I think my fork is backwards
 

Is it?

I bought the fork used, and have been using it for about a year now. I never really thought about how it comes backs, until someone pointed it out. Normally forks come out towards the front of the bike right?

It's a 2002 Marzocchi Bomber Fork (29er, Air)

http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/7416/img0009i.jpg

If it is backwards I think I could fix it. Just take apart the fork and the top part of the fork around.

Yes, the whole upper is backwards. Crown offset is supposed to the front. That is a cruel joke to reassemble a fork backward.

ha!!!

Ha ha ha. :D
Hey - it's working, right?

Wonder how that feels.

Well, it looks like it puts the steering axis just about in line with the hub center, so that would increase the trail. Exaggerated that much, probably slows the steering down to almost weird. It should also exaggerate 'wheel flop.'

Refernce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_(bicycles)

Haha okay... I bought it from some guy who use to work at a LBS and rebuild forks. I'll flip it this Friday when I go biking and see how it feels. I can't believe I've put so many hours on a backwards fork.

Not seeing it...............

the silver part

Am i missing something, or does only the upper need turned around? The lower looks right to me. If you flip the whole thing, the axle seems like it would be too far back.

^^ No, you aren't missing anything. He is going to have to disasseble the fork and reassemble it correctly to fix the problem. I think he ought to make the bozo who put it back together wrong in the first place do it.

Unless someone did it on purpose to mess with the front end handling with the 29er wheel.

But yeah, that's an easy fix.

The fork does appear to have the cryo-fit crown/stanchion joint, so as dminor said, the lowers will have to be disassembled to remedy.

lol @ riding it that way for a year. Your riding buddies either aren't very knowledgeable or aren't very nice.

Haha maybe. It didn't seem to slow me down or anything, but then again I won't know how much of a difference it will make until I flip it tomorrow. But yeah you can disassemble the upper and lower parts of the fork and swap it around.... That may have been why the manual was so confusing when it was referring to which side you pump the fork up.

The only time I did notice the handling weird was when I was trying out a 26" then went back to my 29er. The front wheel just seem to stick or the handling was really weird or something... I assumed it was the difference between wheel sizes.

I'll let you guys know tomorrow how it goes on the trail.

Could be a good innovation.

lucky it didnt crunch in towards the frame, dangerous! is that possible? must be! at least in this case?..edsfgshtrtwg

i had that exact bike with the exact shocks (forward)

What a coincidence!


Anyways, I got the fork fixed. Seems to be working fine now, steering doesn't seem as fast, but the bike seems more balanced? Could just be all in my head.

Oh and I feel like an idiot. I was looking at a photo of my bike last year... The fork was in the correct position. I had incorrectly installed it when I re-oiled the fork. Luckily I only rode it like that 3 or 4 times on the trail.

Yeah, that would be the difference. Nice "mod" anyhow. ;)