Straightening forks

[Oldschool rider]

I have just done a show bike, and have had a frame and forks re-chromed. Its a long story but my original forks i had chromed have been stolen, and i had a spare set, which have now been re-chromed.

I didnt know until i built the bike up yesterday, but the spare set i have are slightly bent  They are bending slightly forward, so not in line with the headtube.

i had heard that if you ram your bike into a wall, this will straighten them out. Obviously i will take them out and put them into an old bike, but will this method really work?? has anyone tried it??

I have seen forks which have been bent backwards, and i have heard that people have turned the handlebars around and rammed a a wall to straighten them.

Any advice would be great.

Cheers OSR

[Waxintaxin]

pics , lets see if they are acyually bent, diff forks diff angles

[Oldschool rider]

pics , lets see if they are acyually bent, diff forks diff angles

I'll get some up later Rich. I have 3 other bikes the same and although i havent lined them up all together, i'm sure these are more slanting forward.

Cheers J

[Bigplinky]

Julian

Your better off finding somebody with a bearing press and doing it properly (make a solid bar to fit down the steerer tube to stop it kinking and bolt a old front hub in so both legs move at the same time). Failing that you can do them one leg at a time in a vice with a length of bar (2m +) over the leg just put wood between the bar and the fork to stop it marking the fork.

Cheers

Andy

[jT Racing]

make sure you're not fooking up the rake first though eh.

[Oldschool rider]

Julian

Your better off finding somebody with a bearing press and doing it properly (make a solid bar to fit down the steerer tube to stop it kinking and bolt a old front hub in so both legs move at the same time). Failing that you can do them one leg at a time in a vice with a length of bar (2m +) over the leg just put wood between the bar and the fork to stop it marking the fork.

Cheers

Andy

Thanks Andy, if i Ram them, do you think it would work?? I dont know anyone with a bearing press.

Also, this is for Rich, i just compared them to a NOS set, and they are definately bent

[jT Racing]

get a photo up. bending is easy, but you need to know what you are doing. if you get a kink or a twist in them, you can file them under b(for bin). Are the legs bent on the steerer or is the steerer bent? makes a world of difference.

[Rombloke]

yeah a lot of old school bikes have a severe rake on the forks, so they may not be bent...get a pic up

dave

[Bigplinky]

I've used both the bearing press method and big bar method and it takes a lot of force to bend a good set of forks so I don't think just riding into a wall would work (maybe on burner forks  ). I would try the big bar method as it's controllable and you'll get them back to were you want without over stressing them.

The other thing is I've had a NOS set of Hutch forks next to a second hand set (both unbent as when you look straight down the leg there was no curve just straight tube) and the NOS set had significantly more rake. Also got two sets of Pro Star forks which are very different even though they are the same fork so maybe just production tolerance.

[Oldschool rider]

get a photo up. bending is easy, but you need to know what you are doing. if you get a kink or a twist in them, you can file them under b(for bin). Are the legs bent on the steerer or is the steerer bent? makes a world of difference.

They are bending more forward than the others from where the brake pads are on the front caliper. I've decided not to do the wall thing as i have had these re-chromed, and the chrome may crack. I'll get a pic up tomorrow 

[Oldschool rider]

yeah a lot of old school bikes have a severe rake on the forks, so they may not be bent...get a pic up

dave

Hi Dave, i have 3 other bikes with the same forks, and they all look straighter though.

[Oldschool rider]

I've used both the bearing press method and big bar method and it takes a lot of force to bend a good set of forks so I don't think just riding into a wall would work (maybe on burner forks  ). I would try the big bar method as it's controllable and you'll get them back to were you want without over stressing them.

The other thing is I've had a NOS set of Hutch forks next to a second hand set (both unbent as when you look straight down the leg there was no curve just straight tube) and the NOS set had significantly more rake. Also got two sets of Pro Star forks which are very different even though they are the same fork so maybe just production tolerance.

Funny you should say that as i noticed my NOS tange tx 1200's on my cromo mark one are quite raked forward, and they dont look as raked on some other bikes i got.

[Oldschool rider]

Thanks for all your help so far guys 

The annoying thing about it, is that i sent the frame and forks to London Chromers, and i got back the wrong forks- i got Haro ones back!! They had only chromed one other set of frame and forks for another guy in the last 6 months, who also has 2 cromo burner mark 2 bikes, same as  i sent them. He reckons he never had my forks, but hasnt sent back the ones they chromed for him to prove this. They still have his aero-pro frame though, as he sent it back to them as he wasnt happy with the finish.

So the forks which are on the bike now were a spare pair i had, which have obviously had a hard life, and they re-chromed them for me for free because mine are missing. These forks were made by tange, and are exclusive to the cromo burner mark 2. So its not as if i can just get a set.

Cheers J

[oberonspacefruit]

just go down there and punch him right in the face.