Possible twisted Dropouts/fork legs slightly twisted advice.

KevUK

Hey guys, dont usually post in here unless im really stuck and im really stuck this time.

Im leading to believe my forks or the dropouts on the forks are slightly bent or something, as when you stick the wheel in its naturally off centre, take wheel out and flip it, and its still in the same place, So thats dishing out of the question. None of my LBS have any tool to measure the forks if they are bent (park tools has one i think) so again thats screwed.

Now is it possible to do this at home? if so how would i go about doing it and not buggering it up all together.
Forks in question are 2010 Revelation Races - Dual Air QR std dropout. Bought second hand and i cant find the original invoice that the original person gave me so im not sure what to do.

nicklouse

TBH if the drop outs are bent then it is new lowers time.
can you get pics?
wheel fitted. and the drop outs.

KevUK

I can try and get pics of the issue yes, but im not sure if it will show up as well as it should. New lowers are out of the question i think, they are stupidly priced considering i only payed 275 for these. But ill try and get some pics of the dropouts and the wheel sitting in them un tightened and then tightened.

nicklouse

if new dropout are out then you had better be looking on eBay for some used ones as you will not be bending the cast drop-out back.

Important Alignment Note: There are some bicycle dropout designs that do not allow correction by bending, or cold-setting. Extremely extrememly thick dropouts typically cannot be bent. Other examples include most suspension forks, most titainium frames, and oversized dropouts for the 14mm "freestyle/bmx" axles

KevUK

Ok im not so sure anymore, but there is deffinatly a problem with the drop outs, possibly worn out or something but ill leave that to the experts to say.

As i was talking pictures i experimented, put the wheel in the forks, tighted up fairly tight, and spun the wheel in the correct direction and slammed the brakes on, now the caliper was centre to the disc, but after doing this it was no longer centre.
Now it didnt move the wheel up or down, but rather it slid forward or backwards in the dropout and undoing the QR it flicked back, and you can move the whole wheel in the dropout back and forth and twist it, suggesting that instead of bent forks, the wheel/axle is slipping in the dropouts, depending on direction braking force, and any jumps will reset it or make it worse. Also resetting the wheel multiple times resulted in the disc either being inline or out by a margin. Wall of text im sorry for, but im trying to describe it the best i can do. Anyway some quick and dirty pics of the dropouts below before daylight totally goes.


inside dropout

gtd.

What about trying changing to an old fashoned nutted axle, the kind of thing you find on BSOs instead of a QR.

Or stupid question but have you a spare front wheel you could try... might be knackered bearings/ cones need adjusting?

delta5

The dropouts look okay in the pics.

When the wheel is just resting in the dropouts with a loose QR skewer, it should be straight and evenly aligned. All the QR should do is clamp it in that exact position (assuming you are tightening the QR correctly).

Is the axle shifting when you tighten / loosen the QR, or just after riding and braking?
How far is the axle actually shifting?
Try it with a new (unused) QR skewer. Might also be worth taking out the axle to check its okay.

nicklouse

i would say you need to do the Qr up tighter.


maybe get some else to have a look as it is going to need hands on to sort it.

KevUK

Righto, ill pop to the LBS in the morning and see what they reckon, im inclined to agree and say its something to do with QR, but in saying so the QR looks ok and does tighten up pretty well, but it might not have enough grip, still has the knurling on them so i dunno, push comes to shove ill get some new QR skewers or have a look through the LBS spares bin and find some of the old shimano ones.

cavegiant

regrding bent lowers,

I use a Manitou Dorado, and due to the legs being completely seperate from the crowns (bolted on), they are often not straight, and move a bit in a ride.

You riding will naturally compensate for the twist.

So do not worry about less bike control,

If you think one is about to snap off, that is a different matter.

ride_whenever

What hub? You might be able to tap a thread into the QR hole and bodge a bolted setup just to see if that solves it. Failing that there might be someone on here who can loan you one to try, if they're local.

I'd imagine a combination of knurling gone on the qr and the hub, try and beg/borrow/steal a proper enclosed cam shimano skewer.