Vintage Middleweight Bicycle Front Fork Styles

Video Transcript

"I'm going to talk for a moment about the front forks of a middleweight bicycle. Most of them will have something on the front here. Here we've got a rack. It's a very small rack. It's got nothing to do with adding strength to the fork. It has no truss rods, and no springer suspension. Some middleweights did have springer suspension, and generally, the style is a mousetrap style, which is different than you'd find on a balloon tire bike. Something you'll notice about the fork of this bike, if you look, is that it's pushed back. If it had truss rods, it may not have gotten pushed back like this. Maybe somebody hit a tree or a rock, or something, but if you see the angle, you can tell that it's back. There are tools. Your local bike shop will have a tool. I don't know what they'll charge, but there's a special tool for bringing that fork back into alignment. Another thing to notice on this bike, again, we just picked this bike up, is the way the fender brace and the rack, are mounted here. It's not right. It's not a big deal, but generally, the fender brace goes against the fork. Then you put the rack on the outside, and then you put the nut on it."