After pointing a owner in the right direction today (pun intended) regarding the way his suspension forks werein his £90 bike, I got thinking - Does it really matter?
This bike had (albeit cheap) disc brakes. Cotic put the caliper on the front of their roadhog forks - and that works.
Regarding the brace - manitou put there's at the back. Plus these cheap forks are such lumps of metal - they're never going to go anywhere anyway - so whats the biggy?
I did the same the other day. Pointed it out, she was most grateful.
Especially as I whipped out my tool and did it for her right there and then.
You'll get into trouble whipping out your tool in front of ladies! 
it will muck up the offset and trail leading to funny steering geometry
Funny thing is my missus did this to her bike. I turned the bars sideways for loading into a car and when she straightened them she ended up with the fork backwards and the brake cable twisted right round
No, you're right it makes sod all difference. Most bikes that get assembled like that get ridden along the pavement to work, and occasionally down to Tesco. the hardest thing the fork ever does is drop off a pavement. Chuckle to yourself about it, let them get on with it
TJ - ok it'll bugger the steering, but structurally - f all.
might cause a bit of fun with the toe overlap when steering!
I saw a bike like this yesterday, thought it was a myth until then, rigid fork, maybe it's a new niche
Like this you mean? It can be fairly lethal, very twitchy steering but worst of all your foot will sooner or later rub the front wheel when turning. How can someone not know they are on the wrong way round?
TJ - ok it'll bugger the steering, but structurally - f all.
Yup, structurally probably sod all unless used in any anger, then the stanchions are loading the crown in the wrong direction (most are directional) and the steering is totally to pot, feels like you're riding a barge.
See rotors on the wrong way round now and again. They've got no strength the wrong way around.
I agree the stanchions will stress the crown too much, especially under hard braking. The crown/ steer tube fitting is also suspect, no?
stevethebarbarian - did someone tell you that or did you just make it up? 
Other problem is that the brace could possibly hit the downtube on a big bump. (as well as the obvious steering issues...)
Steve,
Interesting comment as the early Hope stuff used to give instruction to have the rotor the other way around from how it does now.
GW - make it up about rotors having little strength the wrong way round? It's obvious if you look at one.
does every leading spoke in a wheel have less strength than the trailing ones too?
Been meaning to ask if rotor direction makes any difference ?
Had my bike upside down, back wheel out at Afan when some German chap came over to inform me it was back to front. I think he spotted it from half a mile a way and it was bugging him.
Always worked fine for me, but switched it now.
it'll just move the steering axis miles ahead of the wheel contact point making the bike very stable, but very slow to respond to steering input. easy to ride with no hands but still pretty risky. other than interferance issues, cant see any other probs with it. brakes will certainly work fine
i would love to know the science behind the rotor direction thing... can anyone help?
serious btw.
GW - that wheel thing sounds balls - I hope you're joking!
The crown/steerer thing sounds balls too!
fitted one way the rotor arms are in tension under braking, the other they are under compression - makes **** all difference really
makes no odds, just looks wrong one way and right the other. remember thinking the same of the wheels on XR3i's - looked "right" on one side but not the other (worked fine tho)
oh and the crown steerer thing is utter nonsense.
of course I was joking.
= bit of a give-away, no?
Wouldn't the wheel try to remove itself when you brake?
It that an XR4i in the background next to the scrote? Haven't seen one of those for years
GW - would be a give away if your pic worked!
The arms in a rotor aren't working like spokes - which all work under tension, not compression.
Rotor arms when fitted the right way are being compressed into the outer ring of the rotor. You'd need far less torgue to damage a rotor fitted the wrong way around.
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