"No wonder the bike feels wrong"

[cyberknight]

On a family walk around RosilistonForestry Centre and i spot a dad pushing a kids bike along and i notice the perrenial favourite in BSO assembly ...
The front forks are on the wrong way round

I say nothing to them untill they happen to stop at a bird viewing spot at the same time as we do so i ask them in passing if that bike belongs to them , once i have bridged the initial niceties i ask them if they realize that the forks are on back to front
"Are they ? no wonder the bike feels funny "
Much laughter ensues as his family take the piss at hime putting the bike together wrong.

At least i got my good deed in for the day .

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

During my time running the rickshaw rides in Shrewsbury's Quarry park it never ceased to amaze me how many bikes passed by with the forks fitted backwards.

I once decided to approach a family group and politely point out that all their forks were on back to front but I just got blank looks from them.

 

[biggs682]

how do people do this time after time , when normally there is a picture on the box

 

[Arch]

They don't look at the picture, silly!

Many people are incapable of reading or understanding instructions. Apparently.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

They don't look at the picture, silly!

Many people are incapable of reading or understanding instructions. Apparently.

Very true. You'd think the way the cables are all oddly twisted and their feet keep hitting the front wheel would give a bit of a clue though.

 

[TheDoctor]

To be fair, the owners of BSOs know bugger-all about bikes, or they wouldn't buy BSOs in the first place!
I bet the instructions you get with them are second only to IKEA in the pantheon of unhelpfulness.

 

[mickle]

To be fair, I've seen bikes on display in Tesco with the forks on backwards.

 

[TheDoctor]

And Asda, and Toys R Us, and Argos, and B&Q, and Halfords...

 

[mickle]

Innit.

 

[Night Train]

It's funny how car dealers never put the wheels, of a car, on inside out.

 

[TheDoctor]

Do cars arrive unassembled in a box, though?

 

[TheDoctor]

Innit.

Word, bruv.

 

[classic33]

Seen a Halfords trainee put the font wheel on the rear, the rear wheel on the front with the chain in place and then unable to work out why it would'nt turn properly.
The person "training" him was non the wiser.

 

[annedonnelly]

It's funny how car dealers never put the wheels, of a car, on inside out.

No, but when the Hillman Imp was launched with a rear engine some garage staff opened the rear cover, took off the oil cap and filled the engine with petrol.

They didn't realise that the petrol tank - and filler - is at the front.

 

[Norm]

The forces acting on the brakes are in the wrong direction, so there is possibility of material failure. The trail will be wrong, possibly with caster-issues if there is negative trail, which is very scary. There's also possibilities of material failure caused by messing with the rake, especially if mixed with cheap metals. There are more issues but any of those on their own would be enough to stop me from trying it.

This post now looks a bit random, as it's responding to one which has been deleted. The question I was answering was what issues reversing the forks might cause.