Got to cut down a fork..

[Jaypem]

Hi there, I'm sure this ones been discussed before, but I am pondering just how to take that extra inch off of a ladies fork so I can fit it on my new build...
I've been told that its possible to find someone (bike shop ?) who can cut the threads down further,
or perhaps I could buy the die to do this myself...or the quickest, easiest thing for me personally would be to cut and weld.
Just wondering which of these operations is considered best ?
If cutting and re-welding is a good way to go, what's the best way to proceed ?
Thanks !

 

[LukeTheJoker]

@The Renaissance Man you got that link for the thread die?

 

[Bendix]

An old mild steel, unchromed steerer is an easy enough thing for a shop to thread an extra inch onto. IF you find a shop that still does that. It's a request that gets less common every year! I doubt most have ever been asked to do it... ;-)

 

[G-Matt]

If you have enough threads to make it work you can
just cut it with a hack saw I've done it plenty . First Put a old nut on it to keep it straight then use the nut as a guide. Get out the hack saw & cut it & take your time & keep it straight. When you back the nut off it will clean up the threads .


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[The Renaissance Man]

@The Renaissance Man you got that link for the thread die?

They are on ePay HERE. (1"-24 TPI Right Hand Thread)

 

[Jaypem]

They are on ePay HERE. (1"-24 TPI Right Hand Thread)

Perfect!
I don't have the fork in hand.
I'll check if there are enough threads already before ordering.
Sure beats running all over the place looking for someone to do it. Plus it'll be handy for the occasional fork with buggered threads!

 

[Jaypem]

Where would we be without forums??
Try talking to the 20 year old dude at my bike shop about "old bikes" while he's building some 5k wheel set...

It's like your in a foreign country

 

[G-Matt]

Take a file to clean up the rough edge


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[Fv2]

They are on ePay HERE. (1"-24 TPI Right Hand Thread)

These are great by the way, thanks for the link.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

They are on ePay HERE. (1"-24 TPI Right Hand Thread)

Thanks TRM!

Luke.

 

[Jaypem]

One more question if anyone is still listening...on a Monark double spring fork, if I shorten the head tube do I also need to shorten the struts or springs to make a women's fork work on a men's frame ?

 

[Fv2]

One more question if anyone is still listening...on a Monark double spring fork, if I shorten the head tube do I also need to shorten the struts or springs to make a women's fork work on a men's frame ?

I hope you mean if you shorten the steer tube?
Anyway, I don't think you'll have to shorten anything else @OddJob just did the same thing for one of his bikes. I think all he did was take a little off the top of the threaded end.

 

[Big Ape]

It will lift the bike a little. The spring assembly is pushed further down and this rotates the rocker more. You shouldn't have any problems.

 

[Jaypem]

Yeah, I was imagining that the rocker would rotate down, just wasnt sure how far, or if that would be an issue. .sounds golden !
Uh, and yeah...meant steer tube. Doh.

 

[kirkpatrick]

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/cutting-down-forks.80061/This might help, maybe.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Personally I would not cut one without cutting the other half of the fork. If you only cut the steer tube it will change the geometry and I'm not sure what negative effect that might cause. If you are planning to run fenders, I don't think it would even work at all without cutting down both parts of the fork.

The girls fork has the same springs as the boys fork, but there is a spacer at the bottom that makes up the difference. If by chance you shorten the fork by the same measurement as the spacer, then you could easily just remove the spacer and shorten the studs that hold the springs by the same amount.

Another possibility would be to make a new plate that connects the top of the springs to the steer tube. You would need to calculate the new location for the plate based on how much you cut from the steer tube. I don't think this would look as good as the first option though.

Here's a picture of both of my Monarks side by side so that you can see the difference.

 

[G-Matt]

I used a girls fork on my last years build off bike & the Steering tube & truss rods were to long . I used spacers on the bottom of the fork and didn't have to cut anything. It's not a perfect looking situation but it dose work perfectly good

Here is a close up of the spacers on the bottom of the fork .
They are about 5/8" thick total .
Not sure how much you will need .

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[Jaypem]

Yeah, I thought maybe I might be doing some work on the truss side...
I like how those spacers look though !

I also like how the top bracket looks as well.
If I was doing a total rust rocket, I'd love to make my own top bracket...I'll give it more thought when the fork actually arrives!
Thanks a TON for all the input !

 

[Jaypem]

Can you try that pic again G-Matt ?
The bottom of the fork is cut off in my screen...

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Yeah, I thought maybe I might be doing some work on the truss side...
I like how those spacers look though !

View attachment 24480

I also like how the top bracket looks as well.
If I was doing a total rust rocket, I'd love to make my own top bracket...I'll give it more thought when the fork actually arrives!
Thanks a TON for all the input !

You could put the spacers above the top plate and not have to shorten the studs.