Originally Posted by 79pmooney

boneshaker78, in your first photo, is the open QR forcing the fork in at all? Or is the fork relaxed? If that is its natural state, I would absolutely not sweat forcing the fork in with the QR (though I would drop calipers over the hub and check for 100mm).

I would not (ever) coldset an aluminum fork, simply because I have lived through one aluminum fork failure. I know first hand how aluminum can crack instantly into two pieces long after whatever event that triggered the crack. When you force those blades in enough to bend them, the highest force will be at the weld of the blades to the crown and steerer, Not a place where you ever want 2 pieces instead of one. And it will almost certainly happen while riding if it does. (Mine on a routine bunnyhop I'd done hundreds of times on three bikes.)

Now, I do not have an issue with spacing out the hub a little with spacers so it drops in easily with no additional opening of the QR nut. Yes, you want enough axle protruding that aligning the wheel is easy and certain but after that, it doesn't matter. A proper QR with hidden cam and steel skewer tightened correctly is all you need. I see that QR is on its way. And yes, that hub with additional spacers is a "botched" job, but - not breaking aluminum forks comes first! (Now an 'incident" like mine is now no big deal Every local hospital has a CT scanner. It took the hand of the Almighty to put me within 20 miles of the only available one in the country and in addition, have a dad who knew what they were and where it was.)