Finally seen one out in the wild..

[HovR]

I've seen it in supermarket commercials, and sales picture - But today I saw one "out in the wild".

A bike with the forks on backwards! It seemed fitting that this bike was parked up in the Asda cycle park (was popping in to get a drink and snack), a store which is fairly well known for its "backwards forked" bike commercials.

You'd have thought they'd have noticed that something was wrong when they had to actually cut a slot in the brake noodle to allow the cable to run properly!

(poor quality phone image)

With this becoming quite a theme in supermarket bikes, you'd have thought that the manufacturers would have made it 100% clear in the instructions which way around the forks are supposed to go!

 

[slowmotion]

Oh my word, what a magnificent specimen!

 

[MrJamie]

And its one of the dunlop full suspension bikes too http://www.sportsdirect.com/dunlop-special-edition-26-inch-939057 They sometimes drop as low as 50-60quid

Saw a woman outside Tesco getting on her bike with her suspension forks on backwards last week, should have told her but didnt think what to say quick enough and wouldnt have been confident trying to fix it there and then.

 

[HovR]

And its one of the dunlop full suspension bikes too http://www.sportsdirect.com/dunlop-special-edition-26-inch-939057 They sometimes drop as low as 50-60quid

Saw a woman outside Tesco getting on her bike with her suspension forks on backwards last week, should have told her but didnt think what to say quick enough and wouldnt have been confident trying to fix it there and then.

I think it's just wrong that they list the RRP of this bike as £169.99. I'm all for any bike that gets people out cycling, but no way is this bike worth that much. That price is 85% of the way towards something like the Carrera Subway!

I have to admit, if I'd seen the owner I wouldn't have been sure how to fix this either. It's an easy fix on a threadless headset, and one which I have all the tools for in my seat pack - But not quite sure I could do it on a threaded headset with limited tools.

I believe loosening the bolt on the top of the stem would allow the forks to turn independently from the bars, but I could be wrong there - And whether I'd have the right sized spanner is another question all together.

 

[MrJamie]

I think it's just wrong that they list the RRP of this bike as £169.99. I'm all for any bike that gets people out cycling, but no way is this bike worth that much. That price is 85% of the way towards something like the Carrera Subway!

I have to admit, if I'd seen the owner I wouldn't have been sure how to fix this either. It's an easy fix on a threadless headset, and one which I have all the tools for in my seat pack - But not quite sure I could do it on a threaded headset with limited tools.

I believe loosening the bolt on the top of the stem would allow the forks to turn independently from the bars, but I could be wrong there - And whether I'd have the right sized spanner is another question all together.

Id be more worried that youd either strip the screw thread on the bolt or that the whole thing would just fall apart and youd have broken there debatably functional bike. Its kinda impressive though if you strip down the components and try to work out how much of the £60 budget goes on each part its suprising it works at all. My saddlebag cost more than one of those bikes :O

I dont think anyone believes the Sports Direct offers do they? Everything in the shops reduced by about 80% all of the time! Its Halfords "discounts" that annoy me because people believe them, theres no way theyve ever sold any of their £150 bikes for £300+ at the RRP.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Because of the risk, if you come across the owner, you'd be better off sending them back to the clowns who sold it.

Meanwhile, though, with forks of that kind, what mishap is likely to happen? I can't actually think why the front brakes should have to be in front of the forks - the rear brakes work quite happily behind the seat stay with very similar (if not identical) fixings to the front.

 

[Andy_R]

Because of the risk, if you come across the owner, you'd be better off sending them back to the clowns who sold it.

Meanwhile, though, with forks of that kind, what mishap is likely to happen? I can't actually think why the front brakes should have to be in front of the forks - the rear brakes work quite happily behind the seat stay with very similar (if not identical) fixings to the front.

It's to do with the steering rake and the castoring effect. If the forks are on backwards, the steering will be twitchy and uncertain. Also the brake bosses will have been designed to take the load of the wheel rotating into them instead of out, so the force is transmitted into the fork. To fix them, all you need is an allen key. Loosen the bolt at the top of the quill stem, rotate forks, tighten up again. You dont need to touch the headset at all.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

It's to do with the steering rake and the castoring effect. If the forks are on backwards, the steering will be twitchy and uncertain. Also the brake bosses will have been designed to take the load of the wheel rotating into them instead of out, so the force is transmitted into the fork. To fix them, all you need is an allen key. Loosen the bolt at the top of the quill stem, rotate forks, tighten up again. You dont need to touch the headset at all.

Thanks for that, Andy. Not that I fully understand it, but that's down to my lack of mechanical know-how.

 

[Andy_R]

Good explanation of "Trail" here

 

[MattHB]

That's completely bonkers!

 

[biggs682]

i am sure a lot of people would not believe you if you told them , and you would more than likely get a load of abuse for your trouble

 

[numbnuts]

Pace Forks look like they are fitted back to front, but there not, I have them on my MTB, in the photo the V-brakes fixings are to the rear

 

[HovR]

i am sure a lot of people would not believe you if you told them , and you would more than likely get a load of abuse for your trouble

I've seen a thread on here with this exact situation.. Someone told another bike owner that their forks were backwards, and they got a load of abuse for it! It did go through my mind had the owner returned.

numbnuts, whilst some forks may be designed to have the brakes on the rear of the fork - These certainly are not! The cable routing is evidence to this.

 

[TheDoctor]

I've seen those bikes outside Sports Direct, and I suspect it doesn't actually matter which way round the forks are.
It's still like riding a particularly shitty anvil.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

I have a y - shaped monstrosity like that mentioned above which I bought stupidly cheap a few years ago now. It is no surprise that it quickly became known as 'Squeaky Bike'