I bought my SL tubed dream frame on ebay last week and it arrived today. It was packed with fork installed and turned backwards. The box took a hit and now I have a dream frame with a fork bent forwards. Not drastically bent, but kinked enough to raise ripples on the leading edges, more pronounced on the left side. I'm talking to the seller now about returning it but would like to know my getting it fixed options, I really do not know where to start and could use some guidance.

I'm intentionally short on details until I get this sorted out with the seller.

I'm located in Baltimore/Washington area.

kinked is trashed. You can have the fork blades replaced, but that is rarely done

I would get a hold of the seller and see if you can get him to replace your fork. If you can, take pictures of the box. Is it a steel fork? because they are repairable, unlike aluminum and carbon.

good luck.

Mike Frye AKA Frye Bikes

Don; I see that no one has replied with the obvious yet so here it is: You state that the box took a hit. This means it was "damaged" during transit. Be sure to take pictures of everything (if possible, avoid removing the contents from the shipping box). Thus the only first step is to contact the shipping company and alert them of the damage to the box and contents (you should have noted it upon delivery...but sometimes one ends up with a drive-by delivery when no one is home). The shipper will send out someone to look at the box and contents. After that they will advise you of their process for making a claim for the damage. It is always a bit of a P-I-T-A, but basically they will make it right up to the limits of coverage. In the end, getting a fork replaced doesn't sound too extreme compared to some of the fixes I have went through over the years. I would be concerned the the main frame was also damaged, so recommend getting someone to examine it closely during your process to get estimates, etc.

Hope all turns out well.

/K