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Aligning the Forks

2021-04-05T22:36

I stripped down the Hartley to straighten the forks and I was a little shocked to see how bent they were.

How they came

I drew inspiration from this¹ video to measure how out of alignment the forks were. The shape of the forks didn't allow me to follow their process exactly, but placing the straight edge over the tube worked just as well.

To straighten the fork blades, I bored a 1" hole in a 4" post. With the post in my vice I could pull the fork blades in any direction I needed to get them straight. Bending them left or right was achievable by hand. One blade required bending forward which I did with a sash clamp. One end was hooked over the fork blade and the other, over the end of my bench.

It took a little while and there was a lot of back and forth between adjusting and measuring, but I think I've now got them straight. One of the blade was easier to adjust than the other, so hopefully it's not too compromised. Were it to fail, I'm sure that it will bend first so I'll keep an eye on it. I think that it's now adjusted correctly, but the only way to be sure is to check that the bike rides straight.

After some adjusting

Preparing to pull a fork blade forward

With the wheel

Where the wheel now sits

¹ Make A DIY Fork Alignment Gauge - Cheap & Easy!

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