. Great pics and write up Jim! I sincerely appreciate the effort in the work and the sharing of knowledge. I can't wait to get this bike back on the road and see how she rides.