Driving home through Glasgow this evening and spotted a guy riding along with his forks facing backwards. Wound down the window and pointed it out to him, but he gave me an understandably suspicious look and pedalled off towards the canal path. I’m impressed he hasn’t got off and walked – the steering must be squirrely as hell!

Sure it wasn’t a manitou?

Even Manitous have the brakes facing forward 😂

Wasn’t this guy was it?

“ I’m impressed he hasn’t got off and walked – the steering must be squirrely as hell!”

Negative offset will actually slow the steering down!

Even Manitous have the brakes facing forward 😂

Early Pace didn’t though.

Its a thing, raises the front end for a more comfortable riding position. I pointed this out to someone riding their Apollo and they said they preferred it that way, pedalled away happily.

Once in halfords and a lady came in with a bike she had just bought from them. She was complaining that the brakes weren’t working properly, the staff member looked at brakes and said they seemed OK. He didn’t notice that the forks were on back to front until I pointed it out to him. Kinda scary as presumably they had just built it for her.

This comes up all the time with Hellfrauds and supermarket BSOs.

At least they weren’t in upside down eh @northwind

Its a thing

It’s putting a lot of faith in some (non-inserted) threads in soft metal

It’s putting a lot of faith in some (non-inserted) threads in soft metal

No more than normal.

No more than normal

Care to expand on that? Seems an odd view given the brake pushes against the fork (as it’s hard against it), rather than just the threads

Twice now in a month I’ve said to blokes their forks were back to front. Both actually at morrisons in newlands.
First guy, a teen about 19 or so, ust shrugged his shoulders and cycled off, so the second time I wasnt going to bother but did and was thanked and asked how to sort. In hindsight as as id tools with me I should have done it for him as stem bolts he might have not done tight enough.
This one was a carrera, think the other one was too.
So who in Glasgow sells carrera 😕 must be halfords, cant think of anyone else who would employ inexperienced bike ”mechanics’

When I got my fatbike, it had the fork in wrong way round. Spoke to the dude in Go Outdoors and they were coming out of the box that way- the stem was reversed on the steerer, and they just fitted the bars, so they’d thought “that’s weird but then this is a weird bike, they must do it for a reason”. He was actually clued up enough to know that some bikes have the brake located differently , like a gen 1 roadrat.

The good bit was, that dude then checked with head office who sent out a bulletin to shops- and same dude then phoned around customers who’d bought that bike, including me, to tell them “we might have ****ed up”. Was quite impressed.

Anyway by that time I’d mounted them upside down as god intended.

mashr
Full Member

Care to expand on that? Seems an odd view given the brake pushes against the fork (as it’s hard against it), rather than just the threads

Most cheaper bikes are IS mount so the forces on the bolts are the same.

Most cheaper bikes are IS mount so the forces on the bolts are the same.

Yup, post mount not so much though. Like the dude up there ^

Un asked for advice is rarely well received.

Care to expand on that? Seems an odd view given the brake pushes against the fork (as it’s hard against it), rather than just the threads

The rotor is always rotating towards the fork the loading would the same but in the other direction.

mashr
Full Member

Yup, post mount not so much though. Like the dude up there ^

Yep but Greyspoke who you responded to, and squirrelking, weren’t talking about that guy but about people reversing their forks for a more comfortable riding position.

Care to expand on that? Seems an odd view given the brake pushes against the fork (as it’s hard against it), rather than just the threads

TBH I was actually think about V’s when I wrote that. As said IS isn’t an issue and for PM I reckon the mounts are under compression (top) and tension (bottom) which would only be reversed by flipping the fork. I can’t be bothered doing a resolution of forces as I’m in darkness in a hotel room but in my head it makes sense that the forces act along the top screw and are opposed by the bottom one. Source: loosen an IS caliper in its mount, put the brake on and rock the wheel back and forth, see what it does.

See it almost every week around town.

TBH I was actually think about V’s when I wrote that. As said IS isn’t an issue and for PM I reckon the mounts are under compression (top) and tension (bottom) which would only be reversed by flipping the fork. I can’t be bothered doing a resolution of forces as I’m in darkness in a hotel room but in my head it makes sense that the forces act along the top screw and are opposed by the bottom one. Source: loosen an IS caliper in its mount, put the brake on and rock the wheel back and forth, see what it does.

Yes, forces essentially the same IF you had the forks extend past the axle and brakes mounted upside down acting on the rotor below its centre of rotation.
Do a failure analysis of the bolts and see what happens under braking.

My trike has front and rear mounted brakes on the fork so as to have two functioning brakes on one wheel. The two rear wheels are unbraked. Standard stuff in barrow-land. Sometimes both front brakes are mounted out front, one on an extension. Mine are front calliper and rear canti. Both are aeroz for the TT gains.

It’s putting a lot of faith in some (non-inserted) threads in soft metal

I’m not sure it really matters. The bolts on the caliper must be massively oversized? I’m just thinking in comparison to the bolts on car and motorbike callipers which despite the brakes being an order or magnitude (or two) more powerful, are still only m8, m10, 3/8″ etc. The forces involved in bicycle brakes just aren’t that high (relatively).

Source: loosen an IS caliper in its mount, put the brake on and rock the wheel back and forth, see what it does.

If the bolts are correctly tightened, the friction between the caliper and the mount is what is stopping the caliper from moving, not sheer loading in the bolt. The bolt is under tension. That tension forces the caliper against the mount, which sets up sufficient friction that the caliper can’t move. Putting the forks on backwards shouldn’t really be a problem for the brake mounts.

I see this a lot (2 or 3 times every weekend) – mostly kids bikes and almost always let the parents know.

One lady was mortified. I explained it would make the bike more unstable and the braking a bit unpredictable.

Apparently the daughter had repeatedly crashed / gone over the handlebars, in one case hurtling herself badly.

The mum explained she’d been telling her kid off for not being more careful!