I was cycling behind yesterday and thought it looked like the front wheel was to the left of the rear wheels track. Is there anything that can be done or is it a new fork? The forks are steel.
I'm not sure why I never test rode it but I went out on it today and immediately knew something was off… After eyeballing it for a while I think the fork is slightly bent to the left. It's not too noticeable when you're on the bars but as soon as you let go of the bars it veers to the right. I'm gutted because we're already at £205 after sending it to a bike shop to replace the freehub (it had a high resistance which was transfering torque when you stopped peddling) which the technician said had collapsed inside. The bike looked brand knew but I think I've bought somebody else's problems (for £160) 😂
by Mikes1992
8 Comments
Think this is a job for a local bike mechanic to help out, we’ll never be able to tell through a picture
I bet the fork isn’t bent. The most obvious thing is a front wheel not centered in fork correctly. Check that first. With a steel fork you could cold set it back to the centerline with a bit of force. You can do that with steel forks only.
I’d also guess it’s possible to change the bias in the bearings from left to right to alter the positioning of wheel front/rear tracking?
The fork does actually look bent. But it could also be the rear wheel. Make sure all the wheels are properly seated in the dropouts. If it’s not that, you’ll need a mechanic or a discerning eye and a tape measure to check. You can put a straight edge in the fork from the crown to the dropout and measure the height of the bend in the middle. And see if it’s the same both sides. But based on this pic I think it’ll be pretty obvious with the naked eye and a yardstick that it’s bent.
Is the handlebar/stem aligned with the front wheel? This could also create an imbalance and tracking problems.
I think it is 😓
https://preview.redd.it/zt89dlcz4mhf1.jpeg?width=3468&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6e4e95cc20763f8df2d68243a202ac80da4a6390
Run the wheels through a puddle on otherwise dry pavement to check for the track being out of line. Could just be a wheel not fully seated in the dropouts (often happens when refitting the wheels whilst the bike frame is suspended). These should always be checked with the tyres on the ground, open the QRs out slacken the wheelnuts, check the axle is in and retighten.
I find it odd how it’s an unused bike with a bent fork. Only thing I can think is that it was ordered online and was damaged in shipping. I had a trek FX 7.1 with a steel fork when I was a teen-young adult and rode that bike thousands of miles and even rode it into a fence at 20mph and the steel fork was fine. The story behind that- there was some sketchy looking people around so I accelerated and The council had fenced off a cycle route and I forgot about it, I saw it last second but it was too late to react. I plowed into it and me and the bike flew over the fence, the bike got a pinch flat and I broke my finger and landed on my head. The brake cables also got compressed and needed replacing. Other then that the bike was fine.