Carbon fork shipping damage?

DaveB said:

I shipped my son's road bike to him at UCLA. I neglected to install a
fork block (?) in the fork. He says that he now has to pound his hand
on the top of the tire to get the wheel to drop out of the fork, even
though the quick release was loosened. Does this mean the carbon fork
was damaged in transit?

Not necessarily. It could just be that, possibly by using a tighter quick
release, the fork end is "embossed" with the pattern of the washers on the
end of the front axle, and need to be knocked out of the grooves.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | I believe that the motion picture is destined to revolutionize
_`\(,_ | our educational system and that in a few years it will supplant
(_)/ (_) | largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks -- Thomas
Edison, 1922

David L. Johnson said:

DaveB said:

I shipped my son's road bike to him at UCLA. I neglected to install
a fork block (?) in the fork. He says that he now has to pound his
hand on the top of the tire to get the wheel to drop out of the
fork, even though the quick release was loosened. Does this mean
the carbon fork was damaged in transit?

Not necessarily. It could just be that, possibly by using a tighter
quick release, the fork end is "embossed" with the pattern of the
washers on the end of the front axle, and need to be knocked out of
the grooves.

Not likely. Loosening a quick-release should have the wheel come out with
minimum force if all the mating faces are parallel.

It sounds like a classic crushed/closed down dropout opening to me. I'd
look for cracks in the paint and then be concerned if I found anything.
--
Phil Lee, Squid

Quoted message said:

I shipped my son's road bike to him at UCLA. I neglected to install a
fork block (?) in the fork. He says that he now has to pound his hand
on the top of the tire to get the wheel to drop out of the fork, even
though the quick release was loosened. Does this mean the carbon fork
was damaged in transit? How to tell? Thanks.

At first I thought you were talking about it getting hung up at the brake,
but maybe you're talking about the fork dropouts. That wouldn't be a good
thing; it's an indication that the fork took a fairly substantial impact
during shipping. Could be that all that happened is the aluminum dropout
closed up a bit, but even that can be a serious issue.

Of course, it shouldn't have been easy for him to install the wheel either.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

"DaveB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I shipped my son's road bike to him at UCLA. I neglected to install a
fork block (?) in the fork. He says that he now has to pound his hand
on the top of the tire to get the wheel to drop out of the fork, even
though the quick release was loosened. Does this mean the carbon fork
was damaged in transit? How to tell? Thanks.

Dave Beal
Longmont, Colorado

DaveB said:

I shipped my son's road bike to him at UCLA. I neglected to install a
fork block (?) in the fork. He says that he now has to pound his hand
on the top of the tire to get the wheel to drop out of the fork, even
though the quick release was loosened. Does this mean the carbon fork
was damaged in transit? How to tell? Thanks.

Has one of the locknuts on the axle loosened and backed out a little?

Is he having trouble installing the wheel or just getting it out?

Vestigial lawyer lips?

Ron

DaveB said:

I shipped my son's road bike to him at UCLA. I neglected to install a
fork block (?) in the fork. He says that he now has to pound his hand
on the top of the tire to get the wheel to drop out of the fork, even
though the quick release was loosened. Does this mean the carbon fork
was damaged in transit? How to tell? Thanks.

Dave Beal
Longmont, Colorado

Have a bike shop with some 'H' tools check the frok dropout alignment
and spacing. Not a whole bunch he can do if the fork is tweaked, but
you can align aluminum dropouts a wee bit, even on carbon.

DaveB said:

I shipped my son's road bike to him at UCLA. I neglected to install a
fork block (?) in the fork. He says that he now has to pound his hand
on the top of the tire to get the wheel to drop out of the fork, even
though the quick release was loosened. Does this mean the carbon fork
was damaged in transit? How to tell? Thanks.

Dave Beal
Longmont, Colorado

Hi, I'm Alex Beal, Dave Beal's son. I got a chance to inspect my bike
today, and it looks like the gap in the front left dropout is smaller
than the gap in the right dropout (crushed dropout, as a few of you
mentioned). I took a few pictures so you guys could see for yourselves.
Warning: High res pictures ahead.

Right (undamaged):
http://img176.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0343kq5.jpg
Left (damaged):
http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0337fr3.jpg

As you can see, in the first picture the axle has no problem fitting
into the gap, but in the second picture the axle gets stuck before it
can slide all the way in. How serious do you think this problem is?
Should I bring it to a shop before I ride it again?

Thanks,
Alex B

Alex B said:

DaveB said:

I shipped my son's road bike to him at UCLA. I neglected to install a
fork block (?) in the fork. He says that he now has to pound his hand
on the top of the tire to get the wheel to drop out of the fork, even
though the quick release was loosened. Does this mean the carbon fork
was damaged in transit? How to tell? Thanks.

Dave Beal
Longmont, Colorado

Hi, I'm Alex Beal, Dave Beal's son. I got a chance to inspect my bike
today, and it looks like the gap in the front left dropout is smaller
than the gap in the right dropout (crushed dropout, as a few of you
mentioned). I took a few pictures so you guys could see for yourselves.
Warning: High res pictures ahead.

Right (undamaged):
http://img176.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0343kq5.jpg
Left (damaged):
http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0337fr3.jpg

As you can see, in the first picture the axle has no problem fitting
into the gap, but in the second picture the axle gets stuck before it
can slide all the way in. How serious do you think this problem is?
Should I bring it to a shop before I ride it again?

Frankly, it does not seem to be that big a deal to me. Of course, my
teeth don't depend on it, either. But what I would do is gently, very
gently, try to spread that tight dropout. I would then fuss around
looking for cracks, but I'd guess you would not find any.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a
_`\(,_ | conclusion. -- George Bernard Shaw
(_)/ (_) |

DaveB said:

I shipped my son's road bike to him at UCLA. I neglected to install a
fork block (?) in the fork. He says that he now has to pound his hand
on the top of the tire to get the wheel to drop out of the fork, even
though the quick release was loosened. Does this mean the carbon fork
was damaged in transit? How to tell? Thanks.

Dave Beal
Longmont, Colorado

David, David with a Moots tourer and Trek 520, David Beal??