RT Metro

I have a 71 Super Sport that I lovingly rebuilt and modernized to a commute/tour/whatever beast of burden. Its older than me and with low/mid range parts (Alivio/Tiagra) its the best riding bike i have had and fit me very well. I'll post pics when I figure out how to work my camera. I have stripped it down, powdercoated, and put it back together keeping the frame, headset, kickstand, brakes, stem, fork, handle bar and seatpost as the original parts. I even built a 700c wheelset for it (my first one) and respaced the rear to accept 130mm Tiagra hub. It bothered me a bit that looking down the front fender doesn't line up with the tire but I figured it was the fender, and never really checked fork alignment. I took for granted that I had to spread the fork a bike to shove the front wheel. I rode like this since Summer and was my main commuter, even took it on dirt paths. Functionally it rides great, brakes well and is stable with different pannier configurations. I have a Delta front rack that I recently swapped out the U-bolts for the mid fork attachment to a Tubus clamp, that when I saw that the top of the front wheel is a little closer to the left leg when fully seated in the drop outs. I live in Sacramento, and close to a local frame builder Rex Cycles but my work schedule doesn't allow me to drop by there for another few weeks. Is it prudent to have my fork realigned or should I just buy a replacement fork, repowdercoated to match? I would love to keep the original fork but I am afraid that if I tweak it some more I might compromise the structure, and with me being a clydesdale with heavy commute loads, I need a strong frame. If replacement is warranted, what kind of measurements go I need to buy a suitable fork. I would like to perform the bulk of the work myself, giving the LBS work thats beyond my capabilities/equipment.

hueyhoolihan

if it was me, i would think that the front wheel rim is not centered on the hub. if true, it's fixable and doesn't necessitate a new fork. it's easy to make that mistake on a first wheel build.

to determine whether that is the problem or not, i might try remounting the front wheel with wheel reversed in the fork. and check for alignment again. if the hub is now closer to the other fork tine, your rim is not centered on the hub and needs to be adjusted.

RT Metro

I'll check that when I get home. But when I built the wheel, i used a truing stand and a dish guage so I did't think it was the problem. Hope not, cause it will deflate my ego. On the other hand that makes the fix a heck of a lot more cheaper.

FastJake

Ideally when mounting the front wheel it should be fully seated then tightened, but I've had several bikes that don't center the wheel doing that. I just tweak the wheel a bit then make sure the QR skewer is extra tight so it doesn't shift into the fully seated position which will put it out-of-center.

How bad is it? A competent LBS should be able to get a steel fork back into proper safe alignment without much trouble.

hueyhoolihan

if that's the case, it's probably not the wheel. it's just that it is rare to bend a fork laterally. usually the wheel will be destroyed before that happens and brake alignment problems would result.

RT Metro

I started riding it after I rebuilt it. It may have been tweeked prior to acquiring it from my coworker who has it in the rafters for decades or while in the powdercoat shop. I built it with the fender and front rack so I didn't notice the misalignment until I replaced the midfork clamp. Even though I kept the original weinmann centerpulls I used Nashbar cartridge pads with adjustable mounts so that hid the misalignment as well. I'm toying with the idea of getting a new frame altogether. But it just rides so nice better than my 85 Raleigh Team USA that turned out to be a tad too small. Its a heavy beast though even after swapping the boat anchor of a crankset and original wheels. The front/rear racks and fenders pushed it towards 38 lbs

cny-bikeman

If the fork is bent to one side you will either be unable to ride no-handed or have to make a decided lean to one side. If you have a repair stand that allows you to do so, turn the bike upside-down. If not, do so on the floor and have a friend help you to steady the bike. Sight along the bike from front to back and see if the wheels are parallel/in-line with each other. You can also sight along the side of the front wheel on each side toward the top and down tubes. By doing so you will be able to tell whether your frame is at least roughly in alignment. I would also look at the fork from the side to see if the centerline of the top part of the fork blades is in line with the head tube. A head on collision would push back the fork, and/or to one side, and may push one blade differently, resulting in mistracking.

p.s. There is almost no way that your fork could be bent in storage or in the paint shop - would take a significant impact to do so.

dedhed

Here's a couple of forking threads/links.

https://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...FrontForks.htm

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...fork+alignment

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...fork+alignment

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...fork+alignment

Anthropy

I have planet bike fenders on my '71 SS with no kickstand, 3 piece crank adaptor and North Road style handlebars. In single speed mode, it comes in at 29 pounds, but I am toying with a 1 x 8 (8 speed). Pastorbob has the nicest SS that I have seen. It is a real beauty.

Tom