DIY fork straightening opinions please

[Jiveman60]

I've have this old Claud Butler with bent in forks.
They've been stored for a while and look to be crushed? Everything is in line.
I'm at the point where I'm thinking of putting them in a vice and pulling straight.
Looking at the image I'd like the support of your opinions.

 

[pigman]

I was given some like that and put them on a beater frame and rode them for years. In fact I only chucked them when the frame gave up the ghost. Interestingly, they improved the handling immensely, the original forks on that frame had too big a rake for my liking, felt I was steering a barge

 

[Nabeaquam]

Take off the front wheel, put an old junker hub in the fork, turn the fork backwards so the fork end bends are facing the seat tube, put a ratcheting tie down from the junk hub to the seat tube or through the bb if the spindle is out and slowly tighten up the ratchet. Then take the fork out, place it on a flat work surface with the drops hanging down off the flat work table. Put a flat stiff board across the fork about 6cm down from the crown and clamp the board, that’s across fork, tightly to the work table with a large C or other strong clamp. If the fork ends are off, place round or square tubing over the fork ends and bend them straight and parallel. Use your old hub to eyeball it as you slowly bend it back into shape. Put the wheel back on the fork to see if it’s straight. You got nothing to loose except a catastrophic failure if the fork is severely weakened.

 

[FluffyChicken]

... , turn the fork backwards so the fork end bends are facing the seat tube,..... eyeball it as you slowly bend it back into shape. Put the wheel back on the fork to see if it’s straight. You got nothing to loose except a catastrophic failure if the fork is severely weakened.

Or just ride it around like that and into a big curb, a wall, your local friendly driver cutting across you at a a junction...

 

[jim haseltine]

Back in the days before public liability and being sued at the drop of a hat, we didn't pull forks straight. With an assistant (usually the Saturday boy/gofer) not holding the bike upright the straightener wouldn't lie on their back with slightly bent legs either side of the front wheel, didn't place their feet against the cranks/BB, grasp the front wheel rim then wouldn't straighten their legs pulling the wheel (and forks) towards them.

 

[Jiveman60]

All top tips.
Back in the 60s I used to straighten forks, as in take out the entire rake. By removing the wheel, put the forks in a road drain and pull.
Et voila you had a cycle speedway bike.

 

[klunkrider]

Need to figure out what’s bent first, could be the legs or equally could be the steerer.

 

[Nabeaquam]

Need to figure out what’s bent first, could be the legs or equally could be the steerer.

Good point. My early Gloria track bike had a bent steerer. I couldn’t fix that myself. I ended out sending the frame and fork to a frame builder. He ended out replacing the steerer and the head tube. While he was at it he replaced the drops, took out dents and did a track alignment. It was a rare frame, doubly so as it was a 56cm. All these early track frames seem to have been crashed and bent up. If you’re looking for an early large track frame you usually get laughed at. In my experience it’s usually the fork legs that are bent. I think my steerer was bent because the bars and quill smashed into something, probably slid by the other damage, perhaps with the weight of the rider still attached. Spin the fork without the wheel to see if it binds or wobbles. You could put the steerer in angle iron to see if it’s flush. It’s hard to determine if the steerer is bent. It doesn’t take much of a bend to mess things up. Mostly I could tell by riding it, then taking the fork off and inspecting it. You can see it’s bent a little in the first photo.

 

[Jiveman60]

Interesting. They turn nicely in the frame.
And everything lines up as well.
They came with the frame, but not fitted.
It's almost as if they've been sat a long time with something heavy on them?

 

[Jiveman60]

Sorted. Spinning smooth as butter and a trued wheel sits perfectly in the forks