Re: I've bent my forks, haven't I?

[Mark Hickey]

"Westie" > wrote:

>Just a quick question to put me out of my misery; I've been looking at my
>Manitou Skareb Comp forks today. The wheel should be centred in the fork,
>shouldn't it? I'm looking at mine and the tyre and rim are not centred and
>it gets worse when I put my weight on it. Looking at it from a riding
>position, the top of the wheel moves to the left when I put my weight on it
>and the knobbies on the tyre are almost rubbing the (Manitou reverse) arch.
>There's only a 1/4" clearance on that side versus the 3/4" on the righthand
>side. And none when I hit any half decent bump - the tyre rubs against the
>arch. The quick release is mounted and tightened correctly.
>And while the wheel isn't 100% true (it's got maybe a couple of mm wobble),
>it does appear to be dished OK. The disc rotor is not rubbing on the pads.

I would suggest NOT riding that fork any more. There aren't many
things on modern forks that can bend without being nearly ready to
break (since they're all made out of "brittle" materials like aluminum
or magnesium instead of steel or ti).

Even if a catastrophic failure isn't in the cards, if the fork is
flexing enough to cause tire-to-fork interference, what happens when
you're really flying and land a big jump, and the front tire grabs
enough fork to send you over the bars? Not a good thing.

Life is too short to ride a broken fork (especially if you do).

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

[Westie]

"Westie" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Mark Hickey" > wrote in message
> ...
> > "Westie" > wrote:
> >
> > >Just a quick question to put me out of my misery; I've been looking at
my
> > >Manitou Skareb Comp forks today. The wheel should be centred in the
> fork,
> > >shouldn't it? I'm looking at mine and the tyre and rim are not centred
> and
> > >it gets worse when I put my weight on it. Looking at it from a riding
> > >position, the top of the wheel moves to the left when I put my weight
on
> it
> > >and the knobbies on the tyre are almost rubbing the (Manitou reverse)
> arch.
> > >There's only a 1/4" clearance on that side versus the 3/4" on the
> righthand
> > >side. And none when I hit any half decent bump - the tyre rubs against
> the
> > >arch. The quick release is mounted and tightened correctly.
> > >And while the wheel isn't 100% true (it's got maybe a couple of mm
> wobble),
> > >it does appear to be dished OK. The disc rotor is not rubbing on the

Phew! I feel a lot better today. Good thing that I didn't keep riding it...
Sent bike off to not-so Local Bike Shop. They've examined things. And
they've found a beautiful crack in the arch, hidden under a ziptie near the
seals. The mechanic reckons that I must have done the tie up too tight ;-)
It's a warranty job apparently. We're all happy.
--
Westie